D&D and the rising pandemic

[Ryujin]

Peter, Paul, and Mary did this for part of a concert I saw in the 90s.

Of course, SNL were also pioneers with their news for the hearing impaired.

I'm guessing that people don't remember Garret Morris, or more would find that funny

 

[Janx]

Sure, there are still the outliers, but what you usually hear on the radio isn't that. In the late '60s/early '70s it was wall to wall storytelling.

But yeah, I also listen to other stuff. Thing is that much of it hearkens back to even earlier times.

 

[Umbran]

I'm pretty sure Auto-correct got to that last word, but it does bring up the image of a bunch of deaf people at a specialized bar / concert venue using sign language to join in and accompany the band.

Not auto-correct. Just a typo. I'll own it

There are some really awesome American Sign Language interpreters out there who specialize in interpreting for musical performances.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I mentioned a few months ago how the pandemic made me realize how much tabletop are an integral part of my social habits. I also had no interest in playing online. So it's been a very boring year and a half.

But, a few weeks ago I resumed the Starfinder campaign I had started before the pandemic. Two sessions so far. It's been a ton of fun.

But I'm also so, so happy as things seem to come back to normal. I had two groups (close friends and coworkers) that asked me to DM something for them. I've got about a dozen new TTRPG games on my shelves that I've been wanting to try, so I'll most likely nudge them towards that if they're willing.

It just feels so good to get back into it and not to worldbuild or create content int oblivion.

 

[Cadence]

I had somehow missed this until it showed up in our local paper that our state is also not tracking this now. So, mild breakthrough cases in the vaccinated aren't being tracked by the US CDC anymore, but hospitalizations and deaths are. I mean, I understand that just tracking positives is more work and has lots of data issues (they have to decide to get tested, etc...), but still... it makes the statistician side of me want to go yell at people (if that were safe to do).

CDC under fire for decision to limit tracking of Covid-19 cases in vaccinated people

The agency’s decision to limit its reporting of breakthrough cases has prompted wide variation in how states keep tabs on them.

www.politico.com

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Required? Wow, the churches in Germany would get laughed in the face if they tried that

It’s one of the differences between Catholicism and most protestant branches, including Lutheranism- the dominant denomination in Germany.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I read something just now that I had to post here-

Something I’ve noticed in recent years that Wu didn’t get into is that readers desire precision in metaphors and analogies, even though metaphor is — by definition! — not supposed to be taken literally. People seem much more interested in taking analogies apart, identifying what doesn’t work, and discarding them rather than — more generously and constructively IMO — using them as the author intended to better understand the subject matter. The perfect metaphor doesn’t exist because then it wouldn’t be a metaphor.

(h/t kottke.org)

This was posted as an observation about the pandemic, but this also encapsulates, perfectly, a feeling I've had when having discussions on the internet. A truly good metaphor or analogy can be used to illuminate; they are the perfect mechanism when you are trying to explain something in order to get a concept across.

But far too often, internet discussions are not conversations and are not viewed (by many people) as an attempt to understand something, but instead as attempt to battle it. So instead of attempting to see the utility (even if limited) of the analogy, all the effort is put into rubbishing it because ... the analogy is not, and cannot be, the same as whatever is being discussed. sigh

 

[Umbran]

This was posted as an observation about the pandemic, but this also encapsulates, perfectly, a feeling I've had when having discussions on the internet. A truly good metaphor or analogy can be used to illuminate; they are the perfect mechanism when you are trying to explain something in order to get a concept across.

It is my observation that metaphors are useful primarily a tool for instruction, rather than discussion. In instruction, the metaphor can be used to introduce a broad concept, followed with further detail, which eventually supplants that introduction in the student's mind. In discussion, however, the speaker is not positioned to follow with sufficient detail before the other participants engage - the metaphor does not get supplanted, and the discussion becomes about the metaphor, instead of the following details that never came about.

The most effective use of metaphor is in literature, in which the audience never gets to interrogate the author about it.

But far too often, internet discussions are not conversations and are not viewed (by many people) as an attempt to understand something, but instead as attempt to battle it.

In the real world, folks typically enter a discussion to present their conclusions, rather than to reach a conclusion.

Internet discussion are conversations - but they are not the Socratic method that we might pretend them to be. This is expected - the Socratic method is better in theory than in practice. It fails when the speakers become attached to their positions, which is nearly always.

 

[Janx]

I read something just now that I had to post here-

Something I’ve noticed in recent years that Wu didn’t get into is that readers desire precision in metaphors and analogies, even though metaphor is — by definition! — not supposed to be taken literally. People seem much more interested in taking analogies apart, identifying what doesn’t work, and discarding them rather than — more generously and constructively IMO — using them as the author intended to better understand the subject matter. The perfect metaphor doesn’t exist because then it wouldn’t be a metaphor.

(h/t kottke.org)

This was posted as an observation about the pandemic, but this also encapsulates, perfectly, a feeling I've had when having discussions on the internet. A truly good metaphor or analogy can be used to illuminate; they are the perfect mechanism when you are trying to explain something in order to get a concept across.

But far too often, internet discussions are not conversations and are not viewed (by many people) as an attempt to understand something, but instead as attempt to battle it. So instead of attempting to see the utility (even if limited) of the analogy, all the effort is put into rubbishing it because ... the analogy is not, and cannot be, the same as whatever is being discussed. sigh

hmm, I wonder if this is an American culture thing.

Japan, China, is chock full of zen koans, cryptic sayings, and metaphor. Do they lose their minds over metaphor like we do?

Ask "What is the sound of one hand clapping" and they go meditate. We sit around flapping our fingers into our palms and grin at how clever we are.

 

[Umbran]

Ask "What is the sound of one hand clapping" and they go meditate. We sit around flapping our fingers into our palms and grin at how clever we are.

Not at all. Those traditions are strongly in the teacher/student mode. The teacher asks, 'What is the sound of one hand clapping," and then sends the student go and meditate on it instead of allowing the student to pose inquiries.

On these boards, nobody takes the student role.