Grrl Power #1141 – What about Sydney?
The next 22 minutes of the voice mail cover topics such as the weather in Senegal, how weird it is to see common American brands like Cheetos with French packaging, how much better “Belin Croustilles de Fromage” are, which are a French produced Cheeto equivalent, and how she need to find a reliable way to get them in the US, and if the team is allowed to do endorsements yet, because she figures that if she does “Belin Croustilles de Fromage” ads, she could probably swing a box of them every month or two as part of the contract, and also, are they allowed to do commercials in other countries in general, because she doesn’t want to pass up an opportunity to a crazy Japanese ad where a cartoon tanuki screams at her while she tries to climb a mountain only to have the camera zoom out to reveal the mountain is the side of the product, and drop of condensation runs down the side of the can and hits her and the rest of the commercial is shot underwater, and she’s wondering what the crush depth is of her shield, assuming her orbs aren’t going kaput, and if they are, can she get permission to go on sabbatical to explore the galaxy for signs of the Nth as Dabbler calls them and she promises she’ll document the whole thing because there’s no way that wouldn’t be a crazy entertaining spin-off.
Actually, that’s just the next seven minutes. Max didn’t listen to the rest. She’ll save that the next time she has to commute using normal transportation and treat it like an audiobook.
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Variant outfits and lack thereof over at Patreon, as well as the semi-usual bonus incentive related comic.
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Maxima must have a titanium phone case for it to survive her battles
Normally, it’s just as protected as her jackets
Maxima’s durability field extends over her clothes (if not at full strength), so likely her phone also is protected by it.
Ruggedized probably but not Nokia indestructible.
5 ton ball of industrial strength bubble wrap.
I think Dave is having too much fun writing Sydney’s dialog for all this
No doubt.
I’m having too much fun reading it.
Yeah Dave have been in top form lately.
I do demand a webcomic which shows the japanese commercial of a tanuki screaming at Sydney though. This is non-negotiable. It’s what the people want.
All those in favor? Aye!
how long before one of the generative AI’s can do video?
Halo’s hawt sauce, only in Akibahara. So hot you’ll think you died.
Illegal in most countries and classified as a grade 4 biohazard for aircraft.
“The same weapons grade sauce as seen on the Today Show starring the late Kelly Ripa before her face was burned off from Sydney’s cooking.”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-364-they-like-us-the-mostly-really-like-us/
Aggretsuko hot sauce?
Dave needs one correction on her dialogue. Popeye would keep a leaf of SPINACH, not lettuce.
That’s the joke. She just says “lettuce” and goes on with ADHD wandering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ngg5-uwQYI&ab_channel=Showment
Poor Max lol
Also the look on Anvils face.
“I’ve tasted Hell’s BBQ Pit.”
I would listen to that “Adventures of Halo” as told by Sydney Scoville audio book. I’ve also just noticed that Sydney has that alliteration thing that supes have
I think such a book would cause the writer and narrator to take sanity damage during production and editing.
It’s a small price to pay for our entertainment.
I need this audiobook. PLEASE!
Why would that even be in a flask? those inserts are meant to be flexible when not getting heavy impact. Metal flasks are decidedly not that.
I’m also assuming Sydney opened up one of the inserts out of curiosity, because Ashley would never have given her any in a goddamn drinking container. He could make a pocket liner with some in it no problem, and will porobably have to now.
Actually, this makes perfect Sydney Sense. You know all those stories of people surviving being shot because their cop badge or flask or pocket bible or whatever saved them? well what if that, but it had bullet resistant goo in it! – and then the fact that if you’re just using it to stop bullets anyway then using an actual armor insert would be way better never occurred to her.
That’s literally what Sydney is implying she had it in there for, when in the last panel she says “That part of my jacket is hella bullet resistant. :)”
Possibly because Sydney’s preferred Scoville counts render her hot sauce so exaggeratedly corrosive that it would dissolve anything other than metal :)
And that just looks like a regular cargo pocket, actually. The inserts are worked into a camo-pattern military jacket/pants that presumably go over what Sydney’s wearing now.
Capsaicin is not nearly as effective at dissolving things as its reputation would have you believe.
It will corrode the stuff it directly touches over time, but it’s not going to eat through it. Anything that’s fairly corrosion resistant should work fine. Any metal that’s not specifically corrosion resistant will probably get corroded enough to leave a distinct tang in the sauce, and I feel like someone with a refined palate like Sydney would probably notice a taste shift a bit even if it was corrosion resistant metal. But it could be a metal flask with an inert liner that stands up to cap. Note that not corrosion resistant metal is probably not going to be visibly corroded unless exposed to the capsaicin for a long time, or otherwise exposed under especially good conditions for corrosion to occur.
I know because people made these same sorts of comments about the stuff that I consumed, despite it being much more mild than Sydney’s. (Back then, I stopped enjoying it somewhere between about 3000 Scoville units and 5000 Scoville units, as judged by the fact that some raw jalapenos were delicious and some were too hot. Since then, I’ve not had nearly as much spicy food, so at this point all jalapenos are too hot for me to enjoy raw.) So I did a bit of research. It turns out capsaicin is so bad at dissolving other things, it was incredibly difficult to find a reference that said this conclusively. Experts I asked about it mostly just looked at me like I was insane and either didn’t dignify my question with a verbal response, or gave a response that didn’t admit to my actual question. People are more concerned with what will dissolve capsaicin rather than the other way around. (Alcohol and food oil, as it happens.)
I would think if capsaicin was even mildly corrosive, say, as much as vinegar or even water there would be some need to address it in the food manufacturing industry. There would then be experts on the topic.
Saying that capsaicin is slightly corrosive is like saying “dogs are slightly corrosive”. No seriously, the PH of capsaicin is just about the same as the oils in your dog’s skin and fur.
Capsaicin is not corrosive, and it does not cause physical damage to things. You cannot “burn off your taste buds” with it. It does not eat through things (although your dog might eat through your furniture, but through an entirely different process).
I have the same reaction to carrots. It’s not that carrots in and of themselves are bad it’s just that food companies tend to use it as filler material for a lot of their food products. I may be more sensitive to the flavoring and effects carrots and foods. One thing I do know is is foods tend to be more sour to my taste when they do include carrots. And I’ve been so far 100% right of foods that do contain it. I started noticing changes in the spaghetti sauce of not only standalone but prepackaged foods like spaghetti and sauce. Turns out yep they do include carrots. It’s getting so bad that they’re including carrots and things that should never have carrots to begin with. Things like corn chowder clam chowder cheddar and broccoli. I have gotten to the point where I checked the label before I even consider buying a product to see if it has some form of carrots hiding in it. I once went through the soup aisle of the store and started cataloging which ones did and did not have carrots. 98% of them did.
Once I asked a deli if they had switched their materials that they use for their mashed potatoes and found it they had used instant instead of real potatoes for mashed. First they looked at me funny and then admitted yes indeed it was instant. If I’m paying deli prices I’m not going to pay deli prices for instant mashed potatoes.
I dislike any kind of wood or paper products for straws. To me any liquid going through a paper straw leaves a taste of wood in my mouth. Rather disgusting if you ask me.
The latest food trend that seems to be getting more disgusting is using wheat instead of white flour. Pasta and pasta products in particular is getting notoriously bad for this.
Tl;dr sorry about the rent but we really need to start watching what we eat and what’s in what we eat
Agreed on paper straws being a terrible invention, as well your indignation with the mashed potato incident.
Sadly whole wheat flour is much healthier than the white stuff, which contains just the starches without the fibers and oils of the husk. It takes a couple weeks to adjust to the taste; I actually much prefer it for breads, but pasta and pastries definitely aren’t as good with the rougher mouth feel.
Sadly? There’s nothing sad about it! I feel sad for people who were raised on white flour. If you’ve been raised on whole wheat, stuff made with white flour tastes kind of bland.
They are not that rigid, especially the cheap ones most people buy, it is usually just folded sheet aluminum not much thicker then a soda can. There is not really any need for them to be all that strong.
The reason is obviously her genre savvy, any time the hero is carrying a bible or flask or cigarettes’ case in their jacket that is always what the villain shoots, she is just making sure when they do it doesn’t turn into one of the fake out scenes where the bullet goes right through in case she is a side character rather then the hero.
I doubt Sydney’s keeping a flask of oobleck (not oobtek) has anything to do with is projectile stopping capabilities. It’s just a delightfully weird substance, and she can probably amuse herself for hours messing with it. It’s also incredibly easy to make, being primarily cornstarch and water. The only issue is keeping it in a flask. You have to handle it gently or it will stiffen up. Probably better to keep it in a heavy-duty zip-lock bag.
I assume she’s wearing the inserts already and keeps some spare for emergency repairs
Not oobleck, oobTEK. It’s non-Newtonian fluid made by Archon that acts a bit like armour.
See also: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-319-armored-with-advice/
Ah, so it’s oobleck but costs $1000 a kilogram.
An ounce
So you are saying that it gets hard when you handle it?
Didn’t Popeye famously eat spinach, not lettuce……?
Unless this is an example of Sydney getting some (old) popular culture wildly wrong, but I feel that that doesn’t jibe with her nerd cred.
Spinach, yes. Indeed, Sydney getting that wrong… is weird.
It’s the same as her saying non-Euclidean instead of non-Newtonian.
With her ADHD meds worn off, not only is she all over the place, he brain is occasionally misfiring too.
On this page, I don’t know if anything it a mistake or DaveB just writing Sydney properly.
That actually does explain it.
Pretty sure her calling it oobtek instead of ooblek is a Dave mistake (probably just a typo)
nah, they’ve got milspec ooblek with a differentiated and patentable name (oobtek) as mentioned earlier in the comic
And I can attest to having this exact issue with using the wrong word. My wife has that particular issue worse than I do however.
And his ancestors used garlic.
Popeye is a Van Helsing?
I’d watch that anime!
“Leaf of Lettuce” rolls off the tongue much easier than “Leaf of spinach”, especially if you are not really thinking about what you are saying but just talking, non-stop, in a stream of conciseness verbal deluge as is the case with Sydney here.
Like the shrink at my therapy group always tells me when I start rambling: “one idea, one sentence.” :P
Never change, Sydney. Never change.
Thanks for actually having sydney go on that ramble, it was very funny to read. But you did repeat a line in the first panel, the last text cloud just repeats the last line of the text cloud before that.
Yeah Dave, that’s two in a row with odd text. Are you getting enough sleep? Stressed out? Have you considered accepting alcohol as your lord and savior? (That’s a joke people, sheeesh.)
That’s because Sydney forgot what she said and repeated it
Who still calls them “Knick Knack shops”?
… Sydney does, she literally just said it
where else would you get a small hammer-like device for use in rice paddies?
yes, a paddy-whack
“I love that girl to death”
To be fair, Sydney is pretty much the only character that can make Maxima laugh regularly. That’s quite important to mental health.
Thought she was talking about Anvil
Nope, Syd. Max sees herself in Sydney. Remember Max is a low-key nerd girl.
Wonder if Max has a Gwen Stacy sticker on her phone. She does tend to crush a few. sorta impled by remarks said before by other characters (Leon?).
Max isn’t a low-key, she just decided after joining the military that she had to give it up for the sake of her job. Think about it, if she started ranting about the live action remake of the lord of the rings to a bunch of rough-neck marines, she’d lose respect fast. Sydney brought it back out of her early on. Max is down-playing her “nerdishness”, she was embarrassed about it. But she did start to argue with Sydney over the issue of destroying the ring when Sydney distracted her from that Elf that Max caught hitting on her and trying to look down her top. At least he thanked Sydney for the rescue lol.
DaveB has mentioned before that there are only a few people that Maxima lets get away with things others would never get away with. Peggy and Anvil (her best friends), and Sydney.
If an internationally famous super hero endorses French Cheetos [Frenchos?] she could probably swing a pallet-load a week.
French Onion Cheetoh-ho-ho-ho!’s, now shaped like mini croissants
Entirely not related to this comic, other than that it still is situated in Senegal…
When the Golden Boys (Les Garconne d’Or) tried to abduct Sydney, they knew to tell her to keep her hands off her orbs.
That suggests a serious security breach at Archon,
(or of course the author briefly forgetting that Archon planned to bury information about that particular weakness of Sydney at ‘higher than god’ level of secrecy).
… Unless Archon scrubbed every image of Sydney from media, people know she fondles her balls when she uses them!!
It was only what some of them did that was classified
I love the phrase “fondles her balls”. It sounds dirty but it isn’t, it describes what she does to activate them.
She’s been on TV showing (most of) those orbs off. It’s not exactly a secret that those are her weapons.
I don’t think it would take much video footage of Syndey using her powers to figure out that she has an orb in hand any time she uses them. Just her use of the PPO at that press event is probably enough to realize you don’t want her to grab that and point it at you.
I don’t think it does. Any footage of Sydney, including the initial press conference would show her grabbing an orb before she activates a power. It wouldn’t take a huge leap of logic to guess that she needs to hold one to use it.
Several of Sydney’s orbs’ abilities have been published in public view, including Archon’s “coming out” press conference, the Restaurant Rumble that evening, and a trip to New York (not the council meeting). During these outings, Sydney either explained the orbs gave her powers or demonstrated how she would grab them to get powers. The fact that some of the functions are not public knowledge yet indicates that the security measures are probably still working.
Sydney wasn’t alliwed to travel with her ADHD meds, huh.
I think this trip was supposed to be more along the lines of a three hour tour rather than being an all day adventure. At this point it is probably fair to assume that it has been a day for Sydney. I would not be surprised to find that keeping a spare dose in her utility belt becomes sop for her. That said, ADHD meds are not an on-off switch. With fatigue or anxiety Sydney may just be dropping into her habitual way of rambling.
An extra weeks supply should be part of her required gear.
Also, they do have doctors and pharmacies in Africa
Depending on which meds she is on (I’d assume Adderall), taking themagain would be a bad idea for her since it’s been how many hours (days?) since she last slept. Adderall can act like industrial strength caffeine, and, is not something you want to take right before bed (for most people). Sleep deprivation also has a major effect on the symptoms of ADHD, so, depending on how long it’s been, the meds may not be helping enough even if she took them.
Given that they are (hopefully) done with their heroics for the day, the best choice is to relax and rest, and not worry about functioning well.
When I was diagnosed ADHD and finally went to a practitioner with a clue I was given Adderall. Immediately relaxed and took a nap which was considered diagnostic. Since then “Never be without meds” has been a mantra
This. Caffeine is a wonderful sleeping aid I need to learn to use more often, since I never got around to getting a formal diagnosis and the real meds.
Not having a part of ones brain working can be incredibly anxiety inducing, especially when it’s the part of your brain that helps you maintain focus.
Some call an ambulance. I am laughing so hard I can hardly get any air in.
Maybe ask ChatGPT for a summary ? It also would be a good test in how sentient the thing actually is, or in other words if it will attempt to commit suicide as well.
I shudder at the thought of ChatGPT getting fed an ADHD soliloquy like Sydney’s.
it used a lot of the internet as training material so… I think its heard worse.
But doubt it would have heard better
You want SkyNet? Because that’s how you get SkyNet.
Or at least how you make SkyNet intolerant of humans.
Ooooohh… Hiro falling out of official character on duty there… Don’t get to see that often…
Dave, you doubled up on the last line in the first panel.
Also, I do find it funny that Sydney is leaving a voice mail instead of a text.
The fact that Max calls it “this voicemail” to me implies Sydney sent more than one. Likely a follow-up with corrections like the Popeye and lettuce mix up
First panel, Sydney’s last speech bubble repeats the last line of her previous one
Sydney’s comment about the size of an international airport reminds me of the summer I spent in Duluth, MN. It looks like Duluth International Airport still has only four gates, making it smaller than Blaise Diagne International Airport in Senegal.
I feel for Max and the rest, she’s CLEARLY off her meds! I have a niece like that, autistic with the need to talk until the cows start to run away… no joke there. All I have to do is say “Hi” and it starts… gotta love family…
Agreed
so ARC needs a AutoDocs or AutoDiagnostics for the members. Sydney in the field being intense (brand new landmark for tourism anyone) means her meds wear out quicker and she need a monitoring system to help self medicate.
PLus I was hoping the throat collar comm units were also a basic lifemonitor so alerts could be sent when someone was flatlining.
Honestly, I’d love to have a talk with Sydney. We’d both just ramble about varying things including science, world history, misremembered words, awkward dates, and somehow circle back to the place we’re at at seemingly-random times.
So,what is next for Sydney? Maybe Max should put her on permanente KP duty???
No, Max does not want Sidney anywhere near the kitchen…
Aw HELL no! By the first week half of ARCSwat would be down with stomach issues! We already seen what Sydney’s flask did to the passengers on that plane, much less Anvil!
Surprised her luggage isn’t chock full of spices fresh from market.
Bold of you to assume it isn’t.
Even members of elite superhero paramilitaries have to pass agricultural inspection
She flew in Grok.
Sydney would not have any trouble finding Belin Croustilles de Fromage if she really wants them; there are numerous companies that import national foods to the U.S. for expats who want the occasional taste of home. I found several in a cursory search, and Sydney can certainly afford a case every so often.
Non-Newtonian fluid. Sydney. “What does it taste like? Is it spicy?”
Tastes like apple sauce
Tastes like cornstarch.
That’s ooblek, not what is in her armor pouches, which is Oobtek, the branded and patented substance that is in the pouch. Since that is a fictional substance we have no idea what it is made of or tastes like.
Wet cornstarch is the classic example of a non-newtonian fluid. It is even used in textbooks.
No one got the joke about Newton and his apples, maybe shoulda said it tasted like figs…
Maybe applesauce and asprin.
Forget that. I want to know what the non-Euclidean fluid tastes like.
A search for ‘non-euclidean cocktail’ will return hits.
Does a class like that actually exist? Also, Hiro is right, stop the voicemail and call Anvil.
A good public speaking course I suppose. I was well into graduate school before I figured out that I could speak in front of a group of people without having a near panic attack. A word to the wise, If you are going t interact with groups of people, take all the speech courses.
Funny thing is, it’s relative. talking abour Ceasear (that salad dressing dude) eg certain subjects are boring, and once boring terrible to talk about.
conversely I can anve performed singng and guitar in large and small groups with and without accompanying instrumentals. it is relaxing and I enjoy it very much. others have said I’m good at it too. I think the best compliment I had was for one of my cousins who is listening to a CD that I made for my grandparents for Christmas. just me and guitar. her comment was “that’s you? ”
So my advice: practice with what you like first. It helps with the stuff that you don’t like. your mileage may vary
Wow. Sydney has never sounded more annoying than that speech.
Can we call Sidney “Little Miss Text Wall”?
Sydney and Luis from the Ant-Man movies need to have a conversation one day.
I’d pay $14 to watch that in a theater.
but would you spring another $20 for the popcorn?
I would gladly…. sneak in some food under my jacket.
And one day is exactly what it would be.
I think the problem is with Max’s mindset. She is listening wanting to know things instead of enjoying the journey. Revenge: on next debriefing everyone has to listen the whole thing as an after-action report.
Everyone else is allowed to bail when they can’t take it anymore. Sydney, however, has to stay and listen to the entire voicemail.
Oh my god yes. As a fellow occasional perpetrator of rambling spews….
DaveB don’t you dare fast forward past this voicemail. It’s vitally important that we hear every last bit of all this vital, pertinent information for the next 22 comics! Especially that Cheetos equivalent stuff. I’m onto you. I know that it’s probably a chekov’s gun to a critical weakness of a future unstoppable big bad. You can’t fool me! :)
Am I the only one who wants to read the entirety of this voicemail just to see if she put a TLDR at the end of it.
Effectively, no, she didn’t. I’ve been in that state of mind too often. Even if she attempts to put a TLDL at the end, it will also be long and incoherently rambling.
I particularly like the attention to detail that only ONE of Dabbler’s eyes is red/pink from the hot sauce, because one of her eyes is artificial (which was forgotten last comic, or the hot sauce is so caustic that it even damage cybernetic eyes temporarily :) ).
dabbler’s blue is the implant though.
Huh… you’re right. Excellent catch!
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-182-a-little-light-dinner-speculation/
Although Apparently DaveB either forgot or something since on the next page the green one is cybernetic instead.
Babies aren’t parasites. If you don’t want a baby, don’t have sex.
That would imply personal responsibility. Don’t you know to include a trigger warning before making such a statement?
According to Christians, abstinence is not 100% effective.
Who’s the responsible party?
Also with the ancient greeks and romans.
Mark, A baby spends nine months as a dangerous endoparasite and a couple decades as an ectoparasite. Pregnancy and childbirth are especially dangerous for humans.
And most healthy people have sex for reasons other than getting pregnant. If it were all about producing babies we would go into estrus, make kids efficiently, and that would be that. Works fine for giraffes and mice. We aren’t either.
Before the advent of contraception – fun fact: condoms date back to Tudor England – you would have had a point.
But as distressing and alien as “times change” is to a certain segment of the population, times have, in fact, changed, and these days we have this new-fangled idea of “body autonomy,” and even worse, we figure that even the wimmin folk get to have it, to.
Bizarre, I know.
In Medieval times the Church only wanted sex that could make babies. Actual Medieval people were MUCH more interested in sex without unwanted pregnancy. It wasn’t all “Tab A in Slot B during fertile time”
In medieval times they had as many kids as they could, both to provide child labour and to ensure a few of them lived to adulthood.
Much like sea turtles or Zoidberg’s species.
You forgot: food for snarky necromancers… :P
I thought so until I actually had to study the demographics and Medieval culture.
Children cost money to raise even in agricultural economies. It was a high-birth/high-death time, but folks still limited family size for economic reasons even though the Church was officially unhappy with the idea. And land tended to go to the oldest son, which complicated things for younger ones.
In the cities the cost-benefit function was even less favorable to large families. And there was a LOT of time nd energy expended on contraception and non-reproductive sex. As many kids as Momma can pump out was never a thing.
State owned brothels were also a thing.
I was under the impression that a condom dating to roman times was found in a privy in a castle. (they finally ran out of excuses?!?!?)
Ancient Egypt even
I’m guessing strategic sexual abstinence to avoid pregnancy predates contraceptive medicine or devices. Even couples trying to conceive have considerably lower than 100% success rates. Sex has never guaranteed pregnancy in all of human history.
“A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host.”
And the entire point of medicine is the avoidance of natural consequences. People want to have sex without getting pregnant. We have the ability to prevent that consequence. Why shouldn’t we? What makes pregnancy different than disease or injury?
Only politics and religion make it any different.
Not getting into this deep since Sydney was obviously making a sydney-ism.
But in response to Torabi’s question:
Pregnancy is a natural requirement for mammalian life to continue, and a natural intentional function of biology.
Injury and sickness are not intentional functions of biology. They are when there is a flaw that occurs during the process of life, either via external circumstances having nothing directly to do with the intentional function of the organism’s biological makeup or parts breaking down over time for example, cancer cell growth).
Illness absolutely has to do with natural, “intentional” biological functions. Sometime illness is just suboptimal reactions to external stimuli, whereas others are for the benefit of other organisms, such as viruses or bacteria.
Regardless, you can’t derive “ought” directly from “is”. You’re inserting your own values at that transition.
“Illness absolutely has to do with natural, “intentional” biological functions”
No, it’s literally not. Illness is when something goes WRONG with the body. You’re confusing illness with the body’s reaction TO illness. The body’s reaction TO illness is a natural function of the body. Illness itself is NOT a natural function of the body. It means something is wrong with the body.
“You’re inserting your own values at that transition.”
I’m not inserting my values in anything here. I’m just stating the biological fact that female mammallian living beings reproduce via pregnancy as part of the basis for how life works and spreads for mammals. That’s not a value judgment.
Swelling and fever are the body’s natural defenses against injury and disease. They’re better than nothing, but worse than what we can do with medicine, so we intentionally suppress those reactions, and substitute our own. We stop a natural process, because it does not serve our best interests.
Bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc. attack our bodies, and that is a natural process. That is those organisms doing what they’re “meant” to do. We stop them, with medicine, because they do not serve our interests.
You’re inserting your own values when you say that we should interfere with one natural process, but not another.
“Swelling and fever are the body’s natural defenses against injury and disease.”
Again… two of the characteristics of life are responses to the environment and the ability to maintain homeostasis. The body’s natural defense are these characteristics. Injury and disease itself are NOT these characteristics. You are confusing injury and disease with the body’s response TO injury and disease. It is the body’s attempt to kill the disease or heal the injury, it’s not the body’s attempt to kill US. That’s just a side effect if the body cannot kill the disease first.
“You’re inserting your own values when you say that we should interfere with one natural process, but not another.”
Again…. disease is not a natural process OF the body. Nor is injury a natural process OF the body. You are confusing the body’s response to disease and injury, which are attempts to get the body back into homeostasis, with the disease and injury itself. I’m inserting no values of mine or anyone else’s.
The only thing I am confused about is how no matter how carefully I choose my words, no matter how simply I attempt to phrase something, you seem to interpret it to mean something different from what I am attempting to communicate.
One more try. One sentence at a time.
1) Swelling and fever are natural responses to injury and illness.
2) We have determined that these responses are either suboptimal or actively harmful.
3) We intentionally suppress these responses and substitute alternative ones that we believe to be more conducive to survival and recovery.
1) Bacteria, viruses, and parasites are all natural organisms.
2) They attack or feed on other organisms to survive or reproduce.
3) This is a natural process, not of the human body, but of those microorganisms.
4) We fight those natural processes, and kill those microorganisms, because we value the well being of humans over those microorganisms.
In both cases, we choose to interfere with natural processes, because we prefer different outcomes than the natural ones.
“The only thing I am confused about is how no matter how carefully I choose my words, no matter how simply I attempt to phrase something, you seem to interpret it to mean something different from what I am attempting to communicate.”
It’s just you seem to be implying that the reaction TO illness is the same thing as illness. Which it isnt.
“1) Swelling and fever are natural responses to injury and illness.”
Yes. It is the body’s natural attempt to achieve homeostasis by attempting to kill the harmful virii or bacteria.
“2) We have determined that these responses are either suboptimal or actively harmful.”
Incorrect. It is the attempt to kill the virii or bacteria. It is preferable to doing nothing which will result in the body’s cessation of life.
“3) We intentionally suppress these responses and substitute alternative ones that we believe to be more conducive to survival and recovery.”
Not entirely accurate but okay. We intentionally try to create scenarios in which the body’s natural response against virii and bacteria invading us does not also wind up killing us in the process. We do also create medicines to try to improve upon our body’s natural inclination to create antibodies and helper T-cells WITHOUT the side effects which could kill us if left unchecked.
“1) Bacteria, viruses, and parasites are all natural organisms.”
(1) Not to the body which they are invading they are not natural.
(2) Harmful bacteria and virii and parasites are de facto NOT natural to the body. There are some bacteria which are beneficial, like the ones in our gut, but our body does not create antibodies, helper T-cells, B-cells, macrophages, etc to try to kill those. So you are incorrect here because you’re assuming that it’s natural for the body to have virii that will kill us. That is not ‘natural’ to the body. It is not one of the seven characteristics of a living organism, and it does not promote homeostasis.
“3) This is a natural process, not of the human body, but of those microorganisms.”
That’s the part where you’re getting confused. We are not talking about the natural process of microorganisms. We’re talking about the natural process of the BODY. Pregnancy is a natural process of the body, because reproduction is a natural process for a living organism. INVADING VIRII AND HARMFUL BACTERIA are NOT natural processes of the body, because it’s the OPPOSITE of maintaining homeostasis.
“4) We fight those natural processes, and kill those microorganisms, because we value the well being of humans over those microorganisms.”
Pregnancy (offspring being created) is not a harmful invasion of the body. It’s part of reproduction.
Harmful microorganisms IS a harmful invasion of the body. It is NOT part of homeostasis. It is, in fact, trying to stop homeostasis.
“In both cases, we choose to interfere with natural processes, because we prefer different outcomes than the natural ones.”
Incorrect because you’re conflating the natural process of invading microorganisms with the natural process of the body. Which I’ve said a few times now.
To reiterate one last time. There are seven natural characteristics/traits of a living organism (as opposed to just organic matter):
(1) Reproduction.
(2) Cellular organization
(3) Growth and development
(4) Energy use
(5) Response to the environment
(6) The ability to adapt
(7) The ability to maintain homeostasis.
Invading harmful virii and bacteria and parasites do not do any of this to help the body. They are not MEANT to be part of the body of a living organism. Pregnancy (reproduction) IS meant to be part of the body of a living organism. They are two completely different things.
I’m not sure how to simplify this further since I’ve basically repeated this several times. When you are pregnant, it is not a disease, nor a parasite, nor an injury. It is a characteristic/trait of being a living organism.
This is not what I mean, and I don’t know why you think that’s what I mean.
They are indeed preferable to doing nothing, but not optimal. Which is why we try to prevent those responses. We try to inhibit fevers and reduce swelling. That is standard medical practice.
Not something I ever said. They are naturally occurring organisms. Nothing about whether they naturally occur in the human body or not. Not relevant.
This is the part where we are having separate conversations. Because I am talking about the natural process of microorganisms.
That’s a matter of perspective. Pregnancy is an expensive process for the mother. It’s certainly not homeostatic.
Irrelevant. We control, suppress, stop, or allow natural processes depending on what we determine serves our own interests. That something is “natural” or “unnatural” is an insufficient argument for whether we should or should not do something.
“This is not what I mean, and I don’t know why you think that’s what I mean.”
Because you KEEP saying the illness as a natural part of the body, but then what you are describing is the body’s RESPONSE to the illness to try to maintain homeostasis instead.
“They are indeed preferable to doing nothing, but not optimal. Which is why we try to prevent those responses. We try to inhibit fevers and reduce swelling. That is standard medical practice.”
If the body never has a fever to slow down and/or kill the invading disease, then the virii will definitely kill the host. Take the common cold as an example. There is no medicinal cure for it. You are just taking the medicine so that the side effects of the body killing the virus do not also cause you too much damage in the process.
“Not something I ever said. They are naturally occurring organisms. Nothing about whether they naturally occur in the human body or not. Not relevant.”
They are not naturally occurring IN THE BODY. The whole point of my initial post was to distinguish the difference between disease/parasites/injury and pregnancy/reproduction. The former is NOT a natural occurance in the body (it’s something that the body develops countermeasures to ATTACK) – the latter IS a natural occurance in the body as a feature of reproduction, and the body has characteristics to AID reproduction – not attack it.
“This is the part where we are having separate conversations. Because I am talking about the natural process of microorganisms.”
Please read the OP and my response to the OP. You are saying something that has nothing to do with either post if you’re not referring to anything about the body’s natural characteristics/traits itself.
“Pregnancy is an expensive process for the mother.”
The human female body is designed to allow for reproduction. I’m not sure what is complicated here. If, by expense, you mean that it takes a physical toll on the mother, this is true. But pregnancy is not supposed to be about homeostasis. It’s a DIFFERENT Trait of living organisms – reproduction.
Like I mentioned multiple times now, there are seven traits of living organisms. The ability to maintain homeostasis is one. And the process of birth is HOW the body gets back into homeostasis, in fact. A second is reproduction. If there was no reproduction, the species would not survive.
“Irrelevant. We control, suppress, stop, or allow natural processes depending on what we determine serves our own interests. ”
It’s not irrelevant. It’s the point of the entire thread that you responded to. And if we control/suppress/stop/etc based on our own interests, that’s not one of the seven traits of living organisms.
The whole point of the thread, which you seem to be missing, is that I was explaining how a pregnancy is not a disease, an injury, or an invasive parasite BECAUSE it’s one of the seven traits of living organisms. That’s the difference.
“That something is “natural” or “unnatural” is an insufficient argument for whether we should or should not do something.”
When I say ‘natural’ I am not putting a moral judgment on it. I’m giving a literal biology lesson on
the seven characteristics of life that are taught in any basic biology course.
An individual living creature is called an organism. There are many characteristics that living organisms share. ALL living organisms do the following:
1) respond to their environment
2) grow and change
3) reproduce and have offspring
4) have complex chemistry
5) maintain homeostasis
6) are built of structures called cells
7) pass their traits onto their offspring (ie, adaptation- the ability to adapt)
Illness is not one of these traits. Disease is not one of these traits. Invasice parasites are not one of these traits.
There is no simpler way to put this, but you are making arguments that have nothing to do with the thread, seemingly for the sake of arguing for some reason.
“an insufficient argument for whether we should or should not do something.”
Where is this even part of the thread? Where did I say anything about whether we should or should not do something? I’m just stating a biological fact – pregnancy is not a disease, an injury, or an invasive parasite (and even though there are some organisms that reproduce as part of a parasitic infestation, this is not something that the HOST is having as part of the characteristics of a living organism).
Anyway since I’ve repeated myself three times now and you arent seeming to get what I’m saying, I’m just going to stop responding in this thread since we’ve already gone further in the story and I didnt want to make a big thing about this in the first place from a ramble of ‘Sydney-isms.’
Just to reiterate… harmful virii and bacteria that cause disease are not a ‘natural process of the body.’ The fever IS a natural process of the body. It’s both an activation for your body’s immune system as well as a direct attempt to kill the disease (the harmful bacteria or virii).
You get a fever because your body is trying to kill the virus or bacteria that caused the infection. Most of those bacteria and viruses do well when your body is at your normal temperature. But if you have a fever, it is harder for them to survive.
As for how the body reacts to injury and infection…. watch this helpful video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. Macrophages are a natural part of the body. Neutrophils are a natural part of the body. Complement proteins are a natural part of the body. Dendritic cells are a natural part of the body. Helper T-cells are a natural part of your body. Antigens are a natural part of your body. They are all the body’s attempt to maintain homeostasis when attacked by disease.
Harmful virii and bacteria are NOT a natural part of the body.
Addition to my other post:
While the human body does possess at least the remnants of virii and bacteria (I believe about 8% of our DNA is the remnants of ancient viruses, and we need certain bacteria/probiotics/etc in our gut to have a healthy biome), that is different than a virii or bacteria which is actively harming the body and going against the characteristics which keep an organism alive or the organism’s species continuing to BE alive on the planet.
When the body gets pregnant, that IS something the body is meant to be experiencing because it’s one of the seven characteristics which makes an organism ‘living.’ Reproduction. Other characteristics/traits include cellular organization, growth and development, energy use, response to the environment, the ability to adapt, and the ability to maintain homeostasis.
Illness is not a natural characteristic of an organism – homeostasis is (for example, body temperature regulation, blood pressure regulation, blood sugar regulation, etc). A body out of homeostasis is not ‘as the body is meant to be.’ The body needs to be in homeostasis – a state of balance among all the body systems – in order for the body to survive and function correctly. It does NOT need to be ill or injured in order to survive and function correctly. A person who cannot reproduce (infertile, low sperm count, post-menopausal, pre-menopausal, injury to the reproductive areas, etc) is still a living organism, but there is some problem involved which is preventing the body from fulfilling one of its natural characteristics. This isn’t a judgment call or morality view about pregnancy or anything else – it’s just biology.
We are in agreement with Sidney that people like you should not have the power to control her womb.
I have no idea how this is a response to anything I wrote about controlling anyone’s womb. No idea where you’re getting that from.
All I said was a biological fact. That pregnancy is not the same thing as an injury or a disease. The former is a natural part of a body’s seven characteristics as a living organism. The latter is not.
Also what are ‘people like me?’
In fact, don’t answer that last question I asked. It feels like you’re itching for some sort of flame war with insults being hurled and strawmen being deployed.
Irritatingly, strawmen tend to be flame proof by virtue of having no substance.
That bit of wordplay was so brilliant that I’m taking back the ninja pirate hit squad that I sent out because of the ‘conceivably’ pun that you did elsewhere.
*golf clap*
See, I can (occasionally) get by without puns! :D
But not so often that you would stop reading everything I say through a lens of suspicion.
What do you mean succinctness? As a person with ADHD who doesn’t have meds for it, this IS being succinct…
Isn’t there an app that can convert your voicemails to text for you? You could then search for important terms and skip most of the irrelevant stuff.
The weirdest part is that neither Anvil or Dabbler stopped her and said “Okay, you need to summarize.”
Do either of them look like they’re in a state where they could interfere? I think the event took all the motivation out of them for a while.
Ooblek is just corn starch and water. Drinking it wouldn’t be so bad. Drinking it quickly enough to get into the shear thickening zone might be a problem, but Anvil’s throat muscles would just power through. No, what I find fascinating is the idea Sydney DIDN’T make a mistake. A non-euclidean fluid could have all sorts of interesting properties. Maybe impact is transmitted off into a 54th dimensional space where it’s always raining and usually Tuesday and the layers are parallel but intersect which gives them extra strength.
Also I cannot believe Sydney felt the need to take hot sauce to Africa. The whole continent has delicious spicy condiments.
Wonder if Syd made her own slightly illicit GraxXXXXX inhumanoid insanity sauce. nickname it rocket fuel, since it lights a fire up your … exhaust.
I am surprised she doesn’t have an endorsement deal with a ghost pepper farm
lol, ghost pepper farm… just imagining someone cross-breeding ghost peppers and pumpkins in order to get natural jack-o-lanterns
(please realize it’s a joke before this sentence)
“Ghost Pepper-itch Farms remembers!” (guess the product)
se th
can see ad now… 50 ft tall Minecraftian marchmellow Halloween pumpkinhead with the Ghost busters song
would the ad song “you light up my life” be too much?
In Syd’s defense, they weren’t going to Africa, they were checking up on Smug D. The location was just coincidental. If things hadn’t gone sideways they would have probably been back home by now. Once Sydney settles into her powers i could see her using them to travel the world and sample it’s spicy cuisines.
Not to mention she’s going to be incredibly wealthy anyway, and I recently bought odd-flavored kit kats from Japan and this butterscotch-type candy called zeeuwse boterbabbelaars (sp?) from the Netherlands via Amazon, despite my living in NYC. I’m pretty sure someone who’s making what Sydney makes can order all sorts of international foods and drinks, wherever she is. :)
I know this is supposed to be funny, but I just find myself cringing. As someone with ADHD myself, I worry constantly that this is how I come across to neurotypical people.
I know it is how unmedicated me comes across