Darth Maul Translations
I looked up how Darth Maul is referred to in the Spanish and Mandarin Chinese versions of Star Wars.
Spanish: Darth Mutilar
Mandarin: 达斯魔 (da2si1 mo2)
Spanish: Darth Mutilar
Mandarin: 达斯魔 (da2si1 mo2)
2019-09-05
Entry tags:
Practically Strawmen
Just an observation that certain people (eg. people on Tumblr who have a point they wish to 'prove') who are so committed to an idea that they seem incapable of addressing opposing arguments are practically their own strawmen. As such, proving the 'arguments' of such people wrong (when they present arguments at all) is a waste of time. The arguments that need to be addressed are the ones that would never occur to such people, that are actually based on logic and coherent integration of facts but with which one still disagrees. It is much more valuable to address an argument that is thought-through but which one disagrees with than an argument that even a simple application of logic could refute. People often don't wish to address the arguments that take more effort to address, but these are the arguments that are most likely to convince people of something that they did not already agree with. One problem I see with a lot of online discussions is that people spend a lot of time refuting the same bad arguments over and over, but take very little time to address the arguments that are most likely to convince a rational person that they are wrong.
Entry tags:
Arguments
One reason I hesitate to share other people's arguments for things, even when I agree with them, and even when they are well-thought out, is that not all arguments are good for all contexts. Different people may believe the same thing for different reasons. An argument can also be logically rigorous but given in a particularly anti-persuasive manner that I might like to avoid. It's also the case that I simply don't ever encounter people whose beliefs line up with mine 100%, so it's not uncommon for me to agree with one part of an argument and disagree with another. In that case I may feel that it would be better to write up my own thoughts on the issue even if the other person is better at rhetoric (and sometimes that is not hard--I can at times have difficulty expressing even my most basic thoughts).
Obviously this has its disadvantages though, one being is that I am at times almost incapable of giving a good argument whereas someone else may be able to do a much better job of it. I also think it may be better if I do engage more with talking about why I agree and disagree on certain points someone else has given, rather than either unthinkingly passing an argument along as-is or trying to avoid it altogether. But to do that more often, I need to deal with...my confrontation skills.
Obviously this has its disadvantages though, one being is that I am at times almost incapable of giving a good argument whereas someone else may be able to do a much better job of it. I also think it may be better if I do engage more with talking about why I agree and disagree on certain points someone else has given, rather than either unthinkingly passing an argument along as-is or trying to avoid it altogether. But to do that more often, I need to deal with...my confrontation skills.
Entry tags:
The Problem With Eating Local
I see this argument a lot--that the solution to the environmental issues or racism or any other problem currently inherent to our food supply is to 'eat local'. And I don't really see how this addresses any of those issues.
A large factory farm can be operating locally. In fact, it can be operating locally in many, many places around the world. It could even at times source food locally so that it can sell it to people who want to 'eat local'.
Even if you make sure to avoid large factory farms (keeping in mind that impoverished people in food deserts can rarely afford to do this), there's nothing inherently anti-racist about a small farm using land that is, in many countries, often stolen from natives (eg. in the United States where I live that would be from Native Americans) and exploiting immigrants (especially natives from Mexico, Central, and South America in the US) or preventing natives from subsisting off of this land for the farmer's own personal profit and enrichment.
And I don't see how 'eating local' does anything inherently to address the harmful monocultures in much of the world's farming or the reliance on harmful fertilizers and pesticides or the degradation of local wildlife or the depletion of local aquifers in my or any other country.
This doesn't mean that I think the idea of eating local has no worth, but without addressing the above questions, it seems to me little more than a false panacea to the many and complex issues we face regarding our food supply.
A large factory farm can be operating locally. In fact, it can be operating locally in many, many places around the world. It could even at times source food locally so that it can sell it to people who want to 'eat local'.
Even if you make sure to avoid large factory farms (keeping in mind that impoverished people in food deserts can rarely afford to do this), there's nothing inherently anti-racist about a small farm using land that is, in many countries, often stolen from natives (eg. in the United States where I live that would be from Native Americans) and exploiting immigrants (especially natives from Mexico, Central, and South America in the US) or preventing natives from subsisting off of this land for the farmer's own personal profit and enrichment.
And I don't see how 'eating local' does anything inherently to address the harmful monocultures in much of the world's farming or the reliance on harmful fertilizers and pesticides or the degradation of local wildlife or the depletion of local aquifers in my or any other country.
This doesn't mean that I think the idea of eating local has no worth, but without addressing the above questions, it seems to me little more than a false panacea to the many and complex issues we face regarding our food supply.