As someone who reads much more than listens to podcasts, I’ve wanted to get into this series for years now, but it feels like I never have enough time, especially as I’m not sure my wife would be onboard with the idea of an audio serial.
Then again, it is spooky season, so now’s the time to pitch it, I guess. Any suggestions for diving in for a podcast novice who has a negligible commute and small kids at home? My kids are not sheltered but any stretch, but are probably too young for eldritch horror.
Edit: really, it’s the same issue I have with Critical Role; it sounds great to me, but finding enough time on my own to be able to get into it is way harder than reading a book.
While working or taking a walk during lunch might be the best option. I like the idea of listening while I do chores, but I almost always have the kids home with me when I’m working around the house, and they’re too young yet for me to be able to put on headphones.
Plus, as much as I’d love to get into this series, I love the time I get to spend blasting music throughout the house and having dance parties while we tidy up, so I don’t really want to give that up. IMHO, there’s nothing better than the feeling when your kids request one of your favorite records by name
They also understand social order and merc crows that are excessively rude thieves and whatnot. It’s a bit brutal but it’s indicative of individual identity and longer term memory.
And in 4 billion years, that layer of microplastics will have condensed down into fuel for the next creatures to annihilate their atmosphere with. Circle of life.
ETA: sorry for those who answered already (thanks), my comment was about the oakification part. I am well aware of the crabification, being a crab myself
They just reached top possible performance for their specific niche. They’re basically perfect, so there is little need for evolution to change anything - random selection keeps selecting the same traits for millions of years because those are the ones that work and manage to get them to reproduce.
I like to think of it as having maxed out one specific talent tree for that environment.
That’s not actually necessarily true. Even if we adopt this “top possible performance” thing, which isn’t how organisms work, you can’t guarantee their current set of traits would be this optimal maximum.
Evolution can only work with traits already present, or small additions or deletions. It can’t jump around. Meaning, for instance, perhaps a crocodile capable of shooting a literal stream of acid would be even more optimized for this environment - but such a trait can’t appear out of thin air, and the necessary stepping stones won’t be selected.
Sounds like machine learning with a very small learning rate. You will most likely end up in a local minimum ie. no acid shooting (it would be cool and terrifying)
They might also be more succesfull if they can put sticks and stones together to eventually create a military industrial complex in order to hunt prey using a 50 Caliber machine gun.
Capitalism will always capitalism. “Oh, we have to provide a healthy option? Okay, it’ll be the expensive option.” “Oh, we have to support software? Okay, subscription models only” “Oh, we have to pay our workers minimum wage? Okay, we’ll pay them not a penny more and raise our prices”
It’s an endless fight… Yet, we can’t stop fighting it, because attrition of our values and apathy in our actions are weapons the system uses against us.
Even books have the same. IIRC the ‘corrected’ version of Bilbo receiving the ring came into the Hobbit because the publisher wanted Tolkien to make a revised version to keep the copyright going.
(I presume the corrected version of that chapter was just taking advantage of the opportunity, but still…)
It isn’t, the only bad thing of the Netherland are the drivers with caravans on the motorways and roads in the rest of the EU, ah, well, maybe their beer 🤢
mander.xyz
Top