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Comment Re:We used to love going to theaters... (Score 1) 33

So, buy the DVD.

With Netflix, I'm afraid we'll have to pause the movie to put the kids to bed. Then come back and discover that Netflix has dropped it from their catalog.

As far as I can tell, the Netflix business plan has been about erasing the archives so people will have to watch their new stuff. And if you aren't fast, even their new stuff becomes archival. Then, "Poof!"

Comment Re:A whole bunch of questions (Score 1) 166

As my father (a heavy duty mechanic) told me often, "The more complicated you make something, the more likely it is to break down."

That's a simplistic principle that I'm sure your father did not actually follow in real life. Plenty of things that increase mechanical complexity actually also increase reliability. For example expansion joints or suspensions in cars. Arbitrary complexity added for no reason, sure, but I am sure that many systems your father worked on not only used lubrication, but had extra systems (adding complexity) to make sure that the other parts stayed lubricated.

Comment Re: A whole bunch of questions (Score 2) 166

Sorry Chief, I need a little extra time
a) putting out this house fire

That's actually a great example, but maybe not for the reason you think it is. Apparently, the Palisades fire was reignited from a fire that had already been put out and the firefighters on the ground wanted to keep working on it because it wasn't done smouldering, but their higher ups pulled them. So then high winds and other conditions re-ignited it and it caused massive destruction. So, that's actually a really great real world example of conditions where being good and thorough at your job trumps speed. Also of management clock-watching having disastrous consequences.

Several of your other examples present this same issue.

Comment Re:shame on you slashdot (Score 1) 166

The AC thing has run it's course. There's no point in having it anymore. All it does is allow fuckwits to unleash their most fuckwitttest version of themselves.

They will still do that without AC, they will just get extra sockpuppet accounts. Plenty already do so that they will post with higher karma and also be taken a bit more seriously.

Comment Re:This is what envy looks like (Score 1) 166

Every successful culture in human history has rewarded the extremely productive individual with extreme wealth

This may all hinge on how you're defining "extremely productive" (and also "successful"), but most civilizations have actually rewarded the majority of extremely productive individuals with less whippings.

Comment Re: ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

Why not make accommodations the norm for everyone?

They kind of are in many educational settings. Plenty of schools give students who are falling behind special classes, makeup tests, extra credit work, etc. that other students don't get. That is even when the student in question does not have an Individualized Education Plan.

Comment Re:Definitions [Re:ADHD does not exist] (Score 2) 166

So people who previously said "I'm blind and need accomodation" now get put in the same category with people who say "I have visual acuity spectrum disorder" because their vision is 20-40.

Uhhh... That category already exists. It's called visually impaired, and it does receive special accommodations. Back when I was in school, one of the girls in special ed had coke bottle thick glasses. She got treated by pretty much everyone like the other kids in special ed. Not too much bullying (though some), and mostly they just got socially ignored, but basically as far as everyone was concerned she was a **Slur Deleted** along with the rest of the kids. Her only disability though was that she was legally blind. Even with the glasses, she needed large print, etc. These days, she probably would not be thrown into special education classes, she would probably be in class with everyone else and just get help with reading materials, what the teacher writes on the blackboard, etc.

Now, of course, that is a spectrum as well, and you can argue that there are people whose vision is not that bad who are getting accommodations they don't need. However, it makes more sense to err on the side of caution when making the cutoff. You may complain about it being unfair to everyone else for someone you don't think deserves an accommodation to get one, but it's a lot more unfair for someone who really needs one to not get one and essentially be cast out.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

Of course, there are mental conditions. We can argue about what they are, or are not, but these numbers tell us something is a little off. 45 percent of students at the law school cited have mental issues? That defies belief.

Are you counting alcoholism as a mental issue? Because then the only thing that defies belief is that it's as low as 45 percent.

Comment Re: ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

Based on what I know of your history of comments, you are almost certainly on the spectrum or at least neurodivergent in some way. There's a reason that people apparently keep telling you this, and it's not because there's just something wrong with all of them. Bear in mind that this is coming from someone who is almost certainly on the spectrum himself.

Comment Re: ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

I remember when Rain Man came out and no one had ever heard of autism.

That is most like for a few reasons. One that you were probably just a kid, so there were lots of things you had not heard of. Two is because you probably just had a different word for the kids in special ed classes.

Also, I will note by your smashing head/feces definition, the character of Raymond in Rain Man was not autistic either.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

And I say that that applies to autism to. Social skills is something you need to practise as child, it is not congenital. Some have more talent for this, other less. The latter need to practise. Just like with everything from math to juggle balls.

So, neurological studies showing distinct neuromorphological differences in the brain even per-natally are wrong and everyone's brain is just a one-size-fits-all that only requires the right behavioral training to work just like everyone else? Right, and all it takes to be a professional basketball player is training hard enough and "heart". Got it.

Comment Re:ADHD does not exist (Score 1) 166

ADHD does not exist:

Sure, except that in the link that you provide, the doctor says:

In my view, there are two types of people who are diagnosed with ADHD: those who exhibit a normal level of distraction and impulsiveness, and those who have another condition or disorder that requires individual treatment.

So, that second group he mentions are people with a genuine condition or disorder who get lumped together. As it happens, they get lumped together under the label ADHD. So, clearly, ADHD does exist, but it's a category rather than a singular, specific thing. Most of us already knew that. So this is just arguing over nomenclature.

Comment Re:What accommodations? (Score 1) 166

Your conditions warrant medical (mental health) treatment and education. Which should be aimed at enabling you to handle the university, employment and the world with the tools that enable you to deal with life. From that point on, a university should treat you as any other student. You either can or can not handle the work given you. Either with the abilities you were born with or those tools our health care system should provide you with.

It is unreaonable for every institution to have to maintain (at their expense) duplicated programs to handle every case that comes along. Where I went to public school, the district had excellent, off campus programs for special needs students. Where they could concentrate the care resources to efficiently handle cases. Instead of expecting the general school faculty to dedicate any extra time to handle them. With the hit or miss skill set that would result. The problem with this approach is that parents of little Beavis would be appaled by the neighbors noticing him loading onto the short bus every morning. Other school districts, unable to deal with this parental pressure just mainstreamed everyone. To the disadvantage of those in need of special help.

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