2) Psychological research has done immense harm, but it's also brought mental healthcare out of the stone age of arbitrary, cruel punishment - since 1 in 4 people will suffer a mental health problem at some time in their life, this is seriously significant shit;
Scatological references aside, it's probably important to note that psychological research, with it's emphasis on "normal" human mental activity, and psyhciatric research, which deals specifically with mental illness, are really not the same thing anymore (if they ever were). While neither field has made much headway in understanding the causes of mental illness, psychiatry has at least managed to evolve some forms of treatment based on purely empirical data.
Psychology, on the other hand, has probably done more harm than good at this point. Insisting on its continuing relevance, psychologists have supported the mental illness advocacy groups in their largely successful attempts to dismantle our mental health institutions. Even the few remaining hospitals that are left are encumbered by the focus on "active" treatments (sitting around talking), that leave doctors with little time to see their patients each day.
I suppose it's like a lot of other social programs (welfare, food stamps, etc), where attempts to make them more "efficient" or "accountable" or "respectful" of the participants have resulted in a an actual decline in the program's efficacy.
In fairness, this has always been the case, largely because the Chinese arsenal was always fairly limited in scope, and even if they've modernized, there's been no sign that they've expanded.
Which makes sense, when you think about it. China built nukes in the Cold War to prove that she could, but it was always an open question if they were aimed at us or the Soviets. These days, she has even less use for them. I suppose the Russians might still be a target if China wanted Siberia's resources, but the largest single holder of US Treasuries is unlikely to nuke the US. In general, China is an export economy, and really any disruption of the global economy would be highly undesirable from her point of view.
China's nuclear forces have always been more about status and deterrence (more the former I suspect), and for those things, a large, expensive force is just unnecessary.
There's a neat little transcoder called PlayOn (playon.tv) that connects to a whole host of online broadcasts, including all of the major cable and broadcast networks, Netflix, Hulu, and a few other things.
Obviously, this is not a perfect solution, but it does allow Netflix to run via XBMC (or another UPNP frontend), and while you have a somewhat limited choice of episodes with the broadcast networks (usually only the last three episodes plus another one or two "important" episodes), the commercials at least show a countdown timer.
If they have a local office, it would be great if 5000 (or maybe more) people all showed up the day after they were delivered to return them.
Agreed. But there's no reason for it to stop there.
If everyone who receives one of these (and doesn't want one) makes that little extra effort to return to sender, it would become a persistent problem, much like landfills, junk mail, and waste paper are for citizens and government. Having to deal with one bad day might get their attention. Having to deal with the problem, day in and day out, every day is going to motivate them to find a solution.
I know the feeling. I actually was silly enough to trust my students with a take-home essay exam. I had three students turn in identical responses. Not mostly the same, but an identical series of essays that matched right down the the fonts.
When I confronted them, the answer I got was that they didn't think they had done anything wrong -- collaborative work was OK.
I'm still flabbergasted by that little episode.
Same here. That's what eventually led me (grumping and grousing the whole time about pointless 3D and lack of party control) to try NWN.
It turned out to have most of the advantages of the Baldur's Gate games (good gameplay, interface, etc) and it was infinitely expandable. As long as IGN keeps the NWVault up, you literally have access to a lifetime's worth of new stories. There are still modules being added to this day, and the quality of the best is actually better than the stuff that Bioware wrote (though still short of BG)
You could always try the original Neverwinter Nights from Bioware. Though it doesn't feel as much like D&D as the Baldur's Gate Series (only the original AD&D rules feel right to me), NWN probably has the largest collection of user-generated modules you'll ever find outside a PnP campaign.
Plus, the modules are all conveniently available for downloading thanks to IGN, which keeps an online vault service for them. NWN is old, and the graphics is nothing much compared to a modern game, but the gameplay is solid, singleplayer is a viable option for as long as you want to download new modules, Bioware still provides online forums for the game, and there are still a number of long-running multiplayer persistent worlds that have all the advantages of a MMORPG without the corporate involvement.
IMHO, had it not been for the involvement of Atari, with it's gift for turning gold into lead, and WotC, who are your typical corporate slimeballs, the game could have been the best thing to happen to D&D since the release of the Advanced ruleset. As it is, the game is still fantastic, but it's future uncertain.
Slashdot Mirror
2) Psychological research has done immense harm, but it's also brought mental healthcare out of the stone age of arbitrary, cruel punishment - since 1 in 4 people will suffer a mental health problem at some time in their life, this is seriously significant shit;
Scatological references aside, it's probably important to note that psychological research, with it's emphasis on "normal" human mental activity, and psyhciatric research, which deals specifically with mental illness, are really not the same thing anymore (if they ever were). While neither field has made much headway in understanding the causes of mental illness, psychiatry has at least managed to evolve some forms of treatment based on purely empirical data.
Psychology, on the other hand, has probably done more harm than good at this point. Insisting on its continuing relevance, psychologists have supported the mental illness advocacy groups in their largely successful attempts to dismantle our mental health institutions. Even the few remaining hospitals that are left are encumbered by the focus on "active" treatments (sitting around talking), that leave doctors with little time to see their patients each day.
I suppose it's like a lot of other social programs (welfare, food stamps, etc), where attempts to make them more "efficient" or "accountable" or "respectful" of the participants have resulted in a an actual decline in the program's efficacy.
In fairness, this has always been the case, largely because the Chinese arsenal was always fairly limited in scope, and even if they've modernized, there's been no sign that they've expanded.
Which makes sense, when you think about it. China built nukes in the Cold War to prove that she could, but it was always an open question if they were aimed at us or the Soviets. These days, she has even less use for them. I suppose the Russians might still be a target if China wanted Siberia's resources, but the largest single holder of US Treasuries is unlikely to nuke the US. In general, China is an export economy, and really any disruption of the global economy would be highly undesirable from her point of view.
China's nuclear forces have always been more about status and deterrence (more the former I suspect), and for those things, a large, expensive force is just unnecessary.
There's a neat little transcoder called PlayOn (playon.tv) that connects to a whole host of online broadcasts, including all of the major cable and broadcast networks, Netflix, Hulu, and a few other things.
Obviously, this is not a perfect solution, but it does allow Netflix to run via XBMC (or another UPNP frontend), and while you have a somewhat limited choice of episodes with the broadcast networks (usually only the last three episodes plus another one or two "important" episodes), the commercials at least show a countdown timer.
If they have a local office, it would be great if 5000 (or maybe more) people all showed up the day after they were delivered to return them.
Agreed. But there's no reason for it to stop there.
If everyone who receives one of these (and doesn't want one) makes that little extra effort to return to sender, it would become a persistent problem, much like landfills, junk mail, and waste paper are for citizens and government. Having to deal with one bad day might get their attention. Having to deal with the problem, day in and day out, every day is going to motivate them to find a solution.
I know the feeling. I actually was silly enough to trust my students with a take-home essay exam. I had three students turn in identical responses. Not mostly the same, but an identical series of essays that matched right down the the fonts. When I confronted them, the answer I got was that they didn't think they had done anything wrong -- collaborative work was OK. I'm still flabbergasted by that little episode.
Same here. That's what eventually led me (grumping and grousing the whole time about pointless 3D and lack of party control) to try NWN.
It turned out to have most of the advantages of the Baldur's Gate games (good gameplay, interface, etc) and it was infinitely expandable. As long as IGN keeps the NWVault up, you literally have access to a lifetime's worth of new stories. There are still modules being added to this day, and the quality of the best is actually better than the stuff that Bioware wrote (though still short of BG)
You could always try the original Neverwinter Nights from Bioware. Though it doesn't feel as much like D&D as the Baldur's Gate Series (only the original AD&D rules feel right to me), NWN probably has the largest collection of user-generated modules you'll ever find outside a PnP campaign. Plus, the modules are all conveniently available for downloading thanks to IGN, which keeps an online vault service for them. NWN is old, and the graphics is nothing much compared to a modern game, but the gameplay is solid, singleplayer is a viable option for as long as you want to download new modules, Bioware still provides online forums for the game, and there are still a number of long-running multiplayer persistent worlds that have all the advantages of a MMORPG without the corporate involvement. IMHO, had it not been for the involvement of Atari, with it's gift for turning gold into lead, and WotC, who are your typical corporate slimeballs, the game could have been the best thing to happen to D&D since the release of the Advanced ruleset. As it is, the game is still fantastic, but it's future uncertain.