WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Nightmare Key 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:11.080 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.280 Listener Mail. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.000 And today we're answering your listener mail. Or I don't 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:19.720 know how much answering we're gonna do. We're at least 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:22.240 gonna read your listener mail. We might offer thoughts about it, 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:23.760 we might just put it out there and let it 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.880 let it hang. But we're gonna get into some stuff 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.840 about our episode on the Lock and Key, some responses 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.960 to bug funerals, and we're going to address the ongoing 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.840 stream that maybe we'll never stop of listener mail about 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:39.880 robot jocks. It seems like people just can't get that 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.720 out of their heads. And it's been a pleasant surprise 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.040 because when I when I I think that was one 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.319 that I I selected, and I was thinking to myself, Man, 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.800 this one's so hard to find right now, perhaps I'm 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.000 the only one who out there who has any kind 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.960 of fond memories of this movie. Uh So it's been 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:58.800 nice to see that other folks remember it as well. 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.160 Now that's been an abso lute highlight of weird house 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.840 cinema for me so far. I I think about robot 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:07.000 jocks at least once a day. And we didn't even 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.399 realize the serendipity when we picked it that one of 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:14.520 the places it's actually streaming is called to be That's 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.080 oh man. I didn't even really really put that together, 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:25.000 but that's true. Yeah. Uh. Do you want to read 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.039 this first message about our bug funeral episode from Jim 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.679 in New Jersey. Yes, Jim in New Jersey, a longtime 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:36.480 Listener mail correspondent here right in and says, Robert and Joe, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.680 you missed one of the best stories about E. O. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.880 Wilson and the Scent of Death for Ants. Radio Lab 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.319 featured it a bit over ten years ago and include 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:46.520 included a link for this you can look it up 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.120 so by looking for Hey, I'm Dad, the story of 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.560 the very lively Aunt. Oh, and we should say the 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.680 subject line of Jim's email was Aunt's yelling I'm not 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:59.680 dead yet anyway, Jim continues once the signal of death 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.520 is an air which takes about two days. Any ant 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.240 that happens by grabs the corpse and carries it through 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.880 the colony to a refuse pile designated the graveyard and 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.959 dumps it on a mound of also dead ants. Wilson 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.640 wrote in his autobiography, I thought maybe with the right chemicals, 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:21.120 I could create an artificial corpse. Wilson discovered that oleic acid, 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.320 just a tiny, a teeny sorry drop of it was 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.000 all the ants had to sniff to think dead. One day, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.639 he took a drop of the chemical and gently deposited 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:33.840 it on an ant that had the misfortune of walking by. 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.600 Wilson describes how as soon as he dabbed the ant, 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.959 the next ant that came near, grabbed his aunt, slung 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.400 it on its back, hiked over to the graveyard, and 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.160 though the aunt was still very much alive kicking you know, 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:49.440 says ed, flug it into the refuse pile. Dead is 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.480 what you smell, not what you see, if you were 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.160 an aunt. So though it tried to clean itself over 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.160 and over, the minute it returned to the colony, it 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:59.480 was grabbed, carried, and slung back on the pile. The 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.760 zombie aunt was eventually able to clean itself sufficiently and 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:06.400 rejoin the nest. Jim in New Jersey. Uh, that is morbid, 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.880 but yes, very funny. Actually, I don't know if this 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:13.240 was clear in the text of Jim's email, but I 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.000 think that middle section was actually a quote from that 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.200 NPR piece. We should just clear Okay. Yeah, and in 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.080 that case, yeah, definitely go back and listen to it. 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.560 Radio Lab has always been a wonderful show. Uh, And 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.680 there archives are are rich and deep, as is the 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.760 Aunt Graveyard. I would say, no resentment of rivalry whatsoever. 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:43.000 Please go listen to Radio Lab. Yes, okay. This next 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.800 message picks up from one of the tangents we went 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:49.920 on in our Funeral for a Bug episodes. You remember, 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.280 in that episode we started talking about some of the 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:56.720 weird ironyes of pastoral poetry. So pastoral poetry is a 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.920 you know, long running genre going back into the ancient 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.440 world but still continuing into recent times, where the main 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.200 thrust of it is that it sort of celebrates the 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:11.839 rural existence as a as a as a peaceful, beautiful 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:16.120 thing that is uncomplicated by all of the I don't 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.599 know the sin and complexity of of city life. And 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.920 so this message comes from Jacob and it picks up 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.039 on one particular comment we had there subject line pastoral 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.120 ism and YouTube. Jacob says, hey, Joe and Rob first 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.720 time writer a longtime listener. I was listening to the 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:37.640 January twenty one episode Funeral for a Bug and you 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:42.120 wondered if shows like The Great British Baking Show were 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.680 modern pastorals. I think there's something to that, but I 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.360 can do one better. Since the pastoral, according to poets 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.520 dot Org, idealizes a rural life and landscape, I couldn't 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.400 help but think of the sub genre of YouTube videos. 0:04:56.440 --> 0:05:01.719 I've recently become addicted to building things, especially building things 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:06.840 by hand using traditional techniques like blacksmithing, hand tool woodworking, 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.200 timber framing, and so on. I've had quite a few 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.920 in my subscription feed. But if you stand out as 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:17.240 fitting the definition, primitive technology seems like the er example. 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:21.760 But Mr Chickadee, Dylan Iwakuni, and t A Outdoors are 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.480 some that I think also fit into the pastoral tradition. 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.480 They usually have minimal dialogue, are set outside, and focus 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.080 on the tool work. Unlike some other woodworking or maker 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:36.160 centered channels, there's no attempt to instruct. It's literally watching 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.000 someone build a cabin or a kiln or something out 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.880 of basic materials like stone, wood or clay using hand 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.600 powered tools. I'm struck by this comment from the poets 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:51.240 dot Org definition quote. Ironically, the conventions of the pastoral 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:56.360 genre were established by sophisticated urban poets whose beautific portrayals 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:01.560 of rural life perpetuated fantasies and misconceptions about the rural lifestyle. 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.200 And yeah, that that was definitely one of the ironies 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.040 we we touched on in the episode. It was like, 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.320 all this stuff about how how nice it would be 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.600 to be a shepherd, but you know, written by someone 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:12.920 who's never been a shepherd and doesn't realize what kind 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.240 of work is involved. But back to Jacob's message. Jacob says, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.000 I've done a little woodworking and home renovation, and working 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:23.279 by hand is slow and physically demanding. It can be 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.600 fun the way a good workout is fun. But the 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.800 idealized notion that somehow this is the good life, the 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:33.200 simple life, is way off. Rural life meant subsistence farming 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.920 or labor, and that typically meant living on the edge 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.359 of starvation one bad season or one serious injury or 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:44.200 illness away from disaster. Hardly a desirable lifestyle, which makes 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.039 me wonder what the appeal is for these channels, Because 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:51.160 I'm hopelessly addicted, and judging by their subscribers, I'm not 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.520 the only one. It's soothing to watch and listen to us. 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.960 Some of them even tagged their videos as a s MR. 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.679 But more than that, I'm gil ty of romanticizing exactly 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.200 what I criticized above. I'm currently building a work bench 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.600 for the and the first thing I decided to do 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.440 was to do it all by hand. I don't have 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.280 a great explanation for why, other than that it takes 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:15.760 all my focus and as such puts me in a 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.440 sort of flow or zen meditation state. It's also a 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.640 bit of time travel learning a traditional craft. It helps 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.360 you understand an era not your own. But that's a 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.480 luxury of the relatively rich. If I were doing this 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.840 for a living and hoping to sell enough to feed 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.720 my family, I doubt I'd be calm or philosophical about it. 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:36.840 Since it's a hobby, though, I can work at my 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.360 own slow pace and think deep thoughts or listen to 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.040 deep podcasts like Stuff to Blow your Mind while I 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:45.400 do it. Love the show, keep up the good work, 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.840 and you can absolutely read this on air with my 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.040 name if you choose. Thanks Jacob, Well, Jacob we're always 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.120 assuming we can read this on air with your name 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.480 with the we we tend to leave off last names 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.280 if you supply them. And if you're writing in about 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.280 something and you you would prefer no name attached at all, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.000 that's perfectly cool. Just let us know that that's the case. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.120 Oh yeah, and you can also write to us uh 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.080 with a message that you would prefer us not to 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:09.960 read on air. Just make sure you note that in 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.320 the email. But yeah, I thought this was a really 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.040 interesting message, and I think this is this is onto 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:20.240 something that is very interesting. So there there are multiple 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.240 threads to to pull on here. One is, yes, this uh, 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:29.440 this sort of idealization of traditional rural types of labor uh, 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:34.400 you know, farming type labor, woodworking type labor um and 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.800 and the difference between doing that labor as a hobby 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.000 where you have no time constraints really and you can 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.120 just explore it at your leisure versus doing that kind 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.640 of labor to survive, which is which is very different. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.800 I often think about this difference, um with cooking. You know, 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.200 I do a lot of cooking at home, actually really 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:57.319 enjoy cooking. Uh. And sometimes people will say like, oh, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.439 have you ever thought about, you know, being a chef 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.600 for working in restaurant. I have worked in restaurants, not 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.439 as a cook. I've worked as a you know server, 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.040 you know, bus boy and all that, and it's a 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.120 totally different thing. I think a lot of people don't 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.400 realize that if you're working in a restaurant kitchen, it 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:17.840 is not the same kind of leisurely recreational fun activity 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:19.400 as it would be if you're just sort of like 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.680 cooking on a week weekend at home. Uh. There you 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:26.120 have these intense time constraints, a lot of different types 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:31.200 of labor to manage and prioritize. It's often highly stressful. Uh. 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:35.000 And it's just a totally different experience than recreationally cooking 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.080 in a home kitchen. Yeah. Yeah, I think this is 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.240 often the case with with various hobbies and and uh 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:45.200 and activities like like, for instance, I engage in some 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.480 of the miniature and model painting and and you know, 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:50.599 it's really fun and calming. But if I were to 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.640 if if I were doing this exact task or something 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.760 like it, and I was having to crank something out, 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:57.600 you know, if I was part of a production line 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.360 or if I were I don't know, if you were 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.040 to apply it, say, um, you know, being a colorist 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.640 or something, um, you know for manuscripts or comics or something. Uh. 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.480 You know, if you potentially get into that situation where 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.080 you're just having to to just do so much of it, 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.080 you don't have that the potentials there to to to 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.760 lose hold of that zen state that you go into 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.000 when you do it. In fact, I've I've followed like 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.800 really skilled miniature painters before and uh, and in some 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.280 cases they've had to. They've they've done like a certain 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.240 amount of professional work, you know, like they're selling pieces 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.040 that they've painted and they're doing commissions. But then they 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.760 have to scale back and stop doing that. And part 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:36.920 of it is sometimes the fact that it it makes 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.559 the hobby less fun. You know, your hobbies become less hot, 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.760 less fun sometimes when they become your job, which is 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.800 one of the the disappointing facts of life. I guess 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.320 another thing I would say about that is, I think 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.679 what it's really I think the really crucial element is 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.440 not whether or not it's a job that you get 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:59.440 paid for, but it is about, um, whether there is 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.600 specific fically sort of like time and stress pressure on you. 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.160 Because the same dynamic that I talked about with restaurant 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.400 cooking can certainly be true for home cooking if you're 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.040 just like trying to you know, make meals on a 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:13.040 weeknight and you know you're trying to do it as 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:14.920 fast as you can to feed the family and that 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.440 kind of thing. There, there's just a big difference between 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.080 being able to do something at your own pace and 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.280 needing to do something on a timetable, yeah, and dealing 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.080 with outside stressors that aren't there necessarily if you're just 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.800 engaging in a hobby. Um. Now, interestingly enough, on the 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:34.160 the idea of videos about crafts, I've really enjoyed watching 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.160 some videos dealing with painting, and I found them very 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:40.720 calming in a similar way. Like there's there's one guy online, 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:46.560 uh these the moniker Sarastro, and he has all these videos, 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.040 has a very calming voice, and he's engaging and painting 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.000 different miniatures and you know, covering the basics and it's 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.600 just delightful content. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff like that. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:12:00.559 I sometimes watch certain um types of process of deos 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.680 to relax, often like cooking videos. But also I've actually 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:06.679 watched some of these same types of videos that Jacobs 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.520 talking about and in his email here, just like people 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:14.640 building things or restoring things. It's nice if they're especially 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.480 if there's no talking, it's just kind of like uh 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:25.080 uh gentle, low volume environmental sounds while somebody is doing something, 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:30.160 uh efficiently, but not in a rushed way. Yeah, especially 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:32.640 on stuff like YouTube, you can you can definitely find 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.559 those videos that have that very YouTube feel and kind 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.600 of a disc jockey kind of narration. Like there's some 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.400 there's some miniature painting YouTubers that are are very good 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.719 at what they do and are very educational and informative 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.680 about the craft. But they're not as relaxing as this 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.319 guy in particular because they everything's maybe just a little 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.840 bit pushed further in that YouTube, you know, Starge direction. 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.520 All right, here's another one for us. This is Spinning 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.240 and Dizziness vestibular system plus a dash of robot jocks 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.920 from Jared, Hi, Robert, and Joe catching up on a 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.440 backlog that got built up this past fall. I had 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.360 an experience related to spinning, dizziness, etcetera. I've been motion 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.560 sensitive since my adolescence. I was more sensitive and pronto 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.240 dizziness when doing flat circles versus vertical circles. Think spinning 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.800 while standing up versus doing somersaults. When I was nineteen, 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:30.640 a group of friends made a day trip to a 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.000 local tourist attraction and we stopped at a city park 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:34.920 for our lunch. On the way back, a bunch of 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.800 them took to the merry go round round about and 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:40.720 I really got it going. I held back, knowing about 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.560 what what was about to happen. Thanks to peer pressure, 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.120 I eventually gave in and joined them. They got it 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.600 going really fast, and pretty soon I started to feel awful. 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.160 It was so evident that some of the group and 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.440 the one doing the pushing could actually see that I 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:56.600 was getting sick and stopped the spinning so I could 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.240 get off. I avoided getting physically ill, but it was loose. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.760 I was also one who would ride the extreme roller 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.959 coasters at theme parks, but would have to rest between 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.280 rides to avoid getting sick. Earlier in my marriage, my 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:13.559 wife bought me a NASCAR ride along package for Christmas. 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.400 After doing half a dozen laps at speed, I think 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.880 my inner ear got a bit of a reset or recalibration, 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.360 because about a year later we went to a theme Park, 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.240 and I was able to ride the roller coasters with 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.040 barely any effect, And since then I have even been 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.920 able to ride the teacups at Disneyland. This is really interesting. 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.120 I wonder if the mechanism here, I guess what's being 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.520 implied by Jarrett is that it could be this kind 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.000 of vestibular plasticity that we talked about in the Spinning episodes. 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.400 Maybe sometimes with enough training, the brain can kind of 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:50.080 adapt and and desensitize itself somewhat to dizziness. Yeah, I 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.280 wonder if people have tried to make money off of 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.440 this with programs sort of like a couch to loop 0:14:54.480 --> 0:15:00.640 to loop vestibular boot camp. But I'm interested, Jared, So 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.800 it seems like you you are motion sensitive, yet constantly 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:08.400 it sounds like you're seeking out extreme motion experiences. So 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.400 maybe you've got like a kind of a thrill seeking streak, 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.240 but also you get dizzy, or used to get dizzy. 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:19.800 That's a conundrum, all right. He continues, I also have 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.840 some thoughts about the plot and details of robot Shocks. 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:26.280 Bring it on, regarding the discussion of combat by Champion 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.120 and why either side would choose this over on all 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.520 on all fight, all on all warfare. Considering the context 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:34.840 of the film, it is possible and maybe even likely, 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.520 that the market and the con fed could have been 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.720 numerically and or technologically equal or close enough. Also, in 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:45.040 the post apocalyptic context, both sides could have felt that 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.520 they couldn't afford to lose the number of people that 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.480 would die or be permanently disabled in combat, much less 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.520 the personnel and resources they would have been spent maintaining 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.560 a military. Also, you talked about the square cube law 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.120 coming into play in real world conditions round giant mechanical 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.240 war machines. In real life, the design would be focused 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.960 on stability and impact protection to avoid being crippled or 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.920 destroyed by falling, and in this type of warfare, being 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.160 able to shrink components without losing significant strength or power 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.920 would be the technological advantage. Imagine the Cold War and 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.280 both the US and NATO allies developed large mex suit 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.560 soldiers in the USSR and its warsaw packed allies did 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:27.080 the same. Knowing that physicists would be designing and building 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.280 around the square cube law, we would see the most 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.680 successful side be the one who could keep their suit 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.480 the smallest without suffering in armor or firepower. If you 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.200 made it through all that, thanks for entertaining my musings. 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:43.320 I love the show, Jared. Uh some really interesting thoughts, Jared. Yeah, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.240 So if you were to take the robot Jock scenario 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:50.600 as real, where for some reason, these major superpowers in 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.280 a in an ongoing conflict are settling everything by mex 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:59.320 suit champion warfare, I can absolutely see because he, for example, 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.880 referred to this idea we talked about with JBS Haldane 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.159 and that famous essay about you know, if like a 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.520 mouse can fall down to mind shaft and survive, but 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.480 a larger animal falls down and splashes. And this just 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:14.120 because like as you scale up, the difference between between 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.200 your mass and the surface area of your body changes 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.920 in a nonlinear way, and thus, like larger falling objects 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.239 are more likely to get wrecked by falling. So if 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.480 you've got like a hundred foot tall robot, just falling 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.480 over is going to destroy it almost no matter what. 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.720 Uh So. Yeah, So the the impetus here in that 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.720 technological scenario would be on miniaturization. And it makes me 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.520 wonder if if that were real, Like if if as 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.159 much research and development as went into things like you know, 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.280 nuclear weapons, and rocketry and telemetry and all that kind 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.480 of stuff would actually just go into miniaturization of components. 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:57.919 That that is an interesting thought. All right, looks like 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.280 we have another bit of robot jocks related listener mail. 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:02.800 Do you want to take this one? Joe? Oh? Sure? 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:07.119 This comes from Joseph addressing the same question about a 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.520 robot jocks warfare and the logic of of champion combat. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.720 We were saying, you know, why why would the force 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:17.639 with superior numbers and firepower agree to champion combat. It 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.119 seems like that that would just essentially be agreeing to 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.000 uh to lessening their odds and so and so like, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:28.119 unless that the rules of champion warfare were imposed by 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.600 an alien civilization or something like that. It's it's hard 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:34.000 to imagine that actually happening. But Joseph has a thought. Uh, 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.240 he says. I had a minor comment to your review. Note, 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:39.480 I have actually seen this movie when I was younger. 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:41.960 You brought up the idea that a state with a 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:44.960 larger force would not have great pressure to accept having 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.920 single combat as a subscription, as the larger force had 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.520 the basic advantage. Here's one issue I see with that analysis. 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.719 This is stated after a nuclear war. Since a very 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.399 small group can use a nuclear weapon and destroy a 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.680 very large group, and since the damage to the civilian 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.280 population by nuclear weapons is also so massive and long lasting, 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.480 I think that most populations would enforce the ban on 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.480 war by fully refusing to participate. Even a very totalitarian 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.560 society can be brought to heal by a general public strike. 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.040 All right, here's another one. This one comes to us 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.359 from Sue, and this one is in regard to our 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.919 episode on the invention of the lock and key. Hello, guys, 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.240 I was listening to the listener mail where you mentioned 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.840 the idea that in video games you don't have universal 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.800 keys and are often guided in a way to navigate 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.439 you through the story. But I know a franchise that 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:43.479 goes against both concepts. In the Legend of Zelda series, 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.760 the main character Link collects small keys throughout the dungeons 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.280 in the game. While you generally get a small key 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:51.600 and then find a locked door shortly after, there are 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:53.880 a few levels in some of the games that allow 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.760 you to choose between more than one locked door. If 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.560 you don't break the game, you just end up completing 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.600 the in a slightly different order depending on your choices. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.199 The only in dungeon exception most of the time is 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.800 the nightmare key or boss key, which is the only 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:13.280 one in a level that can unlock the boss in 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.320 the legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. You also 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.000 don't even truly have to go through the story in 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:22.719 any particular order. Once you leave the starting area, you 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.720 can actually complete the four main dungeons in any order 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:27.920 that you like, or choose from what seems like ten 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.880 trillion side quests. But if you're really not feeling that, 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:33.960 you can technically race all the way to the final 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.160 boss from the start of the game. I've never tried 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.200 this myself, but it appears to be documented online by others. 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.320 Also about keys. My mom took my brother and I 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.720 shopping as kids, and when we came out of the 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.840 store we got to her hun day she was absolutely 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.400 appalled that someone somehow threw a bunch of trash inside. 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.440 Then she got this look on her face and screamed run. 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.000 Apparently that was her first reaction to realizing that her 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.960 car was parked down the lot further, but her key 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.399 unlocked an identical car that's sat closer to the store, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:08.000 same wide Hondai. While we uh We still laugh about this, 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.080 but it's also creepy to think someone could be waiting 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.000 in your car because their key happens to work in 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:18.560 your car. Thanks for a great show. Oh that is 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:22.280 a harrowing experience. I've never actually unlocked somebody else's car, 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:24.920 but I have like gone up to other people's cars 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.320 that looked like mine. Oh yeah, I've I've done that 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:28.840 quite a bit. And they don't even have to look 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.160 exactly like mine. If it's just it's like a silver car, 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:34.440 I'll just go up to it and attempt to drive 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:38.360 it home. It's four wheels, basically close enough, close enough, 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.040 you know. I want to say also, I have not 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:43.359 had a lot of time for video games lately, but 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:45.480 the one game that I have been playing a little 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.840 bit often on is uh is Legend of Zelda Breath 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:50.760 of the Wild. I finally got into it. I wanted 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:53.120