unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,068|7161|PNW

have you sighted a sasquatch yet? i'm pretty sure that a number of those sightings people insist weren't bears ("i know what a bear looks like!") were, in fact, bears.
KEN-JENNINGS
I am all that is MOD!
+2,990|7021|949

Still looking for my first 'squatch. This guy was easily 400lbs, so more in the American-style sasquatch as opposed to the lithe, bohemian Euro version.
uziq
Member
+522|3841
closest i've ever come to seeing/meeting a bear was in the mountains of fukushima, near some hot springs at an outdoor techno festival. me and a buddy wandered off around the surrounding area coming down off some acid one morning (off-season so all the ski resorts and hotels were empty, or half mouldering and abandoned; a real the shining vibe, lots of neat 70s and 80s architecture).

after about 10 minutes of wandering there was a gigantic rustling in some bushes down in the culvert to the side of the road. no way it could have been anything other than a bear. more noise and commotion than even a full-grown adult could make if pelting it through the undergrowth.

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-20 15:13:40)

SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+657|4109
The LSD made you think it was a bear. Probably a rabbit.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+522|3841
nah it was definitely a very large animal bolting through the bushes and bears are pretty much the only large fauna in those parts.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,068|7161|PNW

definitely a samurai sasquatch.
uziq
Member
+522|3841
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GrZ4v9IbAAA7mXX?format=jpg&name=large

quite simply the funniest reversal to the reddit era ever.

https://x.com/ettingermentum/status/192 … 7OKnIcMVqg
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,820|6495|eXtreme to the maX
Erm, yes hilarious. That you're repeating nonsense twitter posts.

Lets start with nutrition science, such a small field that the data is probably based on a handful of people.

https://i.imgur.com/4IMvzgC.png
Low salary, somewhat high underemployment rate.

Lets look at Philosophy. Sorry its so small, I had to zoom right out to get Philisophy in there.

https://i.imgur.com/LiFcBka.png

Ahead of Philosophy we have:
Civ Eng
Aero Eng
Mech Eng
Chem Eng
Elec Eng
General Engineering - whatever that is
Pretty well all of them have higher starting salaries than mid-career arts enthusiasts.

As for Comp Sci and Comp Eng

https://i.imgur.com/1ygLvQG.png

Both have higher starting salaries than mid-career liberal arts grads, and significantly lower underemployment rates.
I'm guessing Comp Sci and Comp Eng grads know they can coin it in the long run so are taking a gap year, while the liberal arts students are heavily underemployed flipping burgers or waiting tables on much lower lifetime salaries.

If you'd studied a STEM subject you'd have picked up that you need to read the numbers, not just parrot someone else.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+522|3841
sounds like pure copium to me.

i can read the numbers real good. i can even read long ones.

big tech aren't hiring anymore for junior roles. there's been a moratorium on 'comp sci and comp eng' job postings.

is it better to be employed and have a career with an average salary, or to be an unemployed STEM grad with 'big dreams' while indian engineers take all your jobs?

perhaps all these unemployed STEM losers can develop revolutionary consciousness. they could re-enrol in woke mind virus liberal arts colleges and get an education in marx!!!

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-21 03:50:44)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,820|6495|eXtreme to the maX
Underemployment rate - 17%, sounds a lot better than 41% or 56%, about 2.4 times better

Median mid-career wage - $122,000, sounds a lot better than $70,000 or $72,000, about 72% better in fact

I'm sure the average STEM person can read a book in their spare time, there's no need to go to college to do it.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+522|3841
evidently you didn't manage it in 50 years of life, despite doing very little else?
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,820|6495|eXtreme to the maX
I have read at least 50 books. Three Haynes manuals for starters. I wish I'd kept the first one - it was a hardback.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+522|3841
with regards to clinging to higher lifetime earnings (which depends on so many factors; for example philosophy grads are normally the highest entrants into elite law schools, which takes them up a bracket before they’ve even finished their education or commenced a career) – almost all college-graduate careers nowadays are bested by simple trades.

if you wanted a lifetime of high income and reliable work, it would be better in every single way to become an electrician or a welder than an electrical or mechanical engineer.

presumably people have gone to college throughout history for reasons beyond total lifetime earnings, and out of a bare calculation of ‘return on investment’ alone.

i dont have any problem with a humanities salary, when it comes to all of its cultural enrichments and intangible perquisites. i dont envy comp sci grads competing for jobs with indian coders one bit. in fact, my education allows me to appreciate the delicious humour in the whole situation too much.

are STEM grads the israelis of the academy? they’ve been trotting around with their noses lofted in the air, like some sort of chosen people, for years now. everyone has suffered their boorishness for long enough. discuss in 2500 words.

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-21 04:30:01)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,820|6495|eXtreme to the maX
No they really haven't, mostly they've quietly got on with the lives creating a more advanced world and being well rewarded for it.

Mostly they've ignored the humanities crowd and their endless crowing, put-downs etc.

Trades are no fun, do not recommend.
Fuck Israel
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,820|6495|eXtreme to the maX
Do you think Indians are doing Comp Sci for the supposed low wages and poor prospects.

Of course not, if other subjects paid more they'd be doing those instead.
Fuck Israel
uziq
Member
+522|3841

Dilbert_X wrote:

Do you think Indians are doing Comp Sci for the supposed low wages and poor prospects.

Of course not, if other subjects paid more they'd be doing those instead.
erm, any salary in the united states is a gigantic upgrade for them? the H1 route has just become an established thing because big tech are purposefully recruiting them. are you really this dense?

but you do point to a valid part of the sociology of these disciplines, which is that they're for first or second generation wealthy, possibly first-generation university educated people, as the default route to 'get on' and make it out of the ignominious trades and blue-collar realms – nevermind that they pay better thesedays. indians don't want their children to be downwardly socially mobile any less than western people do.

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-21 04:47:45)

SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+657|4109

Dilbert_X wrote:

Do you think Indians are doing Comp Sci for the supposed low wages and poor prospects.

Of course not, if other subjects paid more they'd be doing those instead.
A lot of countries subsidize STEM educations. America is one of those countries which many see higher education as a threat and/or an opportunity to profit off of.

...

I was reading the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the American author mentioned being surprised and bothered by the healthiness of the German soldiers in 1940 compared to the British POWs. He mentioned that it was a testament to how little the British invested in their young people in the interwar years. Meanwhile the Germans were both feeding their young people and keeping them active and productive through the Hitler youth program.

I worry we are going in the same direction as the British. Americans are concerned with whether the kids will see something gay in school than they are concerned about whether every kid gets basic nutrition.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+522|3841
erm, 'going the way of the british'? americans have far worse nutrition and obesity stats than british thesedays.

one of the big points of negotiation in US-UK trade deals under trump is that brits don't want to be flooded with your shitty, toxic food.

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F6cdffc10-cf38-11ed-ade5-aba242b83113-standard.png?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/life-expectancy-at-birth-in-years-1980-2023.png

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-21 08:56:14)

SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+657|4109
I meant in the run up to a conflict. We are going to sleepwalk into a conflict with a sickly and alienated population.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,068|7161|PNW

Dilbert_X wrote:

No they really haven't, mostly they've quietly got on with the lives creating a more advanced world and being well rewarded for it.
i've been in college for stem stuff, and actually, they really have. stem-chauvinism is certainly a thing. maybe there's a blind spot for it if you agree with the sentiment.

it was at all levels from student to staff and even the mood outside of campus ("bet you're glad you're taking this and not literature, huh?") and in media.

how many times have we seen the disaster movie where some clownishly brilliant polymath stem engineer/"professional scientist" gets ignored by a bunch of "stuck-up" (every accusation) liberal arts people and then the (unstoppable, anyway) disaster strikes, and they come back to the scientist on their knees to magically solve it. maybe that's commentary on ignoring climate science, but really weird (or at least pandering) stuff from hollywood if you think about it. also, the pull together a crew of Men Who Get Their Hands Dirty bit. lmao

"do stem," the constant, incessant drum, forgetting that society's wheels are greased by more than plumbers, electricians, or aerospace engineers.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2025-05-21 10:11:57)

uziq
Member
+522|3841

SuperJail Warden wrote:

I meant in the run up to a conflict. We are going to sleepwalk into a conflict with a sickly and alienated population.
pretty weird analogy to make to compare america today, riding off the back of decades of being the global hegemon, with the state of european powers during the inter-war/great depression years.
uziq
Member
+522|3841

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

No they really haven't, mostly they've quietly got on with the lives creating a more advanced world and being well rewarded for it.
i've been in college for stem stuff, and actually, they really have. maybe there's a blind spot for it if you agree with the sentiment.

it was at all levels from student to staff and even the mood outside of campus ("bet you're glad you're taking this and not literature, huh?") and in media.

how many times have we seen the disaster movie where some clownishly brilliant polymath stem engineer/"professional scientist" gets ignored by a bunch of "stuck-up" (every accusation) liberal arts people and then the (unstoppable, anyway) disaster strikes, and they come back to the scientist on their knees to magically solve it. maybe that's commentary on ignoring climate science, but really weird (or at least pandering) stuff from hollywood if you think about it. also, the pull together a crew of Men Who Get Their Hands Dirty bit. lmao

"do stem," the constant, incessant drum, forgetting that society's wheels are greased by more than plumbers, electricians, or aerospace engineers.
dilbert lives in a two-dimensional movie script reality. every humanities graduate is an effete snob who somehow improbably has ties to the establishment, if not the aristocracy or global new world order, and every STEM graduate is an unrecognised genius who is sacrificing their lives in a noble mission.

the idea that a bunch of 18 or 19 year olds are mostly focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, and just worrying about landing with a job at all, and that most people's progress through undergraduate education is wholly unremarkable and motivated by extremely mundane worries about future earnings ... no. it's a titanic struggle between the uncredited heroes of the world against a galère of 'the hunger games' style villains with art history degrees.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+657|4109
I often get YouTube ads by this Asian guy offering help to get kids into "Top 25 universities." There is also a reddit sub about trying to get into top 25 universities.

So much stress around top 25 universities. I understand I don't come from a community where failure to get into a top 25 brings shame to the family. I feel like the obsession with the top 25 is very Asian and Indian fresh off the boat stuff. People that don't quite understand that the top 25 college thing won't give them a big advantage over the multigenerational white families who send their kids to local state colleges. I almost feel like they are being scammed.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+522|3841
there is an insane pressure on getting into the top 3 universities in their respective countries in japan/korea (maybe expanding to, like, 30 universities in china, which are amusingly titled something like 'the world-standard double-first-class ultra-good association'). i am not exaggerating when i say that the archetypal 'tiger parents' start preparing their children for their college entry exams from, like, kindergarten age. i am talking 3-4 hours of extracurricular study or tutorials every night from the age of about 5, all to get into a 'SKY' university (in korea) which manages to grace the world top100 tables.

ironically all of these universities are regarded as being essentially easy as piss to graduate from once you get in. passing the entrance exams is without exaggeration the hardest part. it's really hard to fail out of their programmes. most of their postgraduate qualifications are regarded as a bit of a joke in international academia. research standards are iffy, and corruption and nepotism are rife in departments. very weird situation. a lot of the undergrads at places like seoul national university swan around like they've made it before they've even passed out of freshman year. they've essentially done all the hard work and now a lifetime of samsung managerial positions or shoddily regulated law practice await.

there's of course the ultra-generalisation that it's all a consequence of a legalistic-confucian philosophy that has structured their societies and institutions and determined their ethos since the middle ages. qualifying for the ultra-selective civil service exams was the only way out of a life of serfdom in the same way that joining a religious order and attaining literacy functioned in medieval europe.

after a few generations of this 'newly developed country, newly wealthy families' dynamic, the birth rates have cratered and the suicide rates gone stratospheric. yeah, maybe not good! especially when the quality of the educations they're getting in these hallowed places are pretty fucking mid.

Last edited by uziq (2025-05-21 12:03:14)

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