cntrational's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=cntrational2015-05-03T12:00:21ZDehumanization (opinion)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/Dehumanizationcntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-05-03T12:00:21Z2015-05-03T12:00:21Z<p>I've spent a lot of time arguing, and reading arguments, and there's a theme in many of them: <strong>people act like their opponents are not human beings</strong>.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: <em>please</em> don't nitpick the names I've chosen to talk about these groups.</p>
<p><a href="/title/Men%2527s+rights+activist">Men's rights activist</a>s, <a href="/title/redpill">redpill</a>ers and other <a href="/title/misogynist+movements">misogynist movements</a> treat women as manipulative and evil, seeking to drain men of their power. To them, women are not human beings, but monsters preying on men.</p>
<p><a href="/title/Tumblr+social+justice+activist">Tumblr social justice activist</a>s don't think of their opponents as being human, either, but nebulous agents of oppression, and do not deserve to be treated with politeness.</p>
<p>Right-wingers fear the <a href="/title/government">government</a>. Left-wingers fear <a href="/title/corporation">corporation</a>s. They're both evil monsters that seek to cause harm to <em>real</em> people.</p>
<p>People used to fear gay people, considering them <a href="/title/pedophiles">pedophiles</a> who do nothing but prey on children.</p>
<p>Xenophobes and racists fear people of different cultures and races, considering<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Danish (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/Danishcntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-04-26T03:42:36Z2015-04-26T03:42:36Z<p>If you're interested in languages or are from <a href="/title/Scandinavia">Scandinavia</a>, you have heard of <strong>Danish numbers</strong>. The Danish numeral system is my favourite example of how language can be <a href="/title/beautifully+insane">beautifully insane</a>.</p>
<p>Let us illustrate with the Danish word for 50. <em>Halvtreds</em>.</p>
<p><em>Halvtreds</em> is literally "half-third". You may ask, <em>how the fuck do you get 50 from "half-third"?!</em></p>
<p>Ah, but <em>halvtreds</em> is actually an abbreviation of <em>halvtredsindstyve</em>... literally "half-third times twenty". We are still <a href="/title/baffled">baffled</a>, because (1.5 * 20) is definitely not 50.</p>
<p>But it turns out that half-third works like <strong><a href="/title/Roman+numerals">Roman numerals</a></strong>! Just as we write IV = (5 - 1) to represent 4, halvtreds means (3 - 0.5), or, (2.5).</p>
<p>If you do the math, 2.5 * 20 is <em>actually 50!</em></p>
<p>Languages are beautiful, aren't they?</p>Calculus (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/Calculuscntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-04-26T03:12:45Z2015-04-26T03:12:45Z<p>You use <a href="/title/geometry">geometry</a> for manipulating shapes. You use <a href="/title/algebra">algebra</a> for doing math with unknown numbers. You use <a href="/title/trigonometry">trigonometry</a> for studying triangles, and by extension, waves. So what's calculus for?</p>
<p><strong>Calculus is the study of change.</strong></p>
<p>When you <a href="/title/differentiate">differentiate</a> something, you get the <a href="/title/derivative">derivative</a>, which represents the rate at which something increases or decreases.</p>
<p><a href="/title/Integration">Integration</a> is combining derivatives, or minute changes, into a whole result.</p>
<p>Using these, you can handle changing values in anything: <a href="/title/acceleration">acceleration</a>, <a href="/title/electromagnetism">electromagnetism</a>, <a href="/title/money">money</a>... calculus can handle them all.</p>
<p>Useful, eh?</p>Made Dumb (personal)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/Made+Dumbcntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-04-25T19:58:01Z2015-04-25T19:58:01Z<p>In my mid-teens, I was diagnosed with <a href="/title/schizophrenia">schizophrenia</a>, and put on medication. I never really had typical schizophrenic symptoms, and I felt like my illness was really more, but the doctors told me that I had it, and I accepted it. It runs in my family, after all.</p>
<p>I had gone to many other doctors, both before and after my diagnosis, and none told me that I have schizophrenia, just the opposite. But since the schizophrenia doctors were personal friends of my mother, we didn't doubt them.</p>
<p>Most of my recent life was painful, because I had lost all my academic skills. It was difficult for me to learn anything, or to do math.</p>
<p>I failed exams regularly -- in fact, I'm now 21 and still not out of 12th grade. (I was homeschooled after illness made it too unbearable to go to school.)</p>
<p>My parents lost all confidence that I could do anything, and I became increasingly isolated from the world outside my room. They distrusted me even more when the shrinks told them I was intentionally<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…deva (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/devacntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-04-25T17:05:06Z2015-04-25T17:05:06Z<p>In Hindu mythology, the <a href="/title/Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> word <em>deva</em> means "god", cognate to the <a href="/title/Latin">Latin</a> <em>deus</em>. They are opposed by the <em>asura</em>, or "demons".</p>
<p>In <a href="/title/Buddhist+mythology">Buddhist mythology</a>, <em>deva</em> is better translated as "spirit, supernatural being", as while they're god-like beings, they are not considered the creators of the world or worthy of worship. They must also strive for <a href="/title/enlightenment">enlightenment</a>, like <a href="/title/human">human</a>s.</p>
<p>Curiously, the word <em>daeva</em> in <a href="/title/Zoroastrian+mythology">Zoroastrian mythology</a> means "demon" and <em>ahura</em> means "god"!</p>Derivative (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational/writeups/Derivativecntrationalhttp://m.everything2.com/user/cntrational2015-04-25T11:03:38Z2015-04-25T11:03:38Z<p>Derivatives can be understood in another way by using <a href="/title/infinitesimal+calculus">infinitesimal calculus</a>, which relies on <a href="/title/algebra">algebra</a> and <a href="/title/infinitesimal">infinitesimal</a>s, rather than <a href="/title/limit">limit</a>s, to define calculus. It's not as easy to extend as limit calculus, but it's more intuitive, and the results are the same.</p>
<p>Suppose you have an equation, such as y = x². If you increase x by a minute amount, what is the increase on y? To determine that increase, you use calculus.</p>
<p>Let's call the minute increase on y dy, and the minute increase on x dx. So:</p>
<p><blockquote>y + dy = (x + dx)²</blockquote></p>
<p>Multiply out (x + dx)² to get:</p>
<p><blockquote>y + dy = x² + 2x*dx + (dx)²</blockquote></p>
<p>Now, we defined dx as being <a href="/title/minutely+small">minutely small</a>. Much like how a <a href="/title/second">second</a> is minute compared to a <a href="/title/minute">minute</a>, it is even more minute compared to an <a href="/title/hour">hour</a>. So (dx)² is so small, <em>we can disregard it</em>.</p>
<p><blockquote>y + dy = x² + 2x*dx</blockquote></p>
<p>I know, that sounds like <a href="/title/real+bullshit">real bullshit</a>, but <a href="/title/bear+with+me">bear with me</a>.</p>
<p>The<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…