#with the amount of misinformation in it

[sunnysam-my]

One of the funniest things in Criminal Minds to me was the writers poor attempt at making Reid look super smart. I say poor because, if you know anything about what they claim Spencer can do, you know why it's ridiculous.

1. Speed Reading.

It's a unique skill Spencer has that's used often through out the show. He claims he can read 20,000 words per minute. The thing is, the way he does it makes no sense.

First of all, when speed reading, you pay the price of comprehending the text. It is suggested by experts that speed-reading is most useful to those who need "to skim a large amount of material or need to improve their study skills" and less useful to those who read "highly technical material that requires careful study of each sentence". A lot of what Spencer reads is exactly that.

Second of all, on a normal book page, about 250-300 words fit on a page. Unless my math is incorrect, if he can read 20000 w/m then he can read 333.333 per second. He can read a book page in less than a second.

Even if my math is wrong, the average word count for adult fiction and non-fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. ​The average word count in a book is between 60,000 and 100,000 words. He can read a 80,000 words long book in 4 minutes. He could read the entirty of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (~75,000 words) in less than that.

2. Eidetic Memory

Again, I'm not really sure the writers even know what that means. Eidetic memory, also (incorrectly) known as total recall and photographic memory, is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision, at least for a brief period of time, after seeing it only once.

The key words here are for a brief period of time. Unlike with photographic memory, it's a vivid afterimage that lingers. Additionally the memories often contain minor errors, including information that was not present in the original visual stimulus.

It's a very complicated and interesting matter, you can look into it more, but basically the writers just used it as an ass excuse to give Spencer perfect memory.

3. The Star Puzzle

I genuinely laughed at this scene. The Star Puzzle is literally a beginner-medium level puzzle. I have that star, I can see only 2, maybe 3 ways you can make a mistake while assembling it. My mom, who doesn't do those regularly like I do, only needed 15 minutes to figure out all on her own. The hard part is physically putting it together, because, until it's complete, nothing is holding the pieces together and they fall through your hands.

Noticed another thing? The way she describes it? "It's basically impossible to figure out. You have to put all the pieces back together to form a star." "It's basically impossible to do, because you have to take all those pieces and put them exactly…-" Like, yeah? That's how puzzles work??? Congratulations? All puzzles work like this. You have to put them together in the only correct order or solved them using the only solution. It's rare for puzzles to have more than one solution, that's kinda the point of them. And yeah, you can cheat usually, like with the star if you assemble it loosely and jam the last piece, but that's not the same.

And the thing is, there are harder versions of this, but no, they had to go with the identical 6 pieces. This just makes her look like an idiot.

4. His geeky overreactions were very reasonable, actually.

TBH I stopped watching CM a while ago, so don't remember as many situation as I used to, but I remember Phantasmagoria scene. Maybe this is more of geeky pet peeve of mine, but whatever.

Reid is 100% underselling Phantasmagoria here. It's not just a horror theatre play with a bit of science magic to spook the audience. They literally invented holograms for this.* Our modern image of a ghost? It's all thanks to Phantasmagoria which used live holograms** so the actors playing ghost could appear to be half transparent and floating.

You can still think that's not that cool, but wait, there's more. Other than that it used projects and many other 'magic tricks' to not only bring the monsters to life, so you can see them, but also feel them. Phantasmagoria used many special effects outside of visual illusion to make you feel cold winds, smells blood e.t.c. That's better than any other movie you can go to, especially since we're talking about reenactment, which use improved technology. Although you won't get drugged drinks before going in nowadays, so count that as a win or loss. On top of that, reenactments of Phantasmagoria are rare and for many this may be the only chance in their life to see it.

It's kinda like a walk-through haunted house, except you don't walk and there's a plot. The scene shows Spencer as some weird geek for being excited, which sucks. In general I could talk about how awful the teammates are to him half of the time, but that's not my biggest problem here. We as an audience are meant to find Reid's excitement and knowledge as lame and nerdy, but he's not even overreacting. That's a very tamed reaction when you invite your friends to possibly one in a lifetime chance to see this amazing horror magic, horror, theatre play.

*For horror shows in general, a bit earlier than Phantasmagoria, but it gave birth to it.

**Pepper's ghost isn't technically holographic, but you get it. Most people call it that anyway.

[bazpitch]

it's because you're always on that damn JSTOR

[coulsonlives]

This has been a reminder

[vinylshifting]

One thing actually good about shifttok is that scripting was talked about a lot and most of the time the scripting tips/ideas on what to script were fun and actually good 😭 So many people also talked about their drs n what not

[goldkirk]

I don’t know how to explain any more clearly that it doesn’t MATTER if it seems legitimate to you. You have got to fact check every single headline and post and claim on the left just like you need to do on the right.

The left is NOT immune to misinformation and rushed reporting. And the more emotionally polarizing or shocking the talking points, sound bytes, and headlines are, the worse it is and more frequently it happens.

Learn to verify through multiple independent sources. If you can’t do that, you can’t trust it.

If you have to wait extra hours for the real information to come through vetted channels—NOT just one individual somewhere everyone links to, and not just one single media source either, EVEN if it’s a major news network—thats just how it has to be. What news outside of genuine local disasters near you TRULY needs your outrage and post-sharing in the next hour specifically?

Misinformation works best by not seeming like misinformation and by fitting in with the rest of what you already expect to see. It doesn’t help anyone to not be able to recognize and avoid the stuff.

[merp-blerp]

I know it's late to say, but I hope that Hbomb's video will encourage people to not only cite their sources but also have a good source to begin with. Don't tell me Snow White is 14 years old and then show a screenshot of a featured snippet from Google that leads back to Screenrant.com. Don't tell me Judy Garland was forced to take drugs and smoke 80 cigarettes a day by MGM and have your source be social osmosis or "Hundreds of other videos say so!" Where's that info from? Does it's source truly make sense as a source? Are there more reliable routes for sources to take outside of looking online, like reading books about the subject from people involved or seasoned/trusted in the topic? I know "Google is free", but that doesn't mean it's always good for research. Try Google Scholar at least...

[gendiebrainrotreceipts]

[bitterrobin]

I see a lot of confusion on why calling Damian Wayne "feral" is racist/problematic, so here's a rundown.

There's a difference between calling your child or your younger sibling "feral" and calling a character like Damian "feral." You know your child/sibling/niece/nephew etc. They're real people, and unless they have a problem with it personally, then there's nothing wrong with calling them feral as a joke. It doesn't (shouldn't) affect their perceptions by other people. It doesn't become a label that follows them.

Damian al Ghul-Wayne is a fictional character. A canonically mixed Arab/Chinese/Jewish White character with a history connected to some of the most prominent Arab comic book characters, who themselves also get insanely mischaracterized.

He's constantly whitewashed. He's been written with racist undertones (the suicide bomber vest). He's had his character development and progress backtracked time and time again by DC. DC treats him weirdly most days and completely shitty in the worst stories.

A good majority of fanon hasn't done any better than DC. You cannot pat yourselves on the back for being more inclusive or mental health aware than DC when you call a mixed Arab/Chinese boy "feral". It's constant. You can come up with various titles and nuances for every Bat-character, for every Robin.

Tim can be smart, a skater, a genius, the one holding everyone together, the little brother, the one who needs love. Jason can be cool, morally "right" or "wrong", unstable, PTSD-stricken, the one who was betrayed, the one with Shakespearean tragedies. Dick can be fun, happy, the first one, the prodigal son, the one with complicated history and the big brother.

You give them room for exploration. Love and care and attention and research. Many headcanons. You either comply with canon or you don't, but there's substance to their character.

What does Damian get? He's feral. He's rabid. He's a gremlin. He can't be reasoned with. He has no self-control, he's impulsive. He's hurt others, and you can't forgive it. Sometimes he's homophobic. Or classist. Or plain mean and rude to your favorite boy. He's always carrying a sword. A psychopath with no regard for another's well-being (usually Tim in a lot of fics). He can't be taught what's right.

I've seen people cry that Damian needs to punished or kicked out or treated the same way he's treated others. He needs to be brutalized or talked down to. He can never grow as a person, because he's mean to Tim or Jason, and you need him to exist as the abuser. His first move is always violent.

Fanon compares him to an animal often; he bites, claws, hisses, growls. Bruce or Dick or Jason or Tim have to wrangle him, tame him, civilize him the white man's way in lieu of his brown mother and grandfather who "clearly" raised him wrong. You don't see the issue with that? The issue with always labeling one of the few major brown characters in Batman comics as the unreasonable animal? That the child of color is always the abuser, the instigator, to older characters?

And even if you don't see him this way, you don't write him this way - then are you giving him the care and attention you give for other Bat characters?

Do you know anything else about him other than his "anger"? Because he isn't always angry. In fact, he's typically well-mannered. Quiet even, when he's not being provoked. DC's writing will always vary but whenever Damian lashes out, he's usually written with a reason to act the way he does.

Are you making him intelligent like he should be? A hard believer in redemption? A neglected and abused child who isn't meek or crying or closes himself within? Are you willing to explore that he's always exhibited the "wrong" kind of trauma responses - lashing out, being snippy, ruining relationships, refusing to admit weakness?

Do you write anything about him without making his mother and grandfather comically abusive and violent? Will you give him the supporting cast/friends he actually has? Can you write his dad/siblings interacting with him without making them white saviors or therapy pets? Can you write him without a ship or his love for animals or being vegetarian overshadowing everything?

Is he a character to you at all other than a glorified plot device with a sharp tongue and the convenience of being violent?

[purpleandstarlight]

You see, Google's answers to their suggested "most asked questions" are worth reading even if you know the lore because sometimes it has pearls like this one:

What the FUCK did I just read

[earthbovndmisfit]

I keep seeing posts about Speedwagon's height every now and then spreading the wrong assumption that he's short even though Speedwagon is canonly shown and stated to be on the taller side (around 180cms or 5'11 tall, more exactly).

For one, there's the character height chart from Battle Tendency (credit to the Wiki for the pic). Even in his old age (and not counting his hat), Speedwagon is shown to be taller than Lisa Lisa (she's 175cms or 5'9) and slightly shorter than Caesar (he's 186cms or 6'1).

He's also depicted to be on the taller side on every side-by-side shot he gets with other characters in both anime and manga for Parts 1 and 2, and where he's shown to be a bit taller than other characters like Straizo and Will Zeppeli, for example.

Additionally, the pic that's almost always used to show how short Speedwagon supposedly is was taken from the videogame Eyes Of Heaven. However, there are a few issues with the claim aside from what we have been already discussing above.

For starters, Speedwagon's in-game models are all scaled to be 180cms tall as well, and this can also be seen when you compare him with other characters like Kakyoin in that same game (Kak is 178cms/5'10 tall in canon)

It's also quite important to keep in mind that Eyes of Heaven (and possibly ASBR too if they ported the models and scales from EoH) can't really be trusted with Jonathan's height because they tend to make him look even taller than he already is.

The proof? Well, Jonathan and Jotaro are both canonly 195cms tall and yet, in EoH...

no way Jotaro would be the same height as Jonathan here even if he stood upright or in his tiptoes. So, yeah. As you can see, EoH messes a bunch with Jonathan's height making him even taller than he actually is. It's not that Speedwagon is short, it's just that Jonathan is even more HUGE in Eyes Of Heaven.

[oopsallsyscourse]

Apparently I wasn't clear enough cause someone reblogged a post from me (and somehow deleted my reply??) arguing that DID alters are not people.

Alter can be parts and they can be people. It's up to individual systems to decide that.

No, it's not anti recovery to view your system as multiple people in the same body. In fact, depending on the situation, it can be beneficial to your intended recovery.

[satorugojoswiife]

i kinda miss back when jjk wasn't big

[largishcat]

yeah im in touch with my masculine side *confidently says the most incorrect shit you have ever heard in your life*

[theragamuffininitiative]

Hey so for the record: I don't live in the area affected by Helene. I've heard a lot of rumors about stuff regarding FEMA assistance but struggle to find the actual sources of actual people explaining actual things (other than vague "We were turned away!" aka the officials, who may not have even been FEMA, already had too many volunteers under their responsibility "they are refusing donations" yeah bc they don't have anywhere to safely store them for distribution and people aren't communicating with them to coordinate). So here's what little I do know.

I highly recommend Samaritan's Purse and checking with local churches to see if you can assist them with their efforts if you find you cannot trust certain agencies for any reason.

I wandered around some local FB pages to see what folks are saying.

(I did not censor people's names bc these are all posted on public pages, and for the ability to verify, so please do not antagonize these individuals or attack them in any way.

[This post has multiple fact checks in it that are helpful but cursory (not citing specific sources each time) - this is not an endorsement of the page itself, I'm sure there are better ones, i just happened to see it near the end of my scrolling.]

I also happened upon this list of local churches randomly and thought I would add it in case people wanted to reach out to them to see if they are still taking donations/assistance:

Anyways.

I'm not saying FEMA is perfect, or saying I know what is going on. But all I am seeing is a lot of rumors and misinformation and unsubstantiated reports that are upset and vague, and more likely from probably well-meaning folks who tried to step into a situation they weren't prepared for and didn't understand.

But, like I said, there are ways to help (specifically churches and ministry-based disaster relief agencies bc they are not federally funded) for anyone who doesn't trust FEMA or the government or whatever. You can still help! Keep your convictions but look for ways to help instead of ways to just make everyone feel more angry and frustrated and miserable by focusing on what is wrong rather than what can be done right now to aid people who don't care about elections or sides or narratives when they don't have food or water.

This post does not reflect all the amazing efforts various aid agencies, ministries, churches, and local organizations and families and friends are doing for their communities right now. These stories are also being shared on local pages and in trending tags if you're looking for them. 💛

(I reserve the right to ignore and delete any asks/replies/reblogs and block users based on attitude or obvious misinformation. I'm no expert. But neither is pretty much anyone, and yeah that includes people in the middle of it bc sometimes when you are in the middle of the mess you can't see the full picture, and that's ok.)

[nsfwitchy2]

The internet is so fascinating - where else am I gonna see two people get into a political argument in which one party is very clearly incorrect and spreading misinformation, before said party reveals they aren’t even from the US. The country the political argument was about.

Anyway…. Reporting that person for misinformation and election interference. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, keep your fucking mouth shut ✌️

[sonknuxadow]

can they just say whos voicing shadow already so i can be free from the neverending cycle of random twitter users claiming to know who the va is and saying it with no evidence and people just believing it and spreading it as confirmed fact