The Kingdom of Loathing guys (Jick and Mr Skullhead) had a development approach to keep their game system balanced. They felt that players had different primary motivations/enjoyment in the game and they wanted to make sure there was something for everyone. They divided players into four groups: Hearts, Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds.

Hearts enjoyed the social aspects of the game and would use the chat system and clans extensively.

Clubs were the PvP crowd and weren’t happy unless there were meaningful opportunities to battle other players.

Spades are explorers and look to every nook and cranny of the environment, and are interested in underlying game mechanics (this is me).

Diamonds are collectors and completists. They will scour environments to ensure they got everything and do all the sides because they want all the stuff.

It makes it difficult to make within group comparisons due to the shifting baselines. They are fine for “gee whiz” global impression but simply not appropriate for detailed analysis. And yes, I greatly despise them.

This isn’t beautiful, it’s borderline unreadable. A stack like this is a very poor choice to show changes in relative proportion over time. A simple XY plot with dots would be better.

Just beautiful. This might have become my favorite Autumn leaf metaphor replacing Zachary Lucky’s “Summer’s shed skin”.

I got it wrong 😡 Prairie voles are the “monogamous” ones. But here’s a general interest article on the topic. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/monogamous-prairie-voles-reveal-the-neurobiology-of-love/

There is great work on prairie vs mountain voles. Mountain voles are pair bonded and meadow voles are not (I think that’s right). All of them are rodent polyamorous nymphomaniacs with respect to the breeding, it’s just that the mountain ones prefer co-nesting with the same vole regardless of who they’re banging. There is a brain difference with respect to oxytocin sensitivity that seems to control the nesting behavior.

Be cautious with the “mate for life”. All animals of both sexes will slut it up and bang anything receptive and some things that aren’t. Ever have your leg jumped by a dog? There are some animals that are pair bonded for raising the young - that does not imply that they both contributed to the genetic content of the offspring.

Just bewilderment. Because snubbing Harris will get you Trump. Who’s a great friend to Gaza /s. So cui bono?

Yes. I remember seeing them advertised on a trip to Japan and not fully understanding how they even worked. It really seemed like the future. It was a few years before they were available here and prices came down enough to use it. My first trip was navigating home from Fry’s

I have always identified with Lawrence “Crash” Davis in Bull Durham.

C

Sheets weekly. Towels twice a week, but I shower twice a day.

Well it does …but the side effects are killer.

Eyes aspirin suspiciously…pain reduction, anti-inflammatory, blood thinner, fever reduction. All-in-one package?

I was entranced by the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brien. Sailing ships, adventure, and a little romance.

One trap in an open dory. Casual.

Let me introduce you gentleman to Doug Prasher.

https://www.science.org/content/article/man-who-wasnt-there

He was years ahead of the field in molecular biology but was parking cars when his work won a Nobel Prize…for other people.

Neither sex nor drugs were ever discussed…at least not by my parents.

It may helpful to think of this in terms of human rights; some rights apply to individuals so even though there may a group of them we’d refer to them as persons e.g. displaced persons. Some rights are held collectively and we would refer to them as a people e.g. Indigenous People of the Amazon.

eta: “Those people” and “you people” are both seen as racist dogwhistles. Your sister was probably laughing because you didn’t intend or get the subtext of your phrasing.

I think the larger issue is that the blood supply is for profit in the US. Everyone is getting exploited, including the people that require the transfusion.

I donate regularly in Canada and give it away for free as does everyone else. I don’t donate plasma because it’s not especially useful with my blood type (AB+ is universal for plasma, O- for other products).