I'll start. Fahrenheit is the superior temperature system for weather reporting. We should use metric for literally everything else, even Celsius for cooking, but I'll be dead in the cold ground before I abandon a system in which you actually get to experience both 0 degrees and 100 degrees. Freezing being 32 instead of 0 is literally the only downside, and it's not a hard number to remember. I'm prepared to die on this hill in the comments.

    • 0xACAB [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Community was still Dan Harmons superior work tbh

      • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I liked most of community from what I saw but the formula got stale for me after a while.

    • Fakename_Bill [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      I wholeheartedly agree. The obnoxious fans who make everyone hate the show are the men who idolize Rick, and don't realize that the show is in part a satire of people like them.

      • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I don't have a very high IQ but I'm pretty sure the unity episode is about how communism is good and rugged individualism ruins everything.

  • sappho [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    The vast majority of mental illnesses are caused by trauma. Our entire society is fundamentally trauma-engendering because many of our primary life-or-death drives center around life in a tribe, and we have decimated our number and quality of social relations as well as our connection to meaningful communal labor. This concept of trauma-induced illness has been actively suppressed in psychology literally since Freud and still is today (see: why CPTSD is not in the DSM-V). If the human race continues to advance scientifically, modern day psychiatric care with its myopic emphasis on mysterious "chemical imbalances" will eventually be considered as barbaric as the use of asylums.

  • Mencoh [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    A lot of Westerners who admire Japanese culture (beyond anime) just enjoy the thought of a country where everyone is polite to them and never confronts them over anything. They don't mind sacrificing deeper human connection as long as they can secure a comfortable air of civility, and many of them also have raw consumption as a hobby in the form of new restaurants or tourist marketing novelties.

    Redditors seem to fit this bill when they enjoy stuff like Japanese bus drivers working for free as protest, which doesn't inconvenience anyone except the protestors and is thus seen as good.

    Nine times out of ten when I meet someone who gushes about Japan, I can already predict how every interaction with them is going to be.

      • Mencoh [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Westerners have completely romanticized it, it’d be really difficult (at least for me) to live there.

        They have no doubt. When I first arrived in Japan I walked into a fast-food restaurant thinking it was empty, and when I walked upstairs with my food I saw it jam-packed. Everyone was sitting quietly, nobody talking, staring down and eating like clockwork. A few nights prior I'd gotten drunk with a Korean and watched him jump off a table on a bar in Busan, so I've always had an affinity for Korea that I don't hold for Japan as I've seen streaks of exuberance and brutal honesty in the culture.

        These qualities are of course neither good or bad, save for your personal feelings on them. But I think a reticent culture attracts Westerners who enjoy not having their bubble popped or their knees scraped ideologically.

          • Mencoh [none/use name]
            ·
            4 years ago

            If I admire a quality of someone who grew up in an East Asian culture it's that they're typically modest about their endeavors in comparison to Americans, including me. I've regularly hung out with friends for months and never knew they did stuff on the side like machine learning and highly-intensive hobbies unless you directly ask them about it. They just do it, they don't advertise.

            One should take care to avoid stereotypes when discussing this stuff, but I think it's apt to say that different cultures encourage different qualities on average.

    • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      I tend to like a lot of japanese punk and alt music. i'll watch anime no more or less than western media. I want to learn some of the language just to find music easier. I'm constantly afraid of being seen as a weeb because having an equivalent interest in say spanish, german, or russian music wouldn't be seen as so odd.

      I'd like to visit japan some day, but I don't want to sit around jerkin it in a pokemon store.

      Please disregard my username, chapochat came online when I just finished a rewatch of eva.

      • Mencoh [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        I’m constantly afraid of being seen as a weeb because having an equivalent interest in say spanish, german, or russian music wouldn’t be seen as so odd.

        If I had a thing for any country it would be Russia. I've studied the language, visited with plans to return, and I'm aware of the stereotypes associated with that. When you think of the average white American male who enjoys Russian culture, I'm sure you can conjure up a somewhat-specific image of him.

        I don't think it's weird or wrong to be attracted to a certain culture, but I believe a reserved and polite culture can sometimes draw a certain type of person for reasons that annoy me. It could definitely be an unpopular opinion.

        • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I have an on and off hobby of fixing watches and my favorite type are the old soviet watches, which gets weird looks at times. Its not even a "oh me commie, me do commie watch", I just think that they're really interesting and have different design philosophies that are so much more simple, yet work just as well, if not better.

          i guess I like things from all over?

        • LeninWalksTheWorld [any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          oh god please tell me the stereotype because I'm a major Russophile and I'm not shy about it.

          • Mencoh [none/use name]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Either ultra left-wing or ultra right-wing is I guess how I'd be perceived depending on the person. But I've been perceived as extremely right-wing in the past because I'm white, middle-class, am RBF as fuck and I dress conservatively (jeans, button-up, no piercings or tattoos, short hair, etc.). The irony is usually those who find me too right-wing think Bernie was too extreme, whereas I found Bernie not left enough.

            • LeninWalksTheWorld [any]
              ·
              4 years ago

              ah well I guess the stereotype holds lol. I'm a dude with longish hair so I think I avoid looking like fash. I don't do myself any favors in that department with my love of olive drab though lol.

    • CatherineTheSoSo [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      Eh, I don't know much about Japan but the first stereotypes that come to mind are discipline, a sense of honour and duty people have to their work and the fact that it's a culture that is weird to a westerner despite being a first world nation. It's not surprising that those things appeal to a certain kind of personality, shall I say more categorising than empathising, the kind of personality many nerds have.

      Also, is the whole "lack of personal connections" thing fair? That just sounds like a harmful stereotype.

      • Mencoh [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Also, is the whole “lack of personal connections” thing fair? That just sounds like a harmful stereotype.

        Not to be argumentative, but how? Immediately calling it a harmful stereotype and dismissing it is to me more of a thought-terminating cliche. That's an easy out instead of making further observation. To me it's basic logic: A Westerner who doesn't know Japanese isn't going to go to Japan and have close-knit connections as easily with a culture known for its polite but distant mannerisms.

        I've lived in Korea for years; while the country has its great qualities, foreigners -- particularly Westerners -- overestimate the bonds they forge. Japanese and to an extent Korean culture isn't about direct confrontation and typically I've observed that if a negative comment can be framed in a more positive manner, it will be attempted. If a woman doesn't like a beard on a Western man, she may repeatedly make seemingly-nonchalant comments about, "Oh, so much hair." I myself have bad RBF and always get comments about how little I smile while they backpedal how little they like it when I ask what they mean.

        Part of Korean culture also is its hospitality. I can't find this, but there were conflict models I once saw mapped for various countries and one Korea's stages during interpersonal dynamics was "Tell the other person what you think they want to hear". This echoes in what friends have told me about their Korean co-workers complimenting how good their Korean is. The thing is, their Korean sucks. But they don't always grasp the difference between someone being sincere and someone simply mollifying them.

        When you throw in the fact that many long-term travelers in East Asia inevitably come from places of social and financial privilege, you've got a perfect recipe for -- I don't know how to label it succinctly -- a Karen personality. Someone who wants the world to be one giant customer service desk for them.

    • kilternkafuffle [any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      A lot of Westerners who admire Japanese culture (beyond anime) just enjoy the thought of a country where everyone is polite to them and never confronts them over anything.

      You said "a lot" as opposed to "all", so maybe I shouldn't feel the need to disagree. But I'm a Japanophile and this doesn't ring true for me at all. (I don't think I'm a "weeb", I consume some anime/jRPGs, but it's a minority of the things I'm interested in.) I enjoy the sound of the Japanese language, Japanese music, the taste and style of Japanese food, the Japanese approach to religion and spirituality, philosophies of simplicity, asceticism, and everyone taking care of each other, the architecture and atmosphere of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, the creativity of modern Japanese art that's Westernized and yet still unique...

      Where I would criticize my Japanophilia (and at least that of some others) is that it is "raw consumption", I'm not interested in becoming Japanese and know that Japanese media and cultural products aren't a true reflection of Japanese society. (Billions of people around the world are the same way with American culture - love Batman and McDonalds, have no idea what it's like to be American.) So it's a bit of a fantasy world - Japan's projection of itself is appealing. But saying it's just politeness, or anime, or ramen or whatever is caricaturing the many different things you can enjoy about Japanese culture.

      • Mencoh [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        You said “a lot” as opposed to “all”, so maybe I shouldn’t feel the need to disagree.

        I can't make blanket statements but I've met too many suburbanite liberals who think of the world as a travel resort and Japan is always high on their list since they never feel any hardship there. The privilege gateway of travel filters them through I guess.

    • Amorphous [any]
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      6
      ·
      4 years ago

      thats true of any medium though, most of it is trash. anime is literally just another medium. this is like saying "movies are just explosion porn"

      • acealeam [he/him]
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        4
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        even the classics kill me. i want to like full metal alchemist, but every time edward flips out over his height part of me dies

        • Woly [any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          There are classics and then there are classics. Most anime is made with those horrible otaku tropes built in, you have to really go out of your way to seek out the shows that forego that shit entirely.

      • trashideology [none/use name]
        arrow-down
        28
        ·
        4 years ago

        i like how you defend anime without denying the children and pedophile part, very cool

    • Rukushichu [any]
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      4 years ago

      Damn I wish this opinion was actually unpopular because it sucks ass.

      • kfc [they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        you're posting on a lefty reddit knockoff site, this isn't the place to pretend you understand human interaction

    • MarxGuns [comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Conversations with my wife are better in person. :smiling face with sunglasses:

      Conversations with other people are better over the internet though.

    • Terkrockerfeller [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Pretty sure most of them are meant to be enjoyed in that exact way. No one involved in the making of Jersey Shore was ever under the impression that they were making highbrow art or that their characters were role models

  • theSmokingGun27 [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    This involves politics but not leftism. But its definitely an unpopular opinion.

    But I generally speaking believe a lot of the russiagate allegations. I know a lot of people on the left call that Q for libs. But here I am I guess. The democrats in congress not actually impeaching him over the stuff played a big part in my shift left in politics though.

    I don't believe any of the absurd stuff. But generally speaking I think trump was knowingly leveraging his presidential run to attempt to secure loans and promises to get his names on buildings and primarily in Russia. I also believe the fbi looked at this though and their instinct wasn't to attain justice or something but that they could use the threat of this investigation as blackmail over trump. And ultimately what trump is acused of doing feels perhaps an aggregous example of, but an example nonetheless of the same type of influence china exerts over people like Diane fienstein, or mitch McConnell. Or Israel over orgs like aipac, etc...

    In the grand scheme of things I think its largely unimportant to our discourse. But I do believe he "colluded" with russia.

    Edit:

    here are some things im like 50/50 or more on believing:

    1. Russia was laundering money into republican campaigns through Russian American citizens and donations to the NRA.

    2. Based off Reality Winner's leak it feels kinda likely to me voters were dropped from voter rolls preventing them to vote in both the primaries to help trump and hrc, and then in the general to help trump.

    3. I generally believe russia has offered women probably including underaged girls to trump. I generally think the pee tape is real, or at least the threat of their being a tape is real.

    4. I read Seth Abramsons first two books...

    Don't cancel me, please. :(

    • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 years ago

      I know a lot of people on the left call that Q for libs.

      I don't think that people say this because they don't think Russia interfered. They say it precisely because of the more ridiculous aspects of the whole ordeal. The idea that Trump is a Manchurian candidate that has been groomed since the 80s in some masterclass move by a guy who was stationed in Germany at the time. The idea that (and Louise Mensch actually said this) there are secret trials for people like Bannon and Bannon will be executed for treason.

      Also, it's arguable that much of reporting of intelligence sources paralleled the reporting in the Iraq war lead up, and in various other circumstances. So even if you agree with the broader message, imo russiagate showed that there is much to worry in how intelligence sources are treated in media, and how easily consumers buy these stories.

      • hogposting [he/him,comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        The idea that Trump is a Manchurian candidate that has been groomed since the 80s in some masterclass move

        The biggest mistake people make when trying to figure out conspiracy theories is assuming the "master plan." Trump has done shady shit with shady Russians since the 1980s, that's basically public record, and the leap from that to what you described is totally unnecessary. What's far more likely is that a guy with all this shady shit in his background was opportunistically prodded when he unexpectedly rose to political prominence.

        And of course the focus on this exclusively, at the expense of the million other reasons 2016 went down the way it did, is laughable.

      • theSmokingGun27 [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        yeah, that stuff is absurd. I followed Louise Mensch for like 48 hrs. The Bannon being imminently arrested thing I think is what made me ditch that, hahha I loved Claude Taylor too for like a minute.

        And yeah, if he was "groomed" in any sense i think it started in like 2013. Not 1988 or whenever he visited russia.

    • Nakoichi [they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      The part people relate to Q is the fact that very real and bad and shady hit happened but they try to tie every single sin of America and every failing of the Democratic party and all criticism of the Democratic establishment to Trump and Russia both.

      Just like there is a very real global sex trafficking ring for billionaires that includes children. The Q people then crafted a massive mythology around it to call it somehow a liberal/left wing plot.

      • theSmokingGun27 [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Yeah, I know I'm walking a fine line in saying I'm being unpopular. But to be fair I havent betrayed just how much the "collusion" I think happened, hahah

        At this point though, I find it absurd how people connect russia to everything. And again, its obvious the entirety of the investigation was just show boating.

        But here are some things im like 50/50 or more on believing:

        1. Russia was laundering money into republican campaigns through Russian American citizens and donations to the NRA.

        2. Based off Reality Winner's leak it feels kinda likely to me voters were dropped from voter rolls preventing them to vote in both the primaries to help trump and hrc, and then in the general to help trump.

        3. I generally believe russia has offered women probably including underaged girls to trump. I generally think the pee tape is real, or at least the threat of their being a tape is real.

        4. I read Seth Abramsons first two books...

        Don't cancel me, please. :(

        • Nakoichi [they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I still don't disagree with really any of that. The specific sort of things I and I think most others are calling Q for liberals is when you get called a Russian bot for criticizing Biden or Harris, when you see them blaming police brutality or fash radicalization efforts (both of which have been going on since before WW2 even started) on Russia.

    • Faith [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I don't think it's really an unpopular opinion. It's generally agreed Trump colluded with Russia, and that Russia interfered in the election. What's unpopular is how far people think it's gone, the amount of the influence it had and that Trump or Putin are some kind of masterminds. Of course Trump ran for president to get more money, he's Trump. Of course Putin was trying to influence the American elections, why wouldn't he? But Putin didn't make Trump win.

    • ElGosso [he/him]
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 years ago

      I don't think the pee tape is real, I don't think they had to blackmail him into it tbh I think they just offered him an opportunity to make some dirty cash and he took it. Like if there was compromat I wouldn't be surprised but even if it existed I'd imagine it plays a pretty inconsequential role in the whole thing, if any. Like, we already know Trump was pallin' around with Epstein and it has made 0 difference in his political status, what could Putin have on him that's worse than that?

    • wouldeye [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Nah I’m right there with you. The story all fits. He’s a bastard. I think chapo was against it because a lot of libs places all their bets on impeaching him but like... why would republicans give up power over ethics. What are you stupid? Ya know?

      • theSmokingGun27 [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        yeah that's for sure. I kinda wish the hosts would elaborate on it more. They've like interviewed Matt tiabbi about it but that was more of a after the fact gloat session. They're really wasnt much of a critique outside what you said.

        But I'm like right there with everyone. I was a radlib in 2016. I think I clung to the impeachment thing because it felt like the most viable way to remove trump. But alas, too many dems and repubs would get their own blowback from their own corruption to ever pull the trigger on that.

      • theSmokingGun27 [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Unfortunately I believe I have misspelled it so many times my phone no longer reminds me...

    • elguwopismo [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I shit on that movie relentlessly. It is always met with resistance when I do so, but I have yet to hear a counterargument other than "bro it's just a movie, chill"

  • asaharyev [he/him]
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    4 years ago

    coconut is bad

    bananas are bad tasting and will lead to ecological collapse due to monocropping

    • TemporalMembrane [she/her]
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      4 years ago

      I love the taste of artificial banana flavoring, don't care for the taste of actual banana. Same for watermelon.

    • Fakename_Bill [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      Bananas aren't bad-tasting, you're fooling yourself in order to be more ok with not eating them for ecological reasons. But monoculture is definitely bad.

      • asaharyev [he/him]
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 years ago

        No, you've mixed it up. I hated bananas, and researched the monoculture thing to make other people hate bananas, too.

  • slevin [none/use name]
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    4 years ago

    Stick your hand in a boiling pot of water and you get to experience 100 degrees Celsius as well. Nonsense argument.

  • yethira [she/her]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Most popular anime are shit and cringe. Plotless slice of life types are far more superior. Is this unpopular? I don't know.

  • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    4 years ago

    Nintendo 64 is actually a pretty trash console and when people tell me its their favorite I judge them severly.

    • Fakename_Bill [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      When people say that, they're usually referring to the console-exclusive games. Obviously the PS1 had far superior tech.

          • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            4 years ago

            Mario 64 and OOT mostly deserve the praise they get but anyone saying they hold up well is lying. Other than those I pretty much hate the rest of the library. Ogre Battle 64 is good I guess.

            • vanityfairz [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              This is Conker's bad fur day erasure and I will not stand for it

              • bewts [he/him,comrade/them]
                ·
                edit-2
                4 years ago

                Tons of SNES games do, and a lot more Playstation games do than 64 games (most notably the ones who used 3D smartly or not at all). Some of it isn't the 64's fault as everyone was figuring out how to do 3D but the result was lots of games that look AND play badly.

                The 64 controller is a war crime though.

            • TheJoker [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Idk about Mario 64 but I literally just beat OOT for the first time on the og hardware and it hold up incredibly well

            • Mardoniush [she/her]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Goldeneye/PD, Mario Kart 64 and the original SSB are still great fun.