now__what

Agree that the US can be pretty puritanical, so some of the aversion to cheating is driven by guilt/shame. But on the other hand, when you grow up without the necessity to lie/cheat, and when it isn't normalized, you never learn the methods to get away with it, and sometimes that's enough of a deterrent.

There are things in my life I'd rather lie about, but I don't because I never learned to lie convincingly. The same with cheating. Figuring out how to cheat on a test/interview sounds like a way more effortful and stressful experience than acting honestly (I shudder to imagine how it compounds imposter syndrome).

Imo "moving" to Florida (and similar tactics) got normalized, so it's easier for people to learn how to do it from a friend etc. so they do it more. No moralizing necessary.

Everyone in my (American) family drinks at least a cup, and often 3-5 cups of tea per day. This is considered a lot here. Tea drinking is so non-normalized that despite my entire family's love for tea, I was well into adulthood before I learned of electric kettles (from Tumblr) and introduced them to my family.

They're easier to find these days but still rare. If you ask for a hot tea at a restaurant, you'll often get a suspicious-looking teabag that has spent at least 6 months in the cupboard (iced is more available). I'm sure you can guess at the quality of most of the teas in an American grocery store; I usually wind up ordering from specialty tea shops instead.

These are very good links, and I feel I have a better understanding of "ritual" now. Thank you!

A very interesting take, thank you! I have to wonder if Humanists themselves would accept the label you're prescribing for them ;)

I also find it a little funny that you assume Humanists are only living out their philosophy "by mimicry, requirement, or obligation," as that's often how I've seen humanists describe religious moralism. I appreciate you sharing your perspective!

> Western humanism which I find equally dangerous because the two are philosophical siblings from the same immoral thinking.

Do you mind elaborating on your issues with Western Humanism? I've never heard anyone critique it from a non-biblical angle, so I'm curious to hear what the gripes are.

This may be true from a strictly linguistic standpoint, but is this what historians mean by "ritual?"

Now that is a much more compelling critique. Thank you for sending me down this interesting rabbithole...

Did you actually read the article?

The statement about Paine is brief, and the author immediately moves on. In the full context of the article, it functions more to establish context than to bolster an argument. I have no horse in this race, but it's very weird that you've decided to cherry-pick this one statement so strongly.

You also want to consider whether it's more valuable to you personally to have that cash in hand. Are you going to roll it into another investment? Then maybe a low enough interest rate on the loan will put you out ahead despite paying interest.

> speaking to the fear of getting caught up in the fallout when bad things happen at the reactor.

The comparison focuses on the normal amount of background radiation from living near a nuclear plant, so fear of fallout "when bad things happen" is a separate issue and irrelevant to the banana example. The Ebola lab comparison is a good one though.

If you're not a writer or artist, you might not find much practical advantage of a fountain pen over a gel pen; I might even advise against them. However if you do frequently write and/or draw, you'll find the customization to be unmatched: you can experiment until you find the exact writing feel you prefer, adjusted by ink, nibs, paper types, etc.

Since I found my match in fountain pens, I've found it impossible to go back to anything else. The small amount of maintenance (refilling and occasionally cleaning) is thoroughly outweighed by the tactile sensation of a writing/drawing instrument perfectly tuned to my preference. But I'm an amateur artist, so finding a well-matched tool is very important to me.

Lamy Safari has been my go-to for years, but for anyone starting out I recommend the TWSBI Eco. Only downside imo is inability to easily swap out nibs in a TWSBI.

If you're one of the "solvers" that gets pinged by random people all throughout the day, you need to learn how to use "do not disturb" and to balance it out with dedicated open time. Otherwise it's easy to get stressed and overwhelmed. Totally learnable, but I've seen a few people on my team take psychic damage from this.

Once you learn this though, it's actually easier to do remotely than in-person.

Very interesting, thank you!

This correlates perfectly with my experience: When I've tried to incorporate breakfast or other frequent small meals into my diet, I've found it wreaks havoc on my energy levels and feeling of fullness throughout the day. Without attempting to "fast," I've found that I feel best and experience fewer "crashes" when I skip breakfast and after-dinner snacks. You've just explained a convincing reason why that would be the case.

No worries :) I mostly agree. With the caveat that, IME, it's easy for one bad "trigger day" to throw you completely off track, and perhaps lead to the full "relapse" you describe. Certainly not in the same sense that heroin or gambling could do so (unless maybe you have a food addiction).

One of the core skills of keeping any daily habit is to not get so discouraged by momentary lost progress that you give up the whole game; but that's easier said than done.