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10:11 AM
Hello everyone
is this GenRef?
0
A: What's the meaning of the British phrase "chuffed to bits"?

AlenannoIt's a slang expression, therefore informal, that means "very pleased". See also here.

@z7sg @GraceNote @Matt @JSBngs ?
 
:D
ok
I'm going to close it then
 
good choice :)
 
I think he couldn't find it
because
he searched "chaffed" and not "chuffed"
 
ooooo
a painfully different meaning
 
10:15 AM
why? looks up
oh
 
oh, sorry, that would be chafed
 
ah I see
 
I would not want to be chafed to bits!
 
xD
oh
the guy was kind
he said thanks twice
 
:D
that's nice
 
10:19 AM
Another guy answered
he's 1
oh he must have joined just now
 
his name is Barrie England! How apt, or nationalistic
 
eheh
 
Is this a question? I'm confused by what they want
0
Q: Can you equate words list to a profession name?

krishnajayFollowing are the list of words for which I am looking for an apt individual/group profession name. For example, a sprinter can be equated for speed. radical fresh clear clean clever svelte swift coherent courteous the pull the delight This is not a question on English, but just a word power ...

 
I don't understand
but I'm tempted to close as NARQ
 
I've voted as not constructive since it's a poll type question with no real value
They want a profession to match each word in their list - so entirely subjective. Also It won't ever help future visitors, so it's too localised too
NARQ, not constructive, too localised, off topic
I think it could sweep the board!
 
10:32 AM
xD
followed you
 
10:45 AM
Hi @Jasper :)
 
user19161
@MattЭллен Hello blond!
 
:D how odd
 
user19161
@MattЭллен It is not odd because it is even literal.
 
mathematicians!
 
user19161
I think that is my fourth use of the odd/even joke in Incomprehensible.
 
10:52 AM
at least
 
user19161
And it's nice to call this room Incomprehensible rather than the longer name.
 
there's a longer name?
 
user19161
The Incomprehensible Room > Incomprehensible. QED.
 
ah
also: English Language and Usage - aka The Incomprehensible Room
 
user19161
ahah
 
user19161
10:55 AM
Also note that ahah > ah.
 
user19161
Hahaha.
 
user19161
And Hahaha > ahah.
 
user19161
It is a world and day full of inequalities and factorials!!!
 
@Jasper Alenanno won't be please to hear that!
 
10:56 AM
why me?
 
@Alenanno because you laugh ahah, and Jasper seems to suggest that is less than hahaha
 
user19161
Very funny, we are all sober though!
 
I could hardly be drunk at work
 
:D
 
Although it might make this document I'm writing more entertaining
 
10:58 AM
yeah I do
 
11:39 AM
hey guys, guess what i'm wearing right now ?
 
Jin
@JSBᾶngs hmm i can guess...
you're wearing the super rare collector's edition of the mis-printed English.se T-shrt?
 
you're totally right
and i didn't even notice until now that it's misprinted
this is hilarious
 
:D
cool you got the package?
Come on, package! HURRY!
xD
 
Jin
yes.. out of ALL sites swag, i mis-spelled stuff on the English tshirt... how ironic
we will send you an updated shirt...
 
This is the first time I see you in here, @Jin :D
 
Jin
11:42 AM
I'm here to say "sorry...."
 
seriously, i didn't even notice until now
i'm gonna keep this as a collectors edition :)
 
I would too.
Well, I'm off to lunch, catch y'all later guys
 
 
2 hours later…
1:37 PM
@Kitḫ Aw, gee. Thanks! (And cute baby pic.)
I still don't have a working computer at home, and work is still crazy busy, so I'm afraid there's very little chatting in my foreseeable future. :/
 
Good morning all
 
mornin'
 
@Marthaª hugs we'll keep a seat warm for you!
hello fellow chatterers
 
Is that what we do here? chattery?
 
I'm chattering
 
1:42 PM
Chittlin's?
 
@simchona ewwww
 
:1916735 Surprised?
 
Kind of.
 
um, has Jasper ever actually seen a pic of @simchona? i haven't
 
1:45 PM
Well, pig's intestines will do that to you
 
Sometimes people build mental representations, "phantasies" if you will.
 
ah, well, ok
@MrShinyandNew安宇 this is true
 
@Matt Since when?
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I think you missed an "n".
 
I know a couple people who hang out here who are, perhaps, somewhat out of touch with reality
 
@simchona ha. well, i suppose a lot of people like phatties
 
1:47 PM
@simchona no wonder my spell checker flagged it :)
 
@simchona Since when do pigs intestines surprise me? All the time. I never expect pigs intestines.
 
mmm pig intestines. Right now I'm phantasizing about eating some pork sausage.
No double entendres!
 
@MattЭллен I figured you email him most, or rather he contacts you most
So I figured you know when/why
 
i don't think you're allowed to call "no double entendres" in this room
3
 
1:48 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 But now I'm thinking about it...
 
@simchona ok ok, fine. I'm cool with everyone thinking of me putting a big fat sausage into my mouth.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Is it tasty?
 
@simchona delicious. So plump and juicy
Since I'm made of lego, here is a pic of my sausage
 
And I think I missed the last removed message
 
I really wanted to see Mr. Shiny's sausage when I first opened my eyes.
Thanks guys.
 
1:54 PM
@simchona Sorry I feel really uncomfortable talking about Jasper when he's not here. He emailed me a couple of weeks ago.
 
user19161
@sim @matt I happened to see the removed messages this time. It's OK.
 
@MattЭллен well, he just showed up :)
 
@Jasper Sorry Jasper, I didn't know if you'd said anyting or not.
gah. I'm terrible at this being friends thing.
 
Hi @Jasper
Was just asking how long you've been interested. It seemed kind of sudden.
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well, reality is not well-defined. But anyway, I'm not schizophrenic.
 
1:58 PM
@Jasper That isn't what I meant. I don't think you've exhibited any mental illnesses or deficiencies.
But if we're speaking frankly, and on topic (can we do that?)
I think maybe you form, or think you form, bonds with people that are not realistic.
@aediaλ I tried to steer the topics away from double entendres but I was shouted down
 
user19161
@MattЭллен anything
 
Morning!
 
hi @Cerberus
 
Ah, @cerb! please change the subject for us. Got any greek word etymology peeves to report?
 
@MattЭллен Hi!
 
user19161
2:03 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well, I'm not unrealistic since I don't expect anything. But I have my dreams.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well, let's not start on futurama and the likes of it...
 
@Cerberus Great name, great show!
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 It's OK.
 
But the Greek...
shudders
@Jasper Everything OK in here?
 
user19161
@Cerberus Ya, there's nothing wrong. You don't understand me.
 
2:05 PM
@Jasper But we are trying so hard.....
 
user19161
Well, anyone else got anything to say, just say it too.
 
@Jasper Uh I didn't mention understanding you.
 
@Jasper I'm sorry, I didn't mean to speak out of turn
 
I was just expressing interest. I don't know what this whole conversation was all about, and I don't think I need to know.
 
@Jasper Have I offended you? Cuz If I have, sorry, I didn't mean to.
 
user19161
2:07 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 No, you didn't. And I am still the same me.
 
Good!
 
Good! And now for something completely different
 
user19161
@simchona I will email you. I'm just surprised you used "semi-obsessed" just now.
 
Aww is that you?
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 And I actually do believe in forming genuine bonds with people, bonds of all kinds, even though this is just a chat room. But it's OK if others don't feel this way.
 
2:14 PM
@Jasper My point is that a chat room is a good place to form an illusion of a bond. But it's incredibly difficult to form a real bond, it simply takes so much time. And if one thinks one has a bond, but that bond is unrequited, that can be bad.
I'm not opposed to forming bonds or forming bonds online. I'm just saying it's really hard, even in person, and harder online.
@Cerberus That's just some creation that was in my RSS feeds today.
 
Bonds are currently out-performing stocks. You should get your broker to look into it.
 
user19161
@Robusto That is a subtle way to change topic, though that may not be the intention!
 
@Jasper subtle like a hammer, maybe
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I prefer the expression "subtle like a brick in the face" personally.
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 A man's words is part of his soul too. By communicating with words, there already is a bond, however trivial.
 
2:22 PM
@Robusto Suppose I haven't got one of those... whatchamacallits? People that help me try to go broke?
 
@Jasper — I was not aiming for subtlety.
 
@Robusto Probably not American bonds!?
 
@Cerberus — Especially American bonds.
 
@Jasper I think it's a dangerous thing to believe that a person's words are part of, or even originate from, their soul. People can say anything. Especially when they are anonymous.
 
@aediaλ Stock brokers?
@Robusto That's weird... you guys are nearly broke!
 
user19161
2:24 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Agreed. But we tell lies in real life too.
 
@Kitḫ Google suggests "subtle like a brick, t-rex, t-rex myspace, train crash"
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 "subtle like t-rex myspace". i like it
 
@Cerberus — Only 50% of us are broke. The top 2% are doing fine. And isn't that what really matters?
 
I haven't heard t-rex. I rather like train crash.
 
@Robusto on the plus side, 51% of americans now pay no net taxes
 
2:25 PM
@Robusto No, because they hardly pay taxes...
 
How about "subtle like your mom "?
 
@Jasper not even lies, per se. But if I act like I care about you, is that because it's for real, or because this whole chatroom is a game?
 
@JSBᾶngs Jinx! But is it really that many??
 
I don't pay taxes. The government pays me instead.
 
subtle like an EL&U chat session
 
2:27 PM
@Cerberus it is. i just learned this. it turns out that the american tax system is more progressive than most european systems, with (now) a majority of americans paying no taxes at all
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I think most people don't really go that far. But you could say that the boundaries between seriousness and jest are vague. Then again, so they are in real life.
 
Subtle like my sexual innuendo.
 
@JSBᾶngs More progressive, really?
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I understand your point now I think. But just to add, people play games in real life too. That is also why I am disillusioned with the world in general.
 
2:27 PM
^ the top 10% of americans pay 70% of total taxes!!!!!!
 
@JSBᾶngs Isn't that just because you have more rich people and more poor people?
What is the tax rate for the highest incomes?
 
@JSBᾶngs — And they own more than 70% of the wealth.
 
@Cerberus i don't have good stats on european countries handy, but i don't believe that most european states are that heavily skewed towards top earners
@Cerb @Robusto yes and yes. i think we have a really nasty combination, actually, in which both the wealth and the tax burden are disproportionately distributed to the top
 
If you make a lot of money, say 100k+, you pay 52 % – 60 % here, depending on the parties that are in power.
What's the top rate in America?
(We have a liberal-conservative government now, and it's 52 %.)
 
@JSBᾶngs I would agree if I didn't dislike the top 2% so much.
 
2:32 PM
@Jasper I just think you need to be careful with your emotions. Don't hold them too close, but don't let them stray too far.
 
Besides, lots of wealthy people dodge taxes.
 
Sure, but they do that here too.
And companies don't pay much here.
I think Shell pays 25 % officially.
On profits.
 
Jez
Old Chinese proverb: Man who run in front of car get tired. Man who run behind car get exhausted.
 
Hah.
How does that work?
 
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yes, thank you. The middle path, or moderation, in all things. But if this room is just a game, then maybe I should not come here anymore.
 
2:36 PM
@Cerberus Some time ago I was looking at the Human Development Index (perhaps you linked us to it?) and the US is well below the Netherlands if you look at the inequality-adjusted version which takes disparities into account. (It doesn't really have to do with taxes but it shows the stark contrast in income inequality).
 
@aediaλ Hmm interesting.
 
@Jez citation needed on the Chineseousity of that proverb, I think :)
 
But it would seem very hard to assess the (detrimental) effects of income inequality on human development...
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Grammar sound nice Chinese.
 
@Cerberus I stumbled across a good article about that a little while ago, about off-record utterances (teasing) being crucial to social development and good relationships.
Forgive me if I've already told you about that.
 
@aediaλ I don't remember!
 
2:39 PM
@Cerberus I suppose they have some nice little metric for trying to do so.
@Cerberus Do you not get the joke?
 
@aediaλ That's an interesting article
 
@aediaλ Interesting... is teasing really becoming taboo in America? I'm assuming it's about America.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Hey I actually have your sausage in black.
 
@Cerberus (The one in front gets tired = run over with the tires, the one behind gets exhausted = breathes the exhaust fumes. Hence why Shiny here is pointing out that it is a "Chinese" proverb, because it depends on English puns to work.)
 
@aediaλ Actually no. I have no idea whether the men stand for tax payers or companies or something else...
 
2:44 PM
@RegDwightѬſ道 No flirting in chat.
 
@aediaλ Oh!! I didn't get the puns at all. I was reading that as cart, and thinking of comparable Stoic wisdom.
@Kitḫ Eww.
 
@Cerberus Come on. I thought you'd like that. I have one in purple. ;)
 
@Kitḫ Hey, don't look at me, it's from set 7984. Which actually has two black sausages. See if you can find them.
 
user19161
Bye everyone.
 
washes out ears with soap
@RegDwightѬſ道 Bumpers up front?
@Jasper Where you going?
 
2:48 PM
@Jasper Bai!
@RegDwightѬſ道 I am not playing "find the sausage" with you. Strictly off-limits.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 I only have my sausage in red, the one from the 2010 advent calendar. Though I think mine came with one or two spares.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, I have that set, too. A couple of them, actually. But I only ever opened one.
 
My latest acquisition, in honour of Sept 19
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I'll wait another year, till the prices drop 50%.
Right now that stuff is insanely overpriced.
Even at a 50% discount, it would be overpriced still.
 
Yeah it was 20% off at ToysRUs so I snagged it. We never see 50% off on Lego here in Canada.
 
2:55 PM
I got some sets at 75% off off of myToys.de.
 
@Cerberus I think a lot of people mistake teasing for bullying. Of course teasing can go too far, but there's often an attitude from parents that their little preciouses shan't be picked on for anything, and that's not healthy either. Especially for kids who have few siblings, they need to learn this stuff with friends, and the feeling I get is that they're almost afraid to fully play in front of adults, lest they get reprimanded.
@Jasper Later, alligator!
 
Toy Story, most notably. That's why I'm hoping for something similar to happen to PotC and Cars II.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 drools Such a discount would never occur here!
 
@aediaλ That is true; but how can you tell teasing from bullying? Wouldn't you need to look inside the teases/bullied child's mind?
 
I also resurrected this set (mostly) from the pile of Lego, it used to be my brother's, but he let me have it
 
3:01 PM
Pretty!
 
Da bomb.
 
It's from 1990. When I see it it makes me feel young again, but then REALLY REALLY old
 
Lots of pieces I don't have.
Vintage stuff.
 
I actually couldn't find maybe 5 pieces from it. But I'm sure I have them somewhere.
 
The Soviet Union was still up and running.
 
3:03 PM
Oh, and the flag is broken, the little clips broke, it's held on with tape now. And that tape was there already, so it might be a good 15 years old too.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 ...
 
hm, that brickset page says 1989. Well, we got it in '90. I remember it clearly, because we'd just moved house and there was no furniture, but we already had lego.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Haha perfect.
Am I an idle romantic, or was the old lego cooler than the new?
It seems to be moving towards Playmobil.
 
@Cerberus In the last few years I think it's gotten much cooler. The latest castle/kingdoms, the vikings, even the themed stuff (batman!), it's really sweet. The models have much improved building techniques compared to the past. Lego is learning from the AFOLs, I think.
 
Batman!?
I dunno.
AFOLs?
 
3:10 PM
@Cerberus I suppose you can't, always; you have to look at what's going on and perhaps get them to tell you how they feel. I don't like the current atmosphere because I think by, for example, forbidding kids to call each other names, you miss a really important opportunity to coach about how much teasing is too much when it's obvious someone's feelings are hurt. If adults act like that will never happen, just with discipline, they're ignoring normal human interaction.
 
@Cerberus Adult Fans of Lego
 
@Cerberus I miss the old stuff too. I'm not a fan of all the movie themed things.
 
@aediaλ Please, how can you not love the tiny minifg batman, or the Joker with a gun that has a "bang" flag?!?!?
 
@aediaλ Hmm but we can't ask children how they feel all the time. We're in a class with 30 kids running around, teasing and bullying all the time...
 
That one is rare.
 
3:14 PM
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Ah haaha, that sound funny.
@aediaλ Oh, movies, is it? I hardly ever watch movies, and never ever Hollywood ones, so I wouldn't know. But I know what Batman is about, sort of.
Never watched a Batman movie, though.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I guess that "bang" flag is kind of cute...
 
Ok, it was an expensive set, but that batwing was awesome, IMO. Very swooshable and a good representation of what a batman lego toy should be. And the minifigs were amazing. The helicopter was a little weak but it's really secondary.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Hmm it looks like it's mostly made out of a precious few enormous pieces...
 
@Cerberus Nah, it's more complicated than that. But those enormous pieces are incredibly useful too.
 
Hmm...
It's hard to gauge from the assembled structure.
 
3:26 PM
@Cerberus Clearly you have no idea. Those pieces are rather normal.
This is an enormous piece.
 
Oh my... crosses wrists in front of eyes
Why don't they just give up construction at all and just deliver the goodies all ready?
 
@Cerberus I guess I'd draw a line: I might call something teasing if it's meant to include someone (it is joking or other off-record communication; there are ways to respond to it so you're understood and included, like laughing, teasing back) and it's more like bullying if it's exclusionary (there are ways to respond, perhaps, that don't escalate it, but there is no expected way to respond that gets you included in the bully's social group).
 
And here's the inventory for the Batwing: bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=7782-1
The biggest part I can see is a 12x6 wedge.
Which is not really big at all.
 
@Cerberus And I don't mean to say that no anti-bullying program whatsoever has any effect... I'm a big fan of teaching nonviolent conflict resolution, using peer moderators, that sort of thing, and teaching people to speak up about things that aren't right. It's just the attitude that some people here seem to have, that banning it will make it go away, that annoys me.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 Yeah, the batwing was really in the style of, say, the tie fighters or x-wings in terms of complexity and good use of parts. It was a far more advanced model than, say, the City aircraft, which I always disliked
 
3:32 PM
If your kid's been tormented to the point where you have to rely on legislation that says the school should have prevented it, it's kind of too late. The fact that the rule was there doesn't DO anything. Actually teaching how to resolve problems does something.
 
@MrShinyandNew安宇 I hate those big-ass parts, and in fact I hate small-ass parts that can be easily constructed out of other parts. Alas, there is no way around getting a few here and there, if you're into collecting certain other parts I am after.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 Oh, dear. I'm with the puppy on this one. Unless it's like, one of the floating boats, I prefer my ships un-built when they arrive...
 
@aediaλ Um, read again. You're with me on this one. The puppy just has no idea either way.
 
@RegDwightѬſ道 Oh, right. I guess he's hiding.
 
Jez
I need some Bitcoin Qs to ask so I can fulfil my Bitcoin commitment.
 
3:36 PM
He's fighting many a battle in many a room.
 
@aediaλ Right, but how would you even begin to check whether a certain act is inclusive or exclusive? You usually don't know the history, as an outsider, and you don't know how the teased/bullied kid feels. The "best" bullies are experts at making it look innocent. I agree that zero tolerance is bad (I've never seen that happen, but perhaps it is something new/American?). I just think there is ultimately no real solution.
 
Jez
everything i was interested in has been asked.
 
@aediaλ I am certainly in favour of talking about it a lot with kids, in groups and alone. Oh, and what do you think about watching a (short) film about a kid who is being bullied in very mean ways, and about how some other kid helps him in the end? Could that be an effective way of making non-bullied children understand how it can be a serious problem? Just talking about it may not reach them well enough. They may sort of laugh it off in private.
 
@Cerberus I would definitely only use film to supplement other activities like a story/discussion, and only if the film is short and relatively up-to-date in appearance. (Anything old or corny about educational movies, as I recall, can be distracting to the point of giggles, which probably would not help this message.)
 
> During their 15 seconds of humiliation, the targets of teasing displayed common signs of embarrassment — gaze aversion; a coy, nervous smile; a hand touching the face; a head bowed submissively so as to expose the neck; and blushing. These gestures are ancient signs of appeasement that trigger a reconciliation response in most mammals, as they did in our study. The more targets showed these evanescent signs of embarrassment, the more the teasers liked them.
This is interesting. It is about frat boys teasing each other, from your article.
@aediaλ Right, a modern film.
But you sound like you're not a huge fan of using film in general?
 
3:50 PM
I think it doesn't work as well for kids as grownups think it does.
 
i'm being hunted!
 
@MichaelMyers Live life to it's fullest? How poetic and orthographically interesting...
 
> For the record, it looks like his other arm says "Leave Your Legacy," and we're pretty sure there are no creatively placed apostrophes on that side. That's too bad, because "Leave You're Legacy" would have been a tremendous counterpart to "Live Life to it's Fullest," no?
 
That would be the ultimate, mature self-mockery.
It would almost be art.
 
3:57 PM
But alas, now he's merely the butt of jokes about Arizona State University.
 
> And in a separate study, partners who managed to tease each other during a conflict — for example, over money or an infidelity — felt more connected after the conflict than those couples who resorted to the earnest criticism many therapists recommend. Teasing actually serves as an antidote to toxic criticism that might otherwise dissolve an intimate bond.
@MichaelMyers Is that guy in college? Ouch.
 
I liked the article because I think it's right about both those parts.
 
@aediaλ Hmm no? Why not?
@aediaλ I agree that directness isn't always good.
 
@Cerberus You disagree with what you just quoted?
 
@z7sgѪ Oops!
I forgot the word/suffix "n't"!
 
4:01 PM
ah, fix'd :)
sometimes i forget whole when i'm typing
i say them in my head but they drop off the page
 
@Cerberus It's hard to sit still and stare at a screen for most educational videos. They're plodding, and long. They go through so many dry facts. You just know you're going to be tested or going to have to write a summary or something, but some guy with really 80s hair is driving a red car down a meandering road while talking about butterfly reproduction, and the kid behind me is kicking the back of my seat out of boredom, and hey, my friend just passed me a note!
 
@z7sgѪ I accidentally half of what I'm trying to all the time. And I usually even the most important words.
 
hehe gotcha
 
@aediaλ No, no, I was thinking of drama, not something literally educational! Just a gripping film of a kid that gets bullied, with decent actors and a decent plot—no voice-overs, lessons, dry facts, or anything. Just an example, with which kids may sympathize more easily.
 
Jez
Anyone (cerb?) know whether Dutch has as many nautical terms as English? Given their history I'd expect it to be even more sea-dominated.
 
4:06 PM
@Cerberus As long as it's quick and you use it for reinforcement and don't expect it to do the initial teaching, I will permit it ;)
 
@Jez I believe you borrowed a great many nautical terms from us. Yes, we do have loads. And a great many metaphors too.
@aediaλ Haha but you still don't like it.
I remember learning stuff from such films as a kid.
 
Jez
@Cerberus metaphors such as...?
 
@Jez Dat gaat voor de wind = that goes before the wind = that goes very well.
Etc. etc.
 
@Cerberus Perhaps my experience is colored by so many very, very terrible videos that we watched in health class. They were supposed to teach us about negotiating all sorts of interpersonal situations and all I remember is that we made fun of them mercilessly. "Your parents aren't going to be at the party, Jane? Well I am sorry, but I am not permitted to attend." "I am sorry, Bob, we'll miss you there." Cue laughter from all of us.
 
Jez
ah
 
4:09 PM
Expressions and half expressions that are metaphors of sailing.
@aediaλ Yeah they shouldn't be like that at all!! Not corny or teachy or anything.
You could let them watch part of a real cinema film with bullying in it.
Or the whole film. And talk about it afterwards.
@aediaλ We once had this "class" where we were supposed to talk about how the class functioned as a group and whether people were happy in the group. We totally didn't accept that, we laughed and mocked it into oblivion.
It didn't help that this class was led by a stranger.
We imitated her for years afterwards.
 
@Cerberus Kes
@aediaλ That sounds really quite weird. Isn't growing up all about learning that stuff?!
 
@z7sgѪ That sounds very sad.
@z7sgѪ Perhaps it is something American?
 
@z7sgѪ They wanted to teach us in middle school how to cope with peer pressure or something, so they had us watch these ineffective films. Peer pressure was what everyone used to be worried about before bullying became the new fad.
I was so bored that I once wrote a short story about a kid who was pressured into climbing up a water tower against his better judgment, and felt sick to his stomach doing it, and broke his leg or something, and his friend went to see him and told him that she felt guilty that she had been complicit in making him do something she was also scared to do, but their other friends who had been there egging him on basically disowned her for admitting it.
I remember this because it was like, a one paragraph assignment or something, and my teacher was so excited at my story she practically cried.
 
4:31 PM
Oh, dear. I recognize this enthusiasm from parents/teachers at what the kid himself (I) regarded as inane but did just because he had to.
 
@Cerberus It was always easy to get through school because they were so easily amused, right?
Silly grownups! I'm never going to be one!
 
Hear, hear!
 
4:53 PM
@Cerberus That sounds kind of awful.
I was trying to look for a peer mediation activity or lesson plan for you to look at, but I can't remember the right words. Or all the ones I've ever done (mostly at Quaker summer peace camp type activities) were out of books.
@Cerberus I did at least remember HIPP (there are a few sample lessons so you can see an idea of what it is), which is a kids' program spawned from the Alternatives to Violence Project, which is a conflict resolution program that was started for prison inmates and is now used in other places.
 
@aediaλ We felt she was an intruder. We found her questions and games childish. We were still fairly subtle about it: we didn't really chase her away or anything, but we just didn't accept it and didn't really participate the way we were supposed to.
 
Oh, here if you scroll down are the principles of HIPP (same as AVP I think).
 
Hmm...
Do these methods have scientifically proven results?
 
@Cerberus I didn't mean the laughing was awful... I meant the talking as a group about how the class was working sounded like a terrible idea. How are you supposed to say the whole class is doing, or even worse, say how some other kid is? You can report on your own experience and the leader should be assessing the whole.
 
I suppose that's very hard to measure.
@aediaλ Oh. Perhaps I was explaining it wrong. I don't really remember much of it.
Just that anything vaguely related to psychology incited vigorous mocking.
 
5:06 PM
@Cerberus I believe for AVP there are some studies showing that it reduces recidivism, but it's hard to measure that it reduces violence in other groups, like the kids' programs.
Perhaps there are instances where the program has been offered to one cohort and not another, but I imagine it's hard to get funding for a study, and the programs are usually led by volunteers.
 
Yeah.
I really have no idea.
 

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