The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Party Room => Ask Me => Topic started by: jansenov on March 08, 2011, 09:22:45 AM
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So ask anything you want. About politics, science, art, philosophy, teddy bears, doughnouts... anything.
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teddy bears? I'll bear that in mind for the next time.:p
Anyway I'm interested in how you mentioned Philosophy. Do you take philosophy classes in school? Do you have a favourite philosopher? I'll admit that I am only familiar with ancient philosophers...primarily greek ones.
As for teddy bears (since you did mention them), do you have one?
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Yes, I have one at my parent's house. I used to have more as a child, but we gave almost all of my and my brother's toys to my yonger female cousins. That's when I also lost all of my dinosaurs and cars, which my mother brought from Hamburg in 1991. I still have a turtle plushie from those times, and a dinosaur plushie as a donation from Germany (German kids helping Croatian kids, that kind of stuff) from later times. I got tooth paste in package with the dino plushie. :rolleyes
From ancient philosophers I appreciate Socrates for his morality, Heraclites for his thoughts on change, and Aristotle who can be considered the ancient forefather of science. From the new philosophers I respect Roger Bacon, Occam, Hobbes. Rationalists, founders of the scientific method. Nietzsche and Heidegger also seem interesting, but I haven't had time to explore them. Hegel was hard to follow. I still haven't grasped his thoughts.
I had philosophy in high school.
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When you wrote your poem, was there any source that provided inspiration (not in the words but in the mood and ancient sound)?
... Come to think of it is a question the answer to which may perhaps be better placed in the thread about your poem rather than the ask me section.
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Here you can ask anything about my works. The melody for the song was the first thing that popped into my head. It is quite archaic sounding. The first line sounded like "Weh a're thoo--!" The accent on the "a" is short, rapidly ascending, and the accent on the "oo" long, slightly ascending. I really have to write the song with notes. The sound is supposed to be 70% of the mood (and quality) of the song, the words only 30%. My poor singing abilities prevent me from trying to sing the song. Also, I think it is much more suitable for a female voice. Maybe if some GOFer (GoFess) likes the tune enough we could have it sung.
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What are your chief interests and areas of expertise?
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Chief interests? My intellectual interests would be reading about scientific topics, science fiction, politics, economy, history, and my physichal interests would be cycling, working in the garden, barbecuing and drinking with friends, and other stuff that lets your mind go. I prefer the later over the former :lol: . Oh, and sailing. I'm in love with the sea and I think it is far more interesting and challenging to know how to drive and maintain a boat than a car. Unfortunately I get to see the Adriatic only two weeks a year. The way things are going, I will sooner have a boat licence than a car licence :lol. As for my area of expertise, I'm not an expert in any field for now, but when I finsh faculty I will be magister pharmaciae.
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How did you become interested in LBT? (Or would you rather share your story in this thread (http://gangoffive.net/index.php?showtopic=1091)?)
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It was an accident. I always loved dinosaurs since I was a kid, especially the herbivores. I had a soft spot for the benevolent giants, at least I pictured them that way. My first encounter with LBT was not the movie itself, but a poster from 1989, announcing the original movie. I saw it at my friend's house. He brought it from Germany (why does this country figure so much in my life? :rolleyes: ), where he lived as a refugee for a couple of years during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995). After the war, instead of returning to Bosnia they settled in Croatia, since Croatia, despite all its problems, was (and is) vastly more developed than Bosnia. Anyway, I saw the (didn't know their names back then) gang on the poster and then I remembered the title: "In einem Land vor unserer Zeit". I thought it was a German movie. It wasn't until years later that I found out it was actually an American movie called The Land Before Time. Years later, one Friday when I watched Super RTL I saw the announcement for In einem Land vor unserer Zeit, saying "Heute um 20 Uhr und 15 Minuten" (Today at 20:15). So, I waited for the evening to see the movie. I was thoroughly impressed by what I saw. In the same way, the movie ruined the rest of my evening, because I was crying for hours.
I didn't cry at all when Littlefoot's mum died.
The act of death itself never left an impression on me, but the implications of that death, Littlefoot's pain and suffering, the scene where he licked his shadow thinking it's his mother, that struck me really hard. I could totally symphatise with Littlefoot. The female choir and violin gave additional weight to the situation. In fact, it is the music that made the movie especially hard for me.
In the weeks after I watched on the same channel various sequels to the original movie. I enjoyed them as well, and it is since the sequels that I really became fond of Ducky, the incorrible optimist and damsel in distress. I liked her species as well, the way they looked. I don't remember her that much from my first viewing of the original movie, save for the berrie scene, which had an erie feeling to it and stood out of the doom and gloom of the rest of the movie. Then I forgot all about LBT.
Then, somewhere in May 2010, I was really into alternate history, and I ran into an alternate history of the Kenozoic where the K/T extinction event never happened. It was a very good scenario, and I searched the Net for other such scenarios. I also started reading articles on Wikipedia on various dinosaur species, and I ran into the hadrosaurs, and I immediately remembered Ducky and LBT.
Then I read the LBT article on Wikipedia, found the LBT wiki, and finally the Gang of Five. But I didn't join the forum. Later in November 2010, I downloaded all the movies and started watching them. I've seen the first six so far. When I watched the original movie for the second time (first time in English), I cried again. But this time the saddest scene wasn't Littlefoot with his shadow, but Ducky saying , "You go... without Petrie?"I was shattered by that scene, and I felt like there was a rock in my stomach until Petrie climbed up. I couldn't eat properly for a few days.
Also, one of the reasons I saw the first movie was the notice the discrepancy between the version I saw on TV and the one I download. Since I have faith in my memory, I decided to join the GOF to inform other people of my discovery. And I'm still here. :)
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Wow. Now that's a good story. Thanks for sharing it. :)
Then, somewhere in May 2010, I was really into alternate history, and I ran into an alternate history of the Kenozoic where the K/T extinction event never happened. It was a very good scenario, and I searched the Net for other such scenarios.
Do you happen to remember the name of that alternate Cenozoic site/book/whatever medium it was? Alternate history and speculative evolution are topics that interest me as well.
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I can't find the actual scenario. Seems it was deleted. But check out these sites
http://www.alternatehistory.com (http://www.alternatehistory.com)
http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0000265/Spec/ (http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0000265/Spec/)
These are real gold mines of speculative evolution. I highly recommend using the Advanced Search function on Alternate History, as the site is huge.
There is also a HUGE work called "World Tour of the Neocene" about future of evolution. In my opinion, it is the best work on speculative evolution out there. It is in Russian, but a third has been translated to English. Even that third is bigger than most complete works on the topic.
English version
http://www.sivatherium.h12.ru/englver.htm (http://www.sivatherium.h12.ru/englver.htm)
Russian version
http://http://www.sivatherium.h12.ru/rab_budu.htm (http://http://www.sivatherium.h12.ru/rab_budu.htm)
I also read Dougal Dixon's "New Dinosaurs" and "The Future is Wild" but they are not as good as some other works, like the ones above.
There are other works, but I can't remember their names and authors for the life of me. I hope you will have fun with these though.
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What're your favorite movies and video games overall?
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Hah, favorite movies. In no particular order: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, Enemy at the Gates, 2001: Odyssey in Space, Alien, Who's That Singing Over There? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_That_Singing_Over_There),http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marathon_Family]The Marathon Family (http://), Land Before Time, Beauty and the Beast, Matrix, Police Academy... There's more.
Regarding video games, my favorite would be the Warhammer 40k series by Relic, Warcraft II and III, Starcraft, Command and Conquer: Tiberian Dawn on PC, and The Flintstones, Batman and Tetris on the original Nintendo.
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You mentioned Warhammer 40K. Have you ever read the Caiaphas Cain series of novels?
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No. I've read two omnibuses, Hammer of the Emperor, a collection of novels following various Guard regiments in different campaings (most stories were very good, recommended for an Imperial Guard fan), and Blood Ravens, detailing and expanding on the story of Dawn of War (this too is a good SF work, despite the many contradictions with established WH40K lore). I also read from time to time The Saint, the second collection of novels about Gaunt's Ghosts, and the Ultramarines omnibus. Right now I've read a third of each book (WH40K doesn't captivate as much as it used too).
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Since you mentioned Germany a lot in some earlier posts, can you speak/understand German?
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Yes. I can follow TV news in German for example, and I can speak the language at a basic level. Forming complex sentences is a problem. Even when I write them on paper I have to think very hard when assembling them, and even then there's a lot of mistakes. I know the theory, but I lack practice. Practice is the only solution, but for nearly every topic I can think of, save for the specifics of DACh countries themselves, English offers far more information than German, so the temptation to go the easy route is always there. And I don't want to pester Germans with my bad German in online chats. Selten kann ich ein besseren Satz als dieser erdenken.
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This here German would like nothing more than being pestered by you in either language Hrvoje ;)
Seriously, it'd be a delight to see you on skype again :yes
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Cool :wow
I have to admit that German is much more difficult to learn than for example English. We have a lot of grammar :P:
However, have you visited Germany so far? If yes, how often and where have you been?
(I agree with you, Malte ;) )
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I've spent a month in Hamburg in 1991. Though I don't remember any of it. Back then Croatia was in an extremely difficult situation, fighting against Serbia which had complete military superiority. During those few months the war was incredibly fierce and casualties were very high on both sides, and since my hometown was near the very frontline, my father decided to send me and my mother out of the country, while he remained working as a technician in the town hospital, which was shelled every day and night. First we spent 4 months in Slovenia, but then the Serb force came so close to Slovenia that we had to move to Germany. Germany and Austria were very generous in helping Croatian refugees. My mother received financial assistance every month from the German government while we lived in Hamburg. Germans and Austrians even organised schools where instruction was held in Croatian so that children can continue their educatino despite the war.
By the end of 1991, the strain of the war effort proved to be too great for Serbia, which had a weaker economy than Croatia, and the Serb advance halted. During this period Serbia started suffering from hyperinflation and shortage of food and fuel, problems Croatia with its more vital economy managed to avoid. By late 1991 the war considerably decreased in its intensity, life in my hometown stopped being a nightmare (a fourth of the houses in my street were destroyed, and that wasn't the worst hit part of the town either), and I was back home. There would be no major fighting in my area until 1994.
I also had a second opportunity to visit Germany, when I was 3rd grade of gymnasium, as a one of the representatives of my school in a project of young people from various European countries, from Spain to Russia, meeting and living and working together, which was financed by the European Union. Unfortunately, I got hurt in a car accident on the way to the airport and I had to go the hospital, then home to recover.
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That is sad to hear :(
Fortunatily the war is over, hopefully for ever! I just have to :slap due to the (imo ridiculously) threats from North Coreas dictator to threw a nuclear bomb at the US :crazy
And have you already heard of the terrorist attack in boston? Sad and evil things happen everyday on planet earth... Sometimes I doubt that the mankind is the most intelligent species since we do so much damage to our planet :bang just think of the trees that are cutted everyday :x
Ok... I'm off-topic now :rolleyes: If you want to discuss this a bit more let me know ;)
Thanks for your detailed answers :yes
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Everytime you think about how humans are greedy and bad for the planet, try imagine what another species, like lions, rats or chickens, or any other, would do to the Earth if they had our intelligence and technology. I can't think of a single animal species that would do better than humans in our situation. So, there's some comfort for you. ;)
Must we do better? Absolutely. Can we do better? History gives us reason for hope. As time went by, and human societies become wealthier and more enlightened, generally more and more rights were given to an ever greater part of human society, and then rights began to be given even to animals and the rest of the biosphere. Also, societies became less violent, with the occurence of homicide and rape ever decreasing, a process that still continues today. Even when taking into account the occasional war, even a devastating one like the world wars, the trend is unmistakable. We are living in an increasingly peaceful world, despite all the bad news with which we are bombarded daily. I mean, look at yourself. How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you truly feared for your life or the lives of your loved ones? A few times or never, I suppose. In previous ages it was different. The deeper you go into the past, the more reasons people had to fear for their lives, until you reach the Paleolithic, where people were thankful to the spirits for everyday they managed to survive. Can you imagine living your entire life (20-40 years) like that?
We mustn't be discouraged by what is going around us now. It is nothing compared to what our ancestors had to endure. :)
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How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you truly feared for your life or the lives of your loved ones? A few times or never, I suppose.
I never had to fear for my life or the life of a person who's close to me so far, fortunatily...
I was there twice when people I was more or less close to had an accident.
The first situation was(it happened few years ago): Me and my sister were playing at a playground with our great cousin at my uncle's birthday once. Our GC climbed at a climbing frame and then suddenly she had an accident and fell from it. She was knocked unconscious. Back then I hadn't a clue, what had to be done, so we ran to our parents and told them about the accident. My uncle took care of her until the ambulance arrived. She had a brain concussion, though a few days later she was already fine :)
The other accident happened nearly exactly a year ago at a athletics competition(this time I just spectated the scene since there were some ambulance men, who helped immadiately)
The girl had to run 300 meters but she must have been too fast so she was completely exhausted. She tried to reach the finish, but suddenly she fell forward and crashed on her belly. She got a Cardiovascular collapse sadly. At least she felt better after some time and needn't go to the hospital...
There were also two situations in my life, where a member of my family died(both died of cancer), but it was forseeable that they wouldn't make it(though in one case it happened within two days..) so I hadn't feared of their lifes( their death wasn't very hard to get over).
Speaking of death I sometimes hope that my grandma would finally die because she had a grave apoplexy. She's hemiplagic and she lost nearly her whole memory. She can only speak some sentences which she repeated over and over... and she lies in her bed the whole day. I don't consider this a life anymore, the women's just suffering so why can't we help her a bit( I know it's forbidden in Germany and in many other countries, too)?
Whoops! :oops I'm very much off-topic so I'll stop now ;) It's an ask me thread so I rather should ask you something, shouldn't I? :P:
However I agree to your argumentation, it's xery conclusively :yes
next question: Do you do sports regularly? If so, which kinds of sports do you do?
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Sorry, rather stupid question, :oops but I was confused by your post (http://gangoffive.net/index.php?showtopic=12484&view=findpost&p=22036945) in the "The Above Poster's Avatar Is You" thread. What exactly did you mean?
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^It was supposed to be a joke about the ubiquity of Lystrosaurus. The facial expression looks like it conveys curiosity, so I imagined the Lystrosaurus' attention was caught by an animal that was not a member of his species, a rare occurence since Lystrosauri were supposedly all over the place. :o
I guess the joke didn't turn out well.
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In terms of literary works, do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? On a related note, what are your favorite books?
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Non-fiction. There are only a few books that I found interesting enough to read through more than once. The Bible, Aleph, The Illustrated Encylopedia of Dinosaurs, The Horse, Wheel and Language, Crime and Punishment, Elementa Latina and Chemical Physics(2nd semester, pharmacy).
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Earlier in this topic, you indicated that politics was one of your intellectual pursuits. Likewise, I also have a strong interest in political science, which is why I minored in the discipline during my undergraduate studies. In particular, I have an interest in constitutional design and how changes in how institutions function relative to another (for example, switching from a semi-presidential form of government with an independent chief executive to a parliamentary form with a chief executive who is accountable to Parliament) can cause great changes in the policy decisions that are made.
I was wondering if you had a particular sub-discipline of political science that interested you and (if so) what made you interested in that discipline?
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No, my interest does not go that deep. I had a more specific interest in the political systems of the European Union and Russia, but I have moved away from politics since then. I now more heavily focus on natural sciences and languages.
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I now more heavily focus on natural sciences and languages.
Ah, that is interesting. I have dabbled in certain construed languages (Lojban and Esperanto) but I never learned them to any meaningful degree, I simply found their construction and the history behind them to be quite fascinating. The only language (besides English) that I have been trained in is French, which I took for 2 years in High School. However, not having used the language in over 12 years, my comprehension of the language has since lapsed.
Is there a particular sub-discipline of linguistics that interests you or are you simply interested in learning new languages?
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Comparative linguists is absolutely my favorite sub-field. Comparing two similar languages, finding regular sound, morphological and lexical correspondences between them, and reconstructing their common ancestor, and then reconstructing the language ancestral to that one, and the insight such reconstructed languages provide into the life of communities which must have used them, I find utterly fascinating. I pay particular attention to the Indo-European family of languages and their common ancestor, the proto-Indo-European language, which in the 1950s has been conjectured on a number of lexical and morphological arguments to have been spoken 5000-6000 years ago somewhere in central or eastern Europe, and whose reconstructed vocabulary shows an eerie match with archaeological cultures which have been examined in detail in the 1970s and 1980s in Ukraine and southern Russia, which, of course, have been radiocarbon dated to 4500-3000 B.C.
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Speaking of Proto-Indo-European, did you hear that someone recently made a recording of his best attempt to speak that ancient language? (If not, here (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2437445/Ancient-language-called-PIE-heard-4-000-years-recorded-time.html) is where I found out about it.) What do you think about it?
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^That is almost exactly how proto-Indo-European must have sounded like. :DD
There are some imperfections (the values of the vowels are a bit off, the dental sounds should be pronounced by putting the tongue on the teeth, the laryngeals sound all the same), but overall it's the best pronunciation of PIE I've heard so far.
I, at this stage, can pronounce it with good accuracy, but not quite as good as this person.