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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
I had a collegiate reading level in 3rd grade.
Most people assumed it was because I was wicked smaht.
It's because I had no friends and hated life and used books as escapism. And just learned a ton of trivia along the way.
I like to joke that my knowledge base is vast as an ocean, but deep as a puddle, and if you aren't careful you'll fall into a sinkhole like astronomy, geology, or lord of the rings lore.
i like the mental image of a huge body of water where most places are only a few inches below the surface but youll randomly find little lava tubes that go unexpectedly deep (evidence of temporary hyperfocus), several deep valleys (more enduring fixations), and a couple mariana trenches (special interests). reminds me of the train on the water in spirited away.
also this was me...
If you feel like it, tell me the first random astronomy thing that comes to your mind 👀
Space is big like really big. It would take well over an hour to walk from here to the moon and the moon is really close
Big if true
More than two hours, I’d say
Space is REALLY BIG and SUPER EMPTY
There are sections of space called "voids" where there's almost nothing. Like even LESS nothing than usual.
The largest one we know of is called the Böotes (super)Void. In 200,000,000 light-years, there are around 60 galaxies.
You could duplicate our galaxy around 2,300 times and still not reach from edge to edge.
If we were in the center of the void, we wouldn't have discovered other galaxies even exist until telescopes got sophisticated, large, and sensitive enough to see the faint and distant galaxies that were closest. Sometime in the late 1960s/early 70s, most likely.
That's a hella big Böotes; universe has serious cake
But actually on a real note do you think humans would have even invented telescopes that good by then if we were in the center void like that? How can you tell if a telescope is getting better if you don't have any stars to compare to, maybe just seeking out sharper images of planets we would have stumbled into it eventually? Also that would mean that the planets would be really incredibly noticable in the night sky
Astronomy history is fascinating to me. We used to think that other galaxies were just nebula in the milky way.
We would still have all the stars from our own galaxy to study, but I think that given how much we have improved telescopes with the intent on studying CLOSE stars, those improvements would have led to the discovery of galaxies 100 million LY+ away.
Fun fact: we don't know what's on the other side of the galactic disc from us. As we look toward Sag A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, there's too much dust and non-luminous matter in the way, and we can't really see what's past a certain point. There's also something pulling all the galaxies around us (and us) toward it, in that big patch of what we can't see. It's called the Great Attractor. We know it's pulling on us because of red/blue shift of surrounding galaxies, but we don't actually know what it is that's pulling. It COULD be a large cluster of galaxies whose gravity is just pulling us all together, but it might also be some cosmic eldritch horror that's literally consuming the universe. That last one is slightly less likely though...
a black hole's radius grows linear with its mass. but its volume grows with the third power of its radius. so, the more massive a black hole gets, the less dense it gets.
I can relate to this so hard. I've no idea how many books I read as a kid, but often several per week. I still love reading, obviously, it's just that I don't dedicate as much time to do it anymore. Been trying to pick the habit back up though.
One of the quirks I developed as a result of my reading habits, is that I'd use very dated terms when speaking my native tongue. I have so many early-1900s insults in my head, it's almost unfortunate I never get to use them.
Everybody gangsta until you drop a grammatically correct "heretofore".
English isn’t my native tongue, and that’s not an insult, but that shouldn’t be very hard. The word is self-explanatory.
Scientists have encountered a species in the Amazon heretofore believed to be extinct.
At some point years ago I did some online test and it turned out my English language vocabulary was somewhere in the top 0.01% or something like that.
Which is kinda ridiculous because I'm not a native English speaker.
I think it's the result of years of lots and lots of reading things in English: books, newspapers, magazines, even online.
Then on top of that I moved to Britain, which did wonders for learning the local slang of at least the part of it were I lived and even meant some words I learned I only really know them in English (for example, terms used in professional Finance) because I learned them in English, not in my native language.
Also, a lot of the most supposedly sophisticated words are basically the Latin or Greek words barelly changed (sometimes not at all) or technical terms that originated in the dominant language at the time that tech was invented, so they're pretty much the same in all languages I know (so, say, the word "heliocentric" is pretty much the same in my native Portuguese, in Spanish, French, English and so on) so for things like scientific and technical terms having a good vocabulary is mostly language agnostic.
Systemic failure we’re all dealing with. You did all you were told to do, you went to school, you sat down, you listened and you got the degree. Then maybe you got the job, maybe you just now lost the job, and the wages didn’t keep up with inflation, so you can’t get the house and you can’t get the family, too expensive.
Everything got expensive, then the world complains why you aren’t having any children, why you’re not consuming. You turn on the tv or your podcasts and you see illiterate people get platformed spouting nonsense about conspiracy theories and to do your research.
Then you see this comic and you see the connection. You see that a promise was broken. You did your part but the system ripped you off. You’re angry or depressed. It’s time to take action. Vote for Count Binface.
For every millennial called "gifted, " there was a Boomer parent crowing about how smart their kid was.
Boomers gave us all trophies so they wouldn't have the kid without the trophy. The same thing tricked down generations.
The whole thing is a scam to placate middle class parents. It has very little to do with the kids.
I just couldn't disagree more, as the millennial you're describing and the parent to an 8 year old. There's nothing at all wrong with a participation trophy, in fact, it boosts kids' interest and it helps them feel like they belong. Don't think they're not also acutely aware of losing a game, or who on the team are the most and least skilled.
At the same time, I'm of the mind that sports should be fun. Cutthroat competition sucks for kids, there's no reason for it
Nowadays, being able to read beyond a kindergarten level just pisses off all the Right people, which is awesome.
I think we have to separate achievement in this capitalist society from the skills we were told to acquire.
Being a good reader has a million benefits. If let's you think about ideas that you might not encounter in real life. It allows you to live inside someone else's mind. It makes you more empathetic. It makes you capable of thinking more creatively. It makes you consider things that you might not have been able to otherwise. Being a good reader makes you a more well rounded, intelligent and creative person.
Just because it didn't get you a high paying job in this grifters economy doesn't mean it was useless. Keep reading. Keep dreaming of a better world. Keep striving to be a real human in a world full of grifting capitalist drones.
I mean, it unlocked big ideas earlier than most people, and I got a head start on serious critical thinking, which has shaped my life in many positive ways. But it didn't, like, directly lead to financial prosperity. Honestly it probably hampered it because I had too much context to exploit others with a clear conscience way before I had the means to do so at scale.
"Reading level" is more about literary comprehension than technical understanding. And embracing baser modes of expression has only made it easier to effectively communicate.
Above-average reading level is only really helpful long-term if you specialize in literature.
Hey, I'm proud of my kid knowing words other than "six seven" like a god damn imbecile. Surprises me regularly with his lexicon.
Even if it doesn't help the way we expect in the future, it sure as shit isn't hurting.
Weewf. Why you got to call me out like that? I was reading at a grade 10 level in grade 5. Now I just post stupid memes on the internet.
Me reading at a collegiate level in 2nd grade then ending up as a dumbass adult.
Yeah because when it comes to getting ahead skills don’t matter. What really matters is who your uncle is or whose ass you kiss.
I've realized the most efficient way to succeed in life (hours spent studying vs perceived achievement) is to be able to talk to people and talk to them well. If you're born with a golden mouth, you're set.
Yeah. If anything, admitting that you’re an avid reader will have people saying “You think you’re better than me because you read?” Or some other dismissive comment regarding people who enjoy books.
So I’ve personally chosen to absolutely agree to that question: people who read are better than people who don’t.
And it doesn’t even need to be boring books. Yes, I will even count comic readers amongst our reading brethren. Anyone who reads with actual intent is alright in my book 😉
It sure as hell didn't get me as far as my mother expected. But she was drunk half the time anyway so meh
But hey, at least we're harder to mislead and we understand the media we consume better.
Yeah, we're not oblivious to the state of the world around us and that gives us —checks notes— anxiety and frustration with the people who are.
Had a 9th grade reading level according to my kindergarten teacher. Probably the last time I was proud of myself.
Don't let your dreams become all-star memes
Preach on
Same.
At least I can do a nice turn of word though.
And it was worth it for all the Pepperoni Personal Pan Pizzas.
I have to constantly rein in my impractically large vocabulary to minimize the degree to which I sound like a pretentious prick, but just recalling how the crisp on the outer edge of those pepperonis was surpassed only by the crisp on the top of crust makes the world feel balanced again, if only for a moment.
the lack of usage paired with nobody knowing any of the words in real conversation led me to become out of practice and stupid
I was reading at a college level in 5th grade.
it only provided the opportunity to wreck the smug sense of superiority of my teacher, whom berated me daily for being "difficult" and "undisciplined".
guess I was unchallenged by your lackluster curriculum you dumb bitch.
I'll never forget the look on her face when she saw my reading comprehension score came back a few points higher than her own. she even attempted to identify if I was cheating.
think of the internet cred though. you may make 500k less a year but you can come up with a thousand zingers to reply with instead of calling someone 'a re**ard' like a barbarian.
don't you feel good about yourself?
a reynard?
I used to read one level above my grade always. Then when I would get into the grade, the English teacher was always impressed that I’d read everything already and I was always impressed at the extremely stupid questions they would ask about the “author’s intent” in writing this poem.
It’s a fucking poem, Linda. Chill your beans at trying to be an amateur psychologist for a man dead 300 years already.
It’s a fucking poem, Linda. Chill your beans at trying to be an amateur psychologist for a man dead 300 years already.
There was a massive crime perpetrated against high school students. Somehow, the teachers took the good idea of teaching a book and pointing out its underlying themes and historical context (that scene in great expectations where the girl plays the card game against the protagonist, as an example) to gain a greater understanding... and drove it into the ground by needlessly making everything (the infamous blue curtains) this massive deal that you absolutely had to contemplate and tear apart and put together with everything else, waaaaah!
Humans were mean but books were not. I never thought it would get me far, that was my parents very misguided assumptions.
I was just competing with my friend who was way smarter than me. I plateaued once he moved away.
Why tf are you attacking me?