|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
|
 Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 11:36 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
double post
Last edited by Mr. BlackCat on Thu May 30, 2013 11:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
|
| Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 11:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
People need to stop engaging SteelRails here. He's successfully turned this into another Korea v WEST argument, where he gets to define what WEST means. Right now it's a couple of soccer hooligans in Italy. Tomorrow it'll be Irish in Boston. Next week it'll be the Greek government.
In any event, contrary to what SR says in every thread he's a part of, no one (or very few people) compared Korea to anywhere else. Someone off-handedly mentioned that they believed that Korea was a developing country in the mid-90s. As with anything that might suggest that Korea isn't #1, SR could not accept this and has gone on a 6 page crusade to shape the discussion into some dramatic and brave defence of Korea.
Can we consider Korea a developed or a developing country? Well, economists and others are currently debating that. We can too, but what we can't do is engage a guy who keeps bringing up some random crime in Italy as proof of anything that goes on in Korea. It is fruitless to try to reason with SR. He does not hear it, he is never wrong, and if he is then he'll just change the subject slowly over 17 posts in one day. Suddenly we're talking about the weather in Chicago when the original topic was the price of external hard drives in Seoul.
All SR does is derail discussions in his personal quest to DEFEND THE MOTHERLAND. It's pathological, and there is nothing any one of us can say or write that will ever make him think otherwise. I'm not saying 'convince him that Korea is awful'. I'm saying there's nothing we can say that will make him understand that soccer hooligans in Italy have nothing to do with Korea's economic stability. Honestly, there is nothing. But the more we engage him (and I'm guilty of this) the more it feeds into his belief that he is performing a noble and necessary function on this site.
You are not talking to a rational person. You are talking to a computer program that has only one answer programmed into it (Korea is #1!). No matter the question, this is the only answer it has. And it'll use anything at it's disposal to get to that answer. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 1:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
People need to stop engaging SteelRails here. He's successfully turned this into another Korea v WEST argument, where he gets to define what WEST means. Right now it's a couple of soccer hooligans in Italy. Tomorrow it'll be Irish in Boston. Next week it'll be the Greek government.
In any event, contrary to what SR says in every thread he's a part of, no one (or very few people) compared Korea to anywhere else. Someone off-handedly mentioned that they believed that Korea was a developing country in the mid-90s. As with anything that might suggest that Korea isn't #1, SR could not accept this and has gone on a 6 page crusade to shape the discussion into some dramatic and brave defence of Korea.
Can we consider Korea a developed or a developing country? Well, economists and others are currently debating that. We can too, but what we can't do is engage a guy who keeps bringing up some random crime in Italy as proof of anything that goes on in Korea. It is fruitless to try to reason with SR. He does not hear it, he is never wrong, and if he is then he'll just change the subject slowly over 17 posts in one day. Suddenly we're talking about the weather in Chicago when the original topic was the price of external hard drives in Seoul.
All SR does is derail discussions in his personal quest to DEFEND THE MOTHERLAND. It's pathological, and there is nothing any one of us can say or write that will ever make him think otherwise. I'm not saying 'convince him that Korea is awful'. I'm saying there's nothing we can say that will make him understand that soccer hooligans in Italy have nothing to do with Korea's economic stability. Honestly, there is nothing. But the more we engage him (and I'm guilty of this) the more it feeds into his belief that he is performing a noble and necessary function on this site.
You are not talking to a rational person. You are talking to a computer program that has only one answer programmed into it (Korea is #1!). No matter the question, this is the only answer it has. And it'll use anything at it's disposal to get to that answer. |
i usually just get to a point where i think 'feck, it, whats the point...' and give up.
Im already behind you on this one. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 9:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I do want to say that I would like to meet SR in person, I think we'd have a great night over beers/whiskey/bath salts. We've been going at it since many posters here were haggling over their first student loan. But he's fallen down the well on this site. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spilot101
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 11:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Michlerish wrote: |
The back and forth arguing in this thread using stupid references and wiki articles as citations is annoying.
I consider SK to be a developed country.... much like USA was a developed country in 1940s/50s.
|
Relatively speaking, the US was the most developed country in the world in the 40s/50s. In relative terms of 2013, the US no longer offers what is expected of a developed country. In many ways, it's a regression from such a standard.
Ie, the social structure is deteriorating (starting with the nuclear family), the rates of mental illness are surging through the roof (as a result) - highest on the planet, nearly tripling the global average. The middle class is shrinking, and the GDP distribution is benefiting fewer and fewer people. The rates of cancer and other debilitating diseases are, also, the highest in the "developed world." An alarmingly high percentage of the population does not have access to basic needs such as healthcare.
One mistake many middle class, college educated people make is that they fail to look beyond their own middle class experience when drawing cultural comparisons, completely disregarding the experiences of some 50-60 million in the process. A 2-month road trip across the land-of-the-brave would be a good reality check for many who think that we, in the US, live in a developed country.... The heartland of America is, for the most part, xenophobic, homophobic and close-minded to the core.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Waygeek
Joined: 27 Feb 2013
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 7:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| But he's fallen down the well on this site. |
Says... you. And some racists. Not a lot to go on there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spilot101
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 7:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
People who are quite happy wouldn't be the world's leading consumers of psychiatric drugs, with depression being the leading cause. Do not put too much faith into those rankings (especially an OECD report  ) . I've recently seen one that had the US in 26th place....
Ironically, some of the happiest people that I've come across happened to be in some of the poorest regions of the world. You, generally, won't find those countries in any of these rankings because the western mantra of well-being is, still, very much tied to GDP/capita.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
|
| Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 11:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Waygeek wrote: |
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| But he's fallen down the well on this site. |
Says... you. And some racists. Not a lot to go on there. |
Goodwin's Law in 3...2...1... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
| spilot101 wrote: |
| Ironically, some of the happiest people that I've come across happened to be in some of the poorest regions of the world. |
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/05/daily-chart-0
| Quote: |
| Richer countries are happier than poor countries. And richer families within richer countries are happier, too. |
About anti-depressants, the overwhelming majority of Americans never in their lifetime try them. If the numbers are higher than in other countries, it is because people in the U.S. can afford them. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spilot101
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 7:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
You're way off base amigo, especially if you think that the medications are more affordable in the US than in, say, Europe.... I never said that the majority of Americans take psychiatric drugs, but 32% is a substantial number.
I'm not saying anything about the Economist's link 
If you think that material possessions translate into psychological well being - you're in for a disappointment.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
|
| Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 7:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| Waygeek wrote: |
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| But he's fallen down the well on this site. |
Says... you. And some racists. Not a lot to go on there. |
Goodwin's Law in 3...2...1... |
Don't worry Waygeek, me and Senor Negro Gato have mutually established my occasional lunacy. Besides, being completely normal is boring.
He may bash my sanity on this thread, but on a thread that doesn't involve the usual Korea vs. argument, things are different. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
| spilot101 wrote: |
You're way off base amigo, especially if you think that the medications are more affordable in the US than in, say, Europe.... I never said that the majority of Americans take psychiatric drugs, but 32% is a substantial number.
I'm not saying anything about the Economist's link
If you think that material possessions translate into psychological well being - you're in for a disappointment.... |
MOST Americans never in their lifetimes experience depression. MOST people there are happy. It is not a horrible place. And most don't use antidepressants and never have. It's a low number (similar to how the unemployment is low). Nine out of ten are happy, just like how nine out of ten are not unemployed.
Now, about medications, yes they are affordable, especially with insurance. Guess what, MOST people in the U.S. have health insurance. Those who don't are in the minority. (Only one out of six Americans don't have it.)
Want some more links (since for some reason you don't like the Economist)?
Here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317542/Money-really-does-buy-happiness-Economists-discover-higher-persons-income-satisfied-life.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/money-buys-happiness-and-you-can-never-have-too-much-new-research-says/275380/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spilot101
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 3:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
"MOST... 9 out of 10." [kind of reminds me of Hal 9000's "Daisy, daisy... give me your answer...."] You're either in serious denial, or just having a piss. 32% of Americans is not 9 out of 10.
Pulling random numbers out of a hat and using links doesn't do great justice to you argument. Last time I checked, neither the Economist nor Dailymail were considered to be authorities on the studies of human happiness. I don't need the links as I have done extensive research in this field, namely the state of mental health in the US.
MOST people having health insurance doesn't mean a thing, if 50-60 million can not afford it. Remeber, we're not talking about MOST people. We're talking about an entire country.
In the East, the concept of saving face points to the Confucian values of maintaining social harmony and, thereby, order.
In the N. America, it is often a byproduct of American exceptionalism, a sign of reluctance to be willing to examine our own flaws because from the day we're born, we're told that we live in the greatest nation of Earth.
The hyperindividualistic nature of our "perfect" society shifts the blame to a personal level, refusing to examine the big picture. The fact that 50% of Americans have some type of debilitating condition like diabetes or psychological distress (MOST doesn't apply this time) makes me question how "developed" we REALLY are. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
|
| Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 4:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| Waygeek wrote: |
| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| But he's fallen down the well on this site. |
Says... you. And some racists. Not a lot to go on there. |
Goodwin's Law in 3...2...1... |
Waygeek is a little too quick to throw down the race card sometimes. I agree that some people take it a little too far, but Korean people deserve to have the piss taken out of them just as much as anyone. I rip on my Canadian and American friends using cliched stereotypes, and they do the same about Brits. I think everyone is fair game to be mocked as long as it has some wit about it.
I don't think there are many truly racist people on here, and they aren't saying anything that hasn't been done on South Park or Family Guy already. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
