The song that made me want to learn violin
A. Sorry, must have missed the music one. I am reading this, but I'm only human.
Happens to the best of us. But not me. I'm a cyborg.
*_?
B. To be honest, I don't really consider it science if it can't be replicated by anyone, anywhere (with the right environmental adjustments, of course) but eh, to each his own. I guess that's why I didn't take that one into account.
It's like math, too. Sometimes you need to be unable to prove its false. That's why it's such a gray area - no one can definitively prove it's real or not. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Reddyne has done an excellent job of saying it much more clearly than I.
Have you ever read a fanfic that turned one of your least favorite characters into one of your most favorite characters, or at least made you like them a whole lot more? Not characters you were neutral about, mind you, but characters you actively disliked.
Sound of the City by our own Tengukami. I really honestly did - and most of the time, still do - perceive Aya as just a big nuisance, who got pleasure out of harassing and giving people a bunch of shit. Sound of the City turned that trollish aura into one of determination and a powerful sense of curiosity.
If being neutral about a character - or set of them - Rising Star would've done it for the Palanquin Ship-Temple crew. Beyond that, there really aren't that many Touhous that I actively dislike. I'm incredibly bored whenever the Eientei crew is brought up, and only mildly disinterested by Mokou and Keine, though I do appreciate the last two because 1)The phoenix is my favorite mythological creature, and 2)
Keine. Just Keine. :objection!:
Explanation time from a resident science guy. The reason why paranormal phenomena are not (yet) taken seriously by the scientific community is that one of the very principles of the scientific method is reproducibility. Coincidentally, these concepts of paranormal phenomena are unexplored and nebulous enough that they lack falsifiability, so they, by law of scientific method, cannot be dismissed. Also, even a slight variation in the wording of a hypothesis provides a new hypothesis which can be tested, so even if one concept is out-and-out proven false, a very similar or specific concept could be proven true. Still, the key is the ability for these concepts to be tested in a manner that creates a reliable and predictable result. Paranormal phenomena typically lack definition and could benefit from a distinct value that defines it. Properly state the concept or element of what you are testing, test it in a controlled manner, then REproduce the result within definable limits, and it will gain a lot of credibility. It's how science has done so many of the things it has for the world. Any bit of reproducibility will help push it from pseudoscience and into the proper scientific realm. Until then, apples will fall down and not up, ducks will go "quack" and not "I'm the ghost of your uncle Luke! Couldja spare us a fiver?" and 1+1 will equal 2 and not cheesecake even if that would make math a lot tastier.
That
would make math a lot tastier. Also,
I HAVE BEEN DEFEATED BY LOGIC! I suppose deep down I always did understand that there's a very good and valid reason paranormality is considered a quack field.
That being said, my friends and I have done a good series of meditation, followed by a very informal test; sitting across the room, backs to each other, calling out numbers that the other was looking at on an index card. I managed to score 14 out of 20 on one of them, and never below 7 of 20 on the other three 'turns' I took. But, again, one of my friends who was participating with us never managed to get more than 4, so that whole reproducibility thing rears its ugly head.
Anyway,
What's one thing that you would like to change about yourself and what one thing would you never want to change?
I'd rather change my voice back to how it should be. I deliberately tore the crap out of my vocal chords by screaming along to some metal songs way back when, because I didn't like how a 6' 4", 220lb fella still had a soprano voice. Now I can't actually sing
anything without my voice breaking, and my voice deepened on its own accord and now I sound like
George Takei. Who's voice breaks on occasion.
I wouldn't change my personality. I particularly like
my large, powerful calves- I mean... being a Libra, and having an almost-to-the-T match-up with the standard Libra personality.
Ever locked yourself in a place deemed to be "haunted?"
Not locked in, no, but I have been around places. My massage school, as a matter of fact, is 'haunted' by Mrs. McGillicuddy, the school owner-proprietor's wife, who was murdered when she came home early one day to a burglar in their house. She was shot and killed. I've felt a vague presence while organizing the store-room that we kept all the massage tables in.
I've also gotten some really nasty vibes from nursing homes and rehabilitation centers, and, I hope for an unrelated reason, the dungeons in St. Augustine's fort.
I'd love to get out to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, though. I had no clue it was such a hot-spot until Ghosthunters went out there.
What do you think about Touhou ghosts?
Youmu is a pretty cool guy. Eh sweeps gardens and dosent afrade of nething.
The Prismriver Sisters are actually pretty cool, in my book, despite the rather depressing backstory. Ghosts, who can telekinetically play their instruments, get to play music for however long an eternity they want? That would be the best kind of eternity for me.
Is Youmu's ghost half a marshmallow? That tastes like a cheese steak?
* Esifex sobs in the corner, unable to ever think of marshmallows again
If you could change any historical event to have the outcome of your choice, what would you change and why?
I wouldn't. Temporal paradoxes terrify me. But, assuming I could without any direct repercussions to myself... the outrageous trolling against Nikola Tesla by Edison. If they'd gotten along, instead of competed so vehemently, who knows what sort of scientific advances Tesla could've given us? Instead, he was harassed, prosecuted, and more or less just utterly fucked with without relent. Not cool.
How good are you at the Touhou games?
AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH BAAAAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAHAHAAHAHAA
I'm not :fail:
With the slight exception of a few of the characters in SWR/UNL. I'm kind of good with Alice, Komachi, and Meiling. Not nearly good enough to warrant trying to fight anyone else who knows what they're doing, though.
Paranormality question: How does one distinguish sensitive from deluded? There has been a history of people utter convinced of things that have been proven to be, on analysis, suffering from mental issues instead.
By testing it in a controlled environment. Just because I swear up and down that the trees are talking to me but no one was around to verify it doesn't mean anything to anyone else. Especially once I tell them that the trees only talk to me when I'm in my underwear and screaming at squirrels.
There are methods for testing someone, or someones. My friend does all the gung-ho research on how to test it; I just go with the flow and deal with what I can sense or feel when it comes to me.