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Ranting Thread
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Ranting Thread
Ranting Thread
just a title. no explination needed.
(I might rant about plasma later)
submitted by Darkvine, age idk, the Lost City of Night
(January 5, 2023 - 4:02 pm)
(January 5, 2023 - 4:02 pm)
Is this unusual?
I hate the sound of forks scraping on plates or on teeth.
And I'm afraid of bugs. Bees, spiders, LoVeBuGs--
Those are the creepiest... *shudder*
(January 9, 2023 - 4:29 pm)
(January 14, 2023 - 9:41 pm)
(January 15, 2023 - 7:53 pm)
Dinosaurs are related to birds. Saying that will cause confusion in a normal crowd. But (the surprising part) it’s true, it’s scientifically proven that dinosaurs are related to birds. Paleontologists have found many fossils that show (Acheroraptor, Confuciusornis, to name a few) clearly the relationship between dinosaurs and birds: claws; for example, are found on dinosaurs and early (and modern) birds. Modern birds have claws? Well, if you look at the skeleton of a bird you see that the three claws that dinosaurs had are fused together. Paleontologists have also found a Velociraptor with a wishbone! New discoveries show that even T. rex had one too. So what’s the big deal with this wishbone? Well, birds are the only living creatures to have them. That right, birds are the only living creatures to have them, more evidence that birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Therefore since birds have feathers dinosaurs must have them too!
(January 15, 2023 - 7:55 pm)
YES! Fun fact: raptors (which is what Peregrine Falcons are, amongst others) are allegedly more closely related to dinosaurs than other birds!
(January 15, 2023 - 9:32 pm)
I actually know that!! It's so fun to tell people that I see dinosaurs every day. Question (that you don't have to answer): do you like jays? Blue jays, Eurasian jays, Canada jays, Steller's jays etc. (Sorry I'm just obsessed with birds)
(January 16, 2023 - 5:27 pm)
Yessss, partial inspiration for my name actually! Bluebells and bluejays; take the "blue" out of both and squish them together; then you got Jaybells! I do love birds and the idea of flight so much though!
I also had a blue pet Budgie until recently, half-fun half-sad fact. :/
(January 26, 2023 - 1:59 am)
Jay: Hehe, we love jays. All kinds of them!
Chaser: After all, his name is Jay.
~Chaser & Jay
(February 6, 2023 - 8:41 am)
I have no idea why American/British society insists on this idea that teenagers have to be unhappy and unintelligent. It's been scientifically proven that adolescence and young adulthood is when people are smartest, and it's also when you have most energy and positivity, or at least it should be. I personally love being a teenager. I don't have to have all the responsibilities of being an adult, but I don't have to be so restricted as when I was younger. It's also really nice because I get to find out more about what the world is like, and there's so much that I'm able to do and write and read and learn about, and I have my whole life ahead of me still--
It's really sad that this society should define as "dark and unhappy" something that is actually one of the happiest and most beautiful parts of life - the part when you're blossoming out into the person you're going to be. Society doesn't define it as "dark and unhappy" in Mexico, or Spain or France or in the world in general, except where people have gotten influenced by movies or books with this idea that teenagers are bothersome and useless. I guess I should say traditionally it's not like that in other parts of the world.
I think that our perception of adolescents should change.
Iffy says "odkwi." Iffy how dare you call me an odd kwi?? (whatever a kwi is)
(January 25, 2023 - 6:00 pm)
Imma argue, not necessarily because I disagree with everything you said—some of it I do, and some I don't, but because I like arguing :)
I personally am often very frustrated at being a teenager. I'm a pretty young teenager, and it's induced absolutely nothing in my parents. I'm older than I used to be, but they don't let me do any more things. I'm old enough to understand how the world works, to broaden my horizons, but I'm not old enough (or allowed) to actually do things. I'm just old enough to see what I could be doing, to see people doing those things. What joy.
More generally, however, adolescents in current generations have statistically higher rates of things like drug usage or depression. The modern world isn't always a happy place, and this especially manifests itself in the younger generations, who are more susceptible to things parroted around on the internet, along with being affected by not fully developed brains to make good decisions. Seeing bad ideas + not caring that it's a bad idea = executing bad ideas. Also, teenagers have no legal standing—their parents/guardians can control anything and everything about their life. So if they have abusive or harmful parents/guardians/enviornment, that can be very painful and nearly impossible to get out of.
I'm extremely fortunate in where and how I live. I'm not subject to many of the dark things that exist in our world, but many other teenagers out there are. There is no hope in having your whole life ahead of you if you can't get out into the world for various reasons.
(January 25, 2023 - 9:47 pm)
yes yay arguing whee
although I suppose the correct term is "debating." Speaking of which is anyone interested in topping that old debating thread?? it was quite fun~
Anyway, you have interesting arguments! I hadn't thought of the "helicopter parenting" aspect of being a teen, probably because I'm lucky in having parents whose decisions about my responsibility I know I can trust. I have indeed noticed, though, that there are parents who don't give their children enough freedom to make their own decisions, which is odd because they often give babies and toddlers way too much independence. If you ask me, allowing mothers to stay home with their toddlers, instead of dumping the toddlers in preschool, would lead to far happier and stronger children, who can then be given more responsibility once they grow older.
At the same time, though, it is well known that teenagers tend to think that they are capable of more than they really are. I'm not saying this is true in your case, but it may be true in other cases. Have you read the Greek myth of Apollo and Phoebus? It's a rather dire story about the typical teenage boy who thinks he can do anything, but can't. The modern equivalent would be a teenager who buys his/her own car and then dies in a car crash. There are other examples - as you pointed out, there are many dark things in the world (although I prefer not to focus on them). Teenagers don't always grasp the seriousness of the dangers they could meet if they do things on their own, because they're not mature enough yet. Even adults don't always grasp the seriousness of dangers they could meet, but they can often do it better and have a responsibility to protect their children during those few last years of growing up. Sometimes parents' choices are actually valid, even though their childen may not realize.
If teenagers have higher rates of drug usage and depression, that is the fault of how they were brought up, not an intrinsic part of being a teenager. For example, if you're brought up to believe that when you become a teenager, you will become depressed, you probably will become depressed. Moreover, when one looks at the world and sees how current governments are handling important issues, it is rather depressing, regardless of your age.
I agree that young people are very susceptible to what they see on the internet, but teenagers, especially older onees, do have fairly developed brains - as I said, it's been scientifically proven that human brains work best from about the age of 15 to 25. What they often don't have is a fully developed moral/ethical code, but again, that's the fault of how they were brought up. As for having an abusive family or environment, that would of course be terrible and society has to find ways to fix that, but most teenagers are not in this sort of situation, even though they are expected to be just as unhappy as if they were. Compared to the lives of teens in many other places, such as war zones or poverty-stricken countries, most American teenagers lead marvelously luxurious and comfortable lives. Although they have their difficulties, just like anyone, they ought to be able to put them in context and consequently find that they are not very important difficulties. This would enable them to enjoy all the beautiful and interesting things there are in the world, and thus enjoy life.
(January 27, 2023 - 8:17 pm)
I enjoyed the debating thread as well. Maybe we should top it again.
Yeah, my parents are the type that doesn't allow their kids very much freedom. Their decisions are smart and loving, to an extent, but after a while it just becomes too much. It's really annoying, especially becuase I have an older brother (who was usually almost as controlled as I am, but he went off to college this year and I get to hear about all the cool/slightly dumb things he's doing and wish I could do them too). I also go to school instead of being homeschooled, so I again get to see the spectrum of parent controlling and where I fall on it (far end). I'm not always the smartest or well-behaved kid (but I'm still way more responsible than many other kids my age or older, probably including my brother) because there's so many things I'm not allowed to do that I do some of them without my parent's knowledge. For example, my parents don't know I'm on the CB :(. I feel guilty about this of course, but y'all are such an amazing community and I don't want to give you up because I know my parents probably wouldn't let me be on here if they did know.
And I think I liked preschool—they had so much playdoh. And model trains and things. It was fun. I think mothers shouldn't be required to stay with their kids—parenting should be a joint venture, and besides, the mothers (assuming there is a mother in that family) should be allowed to work or whatever. I think the work load falls heavily on the mother, and that's not fair.
It's also true what you said, that teenagers think they can do more than they actually can. I definitely do, to some extent—although I could probably do most of the things I'd like to without hitches. But I propose self-correcting mechanisms, such as if you stay up really late playing video games, you won't finish your homework & you'll be really tired, enducing you to not stay up really late playing video games next time. For something more drastic like a car crash, that doesn't really work, but there are all sorts of tests and required hours of practice for preventing that. Also, if parents just brought you on the road to what you want to do, easing you in—like showing you how to do it a few times before letting you do it yourself—not only would the kid be happy (me! yay! I can finally do things!), but the parent would also be happy (yay! my lil' kid's being so grown up! and so safely, too!).
Yeah, governmental issues are rather depressing for everyone.
Social media has become so much more prevelant recently, and studies show that it can cause depression. One main reason of this is seeing so many 'pretty', perfect, flawless, and skilled people out there. Social media and advertisements parrot around the stereotypical 'beautiful' people and we're all left staring at them, wondering what is it we don't have. Social media brings those people to the forefront of our mind and we compare ourselves to them—or to what we think they are, because of course they're human too and must suffer from some of the same problems, but we don't see that when we look at them. They're pretty, perfect, people who are good at everything, and we're sucky, ugly, monsters who can't do even the simplest things well.
And it's true, I have a very very very priveledged life, and so do many people. I should be finding ways to enjoy life to the fullest, but it's sometimes hard. I don't think it's human nature to always see the best in things.
(January 28, 2023 - 1:32 pm)
(January 25, 2023 - 8:47 pm)
I'm hopping on the debate train, if you don't mind! Though I guess this isn't really an actual argument I'm about to make. I do think it's a stereotype that all teenagers are edgy and depressed. However, every person experiences their teenage years differently, and I'm glad yours is going great! For me personally, so far it's had both the best highs and the worst lows. I also must disagree on your point that if a kid thinks that their teenage years will be depressing, they're going to be - because depression can be an actual medical thing and not just an emotion (I have firsthand experience with that). Basically what I'm trying to say is that everyone experiences life differently, so not everyone's perspectives are going to be the same!
(January 28, 2023 - 7:25 pm)
@Sterling, yes, hop on the debate train!! The more the merrier! I agree that everyone's perspectives are different, and the pleasantness of one's teenage years will depend a lot on the person's situation. I do agree that depression can be related to physical causes, not just emotional ones - like if you don't have enough Vitamin D during the winter months, when there's not as much sunlight. But I'm not completely sure that all cases of medical depression are actually caused by anything other than human nature. I think that it's normal and human to feel depressed sometimes - it appears in literature, for example, as far back as Shakespeare. But I do think it gets worse if it is seen as a medical issue, because the depressed person may subconsciously see it as something weird or harmful rather than just a temporary mood. It may be that giving depressed teenagers an ultra-loving, caring family, a network of fun and supportive friends, lots of parties and enjoyable outings/trips with these friends and relations, and a motive in life (for example, trying to stop climate change within one's neighborhood), would help them more than the prescription drugs that many take to cure depression. For example, Mexican teens have traditionally had all of the above, and traditionally they have rarely, if ever experienced "depression," other than the occasional sadness or moodiness typical of all humans. Many American teens, on the other hand, experience stress, loneliness, ill health (obesity, malnutrition, colds, flus, strep throat), isolation, peer pressure, etc, on a regular basis, all of which must make depression far more common and far worse, even in cases where the depression is a medical thing. (They don't have to be subjected to all these depressing things, though - it is possible to change them.) That's just my hypothesis, though. I don't really know anything about it, so please feel free to correct me if my wild ideas are completely incorrect, or ask me if anything needs clarifying!
@Hex, yep, I agree that it would be a good move on the parents' part to allow their children to explore the world a bit more, if a way could be found to strike a balance between too much independence and too little. Also, yes, social media is just so depressing, which is one of the reasons I don't have any, other than the CB. I think parents could make their children happier by keeping them off social media. However, parents shouldn't just ban their children from going on social media or doing other things that may have negative consequences. The parents should explain their reasons for their decisions in a clear, loving way, making it clear WHY their decisions will protect their children. Once the children have become teenagers, though, parents should leave the decision ultimately up to the teenagers themselves. That way the teenagers won't feel restricted, will learn about responsibility, and will (hopefully voluntarily) do the right thing. That's what my parents have always done with me, and in most cases, after a bit of thinking, I've come round to their point of view. Parents can also take steps to educate their children about certain issues like social media, even before their children confront them about these issues, so that they can answer the children's questions and help them understand the negative effects, thereby allowing their children to have the criteria to make good decisions.
As for the preschool bit, some toddlers may do better than others there, of course. I think in general, though, they shouldn't be separated from their mothers at such a young age, as it may lead to unconscious feelings of abandonment or lack of an intimate, caring support network of family members. Young children don't understand the whole "Mommy needs to go to work" thing. Mothers should definitely be allowed to work if they want to, and generally they are. allowed to. Oddly enough, however, they're not encouraged to stay home with their young children. It used to be that women were brainwashed into thinking they should get married and keep house; now they're brainwashed into thinking they MUST be scientists or inventors or whatever. Society doesn't even consider the possibility that a woman may actually want to take care of her children at home during their toddlerhood, which is odd. Also, women usually choose to have children - I think once the child is born, mothers (AND fathers ) have a responsibility to give that child all their time and care, at least for its first few years. It would be best if parents were allowed to stop working after they have a baby so they can work on being a really happy, loving family, instead of never having any time for each other.
(Sorry this is so long, admins!!)
(January 31, 2023 - 7:41 pm)