That would be nice, but the problem is that other people’s odd belief systems affect our lives. If they were more private then there wouldn’t be so much hate.
Now, in an attempt to explain some things that I do that others don’t get…
Watching sports: Well, I’m not a fanatic, but I’m a casual viewer. It’s like any other form of entertainment. Plus, the people are usually some of the best in the world and are freaks of nature (e.g. the NBA).
Video games: I am a fanatic here – video games are the most involved entertainment I can think of. This might be a good way to relate – imagine a movie or book you really like. Now imagine being able to control what happens. They can also be a good brain teaser, like a giant interactive puzzle. A good one is also addicting. REALLY good games can lead to adrenaline rushes. Plus, there are all types of games for all types of people. Some are almost all story, others involve solving puzzles, others have fast paced action, and many are nice mixes of all the above.
A good multiplayer game, especially if played with friends, makes the fun grow almost limitlessly and can be really addicting because you want to be better than everyone else (instead of being up on the AI, for instance).
Hey, no fair. If we’re going to do rebuttals on things other people don’t get, the hijacks are going to be out of control! I was tempted to work on START’s list myself.
It’s true. My brother had a hernia repaired in this manner when he was a little over a year old (he also had an outtie bellybutton ‘repaired’ and tubes put in his ears at the same time, poor kid).
However, isn’t it to do with the danger of administering anesthesia to very young children? I’m sure doctors know that it isn’t pleasant for the kid…
Some studies have shown better results on average with anesthesia others don’t support that. The trauma of all that paid does seem to negatively affect healing and recovery, but it is not clear to some doctors that the impact is enough to warrant anesthesia.
SolGrundy, i think you have misunderstood me. i was addressing START’s ‘don’t get’, where he/she could not picture someone without the need for any religion whatsoever. i did not state/imply that his belief stems from any delusions, fear nor desperation. why would you think that? there are many reasons to join a religion.
that said, i don’t really get what you’re trying to say. for example, if someone needs a cuppa to start their day; how does that translate to someone who do not, as a need to not have that… need?
ah Dung Beetle, i couldn’t resist…
Recreational Hunting. I can understand killing things for meat, for population control, to control pests, to avoid damage to crops, but for fun? Nope - don’t get it.
That’s really bizarre. My son had two hydrocele surgeries (similar to hernia) and the ear tubes as well. The possibility of anything other than general anesthesia wasn’t even discussed. We were told it was a safety issue-- it’s not that they need that much pain relief, but that they couldn’t guarantee that the child could keep still. An older child or adult would have local or partial anesthesia, but never just nothing at all!
Every time I come back to this thread, I’m reminded of another thing I just don’t get. I understand that your t-shirt is just humor, Spiff, but I really don’t understand people who want to be identified by what they hate rather than what they love.
Why have a “Ford sucks” bumper sticker or shirt instead of “Dodge rocks” (fill in automakers, bands, political candidates, or whatever of your choice)?
This is a great thread. Add me to the list of people who don’t get people who say they hate cats. Are there any cat-haters here that want to shed some light on the situation?
(Bolding mine):
Well there’s your problem! Go on a rollercoaster that starts off with a 50-foot drop straight down and see if you think it’s fun. (Or maybe not. You’re perfectly welcome to stay at home while I’m riding the rollercoasters, that just means shorter lines for me!)
I don’t get people who don’t like rap. Actually, I do, because I used to be one of them for a long time, and then I found some rap music (if you can call it that) that I actually liked. At that point I decided I wasn’t going to universally hate any single genre of music, and I even found some (gasp!) country music that I enjoy listening to. I’m still not a big fan of modern hip hip [sub](registered trademark of MTV)[/sub] though. It seems like rap from the 80s and 90s actually had a nice beat to it, but now it’s two off-key notes repeating over and over and mind-numbing lyrics. But there’s gotta be some good stuff out there, if you know where to look.
Two more things I don’t get:
Super Smash Bros: I’m mainly putting this here because one of my roommates is playing it right now and I’m reminded of it. Being a video game programmer, I’d say I’m one of the people who “gets” video games. But this one I just can’t figure out. I know people who play it every day, including my roommates. It’s an “okay” game, and I definiteliy like the idea of Smash Bros (a fighting game featuring characters from various unrelated Nintendo games) but I could never see how a game as silly as Smash Bros. has gotten as much hype as it has. The controls are buggy, 99% of the music and sound effects are just annoying, and every time I try to play it thinking I’ll get enjoyment out of it if I just learn the controls better, I end up asking myself “Why am I even playing this?” If it were me, the game would’ve gotten a quick rental and then I would have forgotten about it. I don’t get it.
"Walk-a-thons" or “Fun-runs” or whatever you want to call them: Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Let’s set up a charity marathon where a bunch of people walk around downtown (or, in the case of my elementary school, walking around the school track) and for every lap a person does, we’ll donate a certain amount of money to fight cancer! Oh wait! I’ve got a better idea! If you’ve got the money in the first place, why not just donate it all at once and forget about the stupid walk-a-thon!? Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had trouble wrapping my brain around how me doing laps corresponds to fighting cancer. I guess that’s what you call “slacktivism.”
I was thinking of more as I was reading the thread, but I forgot what else I was going to write. :smack:
I don’t get those parents you sometimes see on the news who get into screaming arguments and fights with each other over little league games. I can sort of understand the desire to live vicariously through your children if you grew up in a competitive home, but screaming at the top of your lungs and getting into feuds with the other parents? You’re trying to set an example for the children! Stop acting like a three year old!
I guess there are some things that in order to “get” you need to actually have something wrong with you mentally.
I’ll take a mild risk here. Way back when I lived with my folks I used to hate their cats. More accurately, I hated the fleas that they brought into their house and which I would inevitably find crawling around my ankles and biting me. I really don’t like insect bites, and flea bites are disgusting. No cats = no fleas = no problems. Besides, the cats didn’t really do anything besides laze around the house, eat, sleep, poop, and bring in more fleas. Not useful, and to me, detrimental. They were full grown Siamese and not particularly playful or cute. I don’t know whether I’m hypersensitive or just very attractive to insects, but I was generally the first to get flea bites and then the house would get “bombed” and then things would get better for a while.
Fast forward: I understand now that cats bring great joy to some people. My daughter loves them, and my mom has her last cat, who is 18 years old and in very poor health, on his last legs. She says she is too old to have another cat whenever Clyde shuffles off this mortal coil. Bonnie, his mate, preceded him a couple of years ago. Poor old Clyde is really sort of out of it most of the time, and lays around and is actually a lot more affectionate. I think he misses Bonnie. And my folks finally understood, some time ago, that cats absolutely can’t go outside around here if you don’t want fleas. Save maybe the very rare accidental escape Clyde is a purely indoor cat. My mom gives him IV treatments every other day, plus various other medications. I fully expect to find him there dead some day, and I know it will break my mom’s heart as if it were one of her own kids. He is a harbinger of things to come for her. I’m certainly not cold enough to begrudge her, or anyone, that. So I’ve long since made peace with the cats, and I’ll rub and scratch old Clyde whenever I am over.
Guys that wear polo or other knit shirts with suit coats (and pants). Who in the hell ever thought that was a good fashion statement? Just saw someone on TV wearing this combo, FWIW, but I have seen it IRL and it’s never pretty.
If I misinterpreted your post, then I apologize. It sounded as if you were equating the belief in a religion as a burden (a “need”) of which atheists are free. I often hear the belief in God described patronizingly as a comforting delusion, even from well-intentioned people. It’s often, “I wish I could believe in God or Heaven, because it would be so comforting,” which implies that theists or religious people never have to question or confront their beliefs or construct a belief system that makes sense; we only parrot back what we were taught much like children who believe in Santa Claus. (The old “Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, and Magical Pink Unicorns” chestnut, which of course is delievered by not-so-well-intentioned people.)
Because I look on atheism and theism not as one being superior to the other, but merely as different but valid ways of perceiving and describing our existence. I never describe atheism as if it were an inability to see the wonders of creation; instead I assume that atheists have analyzed their beliefs and come to a different conclusion. And I find it frustrating that they so rarely extend me the same courtesy.
-Las Vegas
-Nascar
-People who don’t like to do much outdoors for other than medical reasons (like go camping or hiking…just once or twice a year people…is it going to kill you?)
-People who purchase products from spam
-Make-up
-Shaving of legs and underarms for purposes other than decreasing drag while swimming
-People who think we as a species are not having a signifigantly negative impact on the planet
-People who think pot is more “dangerous” than alcohol
-why 90% of the channels on my cable TV package exist in the first place
-why a sandwich tastes better when someone else makes it for you
(Or maybe not. You’re perfectly welcome to stay at home while I’m riding the rollercoasters, that just means shorter lines for me!)
Actually, I do, because I used to be one of them for a long time, and then I found some rap music (if you can call it that) that I actually liked. At that point I decided I wasn’t going to universally hate any single genre of music, and I even found some (gasp!) country music that I enjoy listening to. I’m still not a big fan of modern hip hip [sub](registered trademark of MTV)[/sub] though. It seems like rap from the 80s and 90s actually had a nice beat to it, but now it’s two off-key notes repeating over and over and mind-numbing lyrics. But there’s gotta be some good stuff out there, if you know where to look.