WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Learning to Flinch 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.560 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:12.600 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind Listener mail. 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:13.920 My name is Robert Lamb. 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.920 And I am Joe McCormick, and it's Monday, the day 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:19.640 each week that we read back messages from the Stuff 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.240 to Blow Your Mind mailbox. If you have never gotten 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.360 in touch before, why not give it a try. You 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.480 can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.720 Mind dot com. We appreciate all the different kinds of 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.520 feedback we get. Of course, if you ever have corrections 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.319 you need to make, that's fair game. We really love 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.760 when people write in with something interesting to add to 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.320 a topic we've talked about on the show. But whatever 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.199 you want to send, it's fine. Send it on to 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.800 contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Let's see, Rob, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.639 I'm going to kick things off today with this response 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:55.360 to our first episode on the illusion of control. This 0:00:55.440 --> 0:01:04.360 comes from Ariel. All right, let's have it, Ariol, says 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.280 dear Robert and Joe. I hope this message finds you well. 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.640 My name is Ariel, a software developer from Argentina, and 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.240 I'm a huge fan of your podcast. This is the 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.559 first time I'm reaching out, and I wanted to share 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.880 some thoughts on your recent episode, The Illusion of Control, 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.759 Part one, especially regarding the thought experiment about someone else 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:26.000 pushing the slot machine button. Your discussion sparked my interest 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.959 because in the realm of computer software, the generation of 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.560 random numbers is a fascinating topic that's much more complex 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.440 than it may seem at first glance. Generally, the most 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:42.440 sophisticated algorithms for generating random numbers significantly consider the physical context, 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.319 including at the very least the precise timing of pressing 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.760 a button. The outcome, Specifically, the random number generated could 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.520 vary even with a delay of a few milliseconds in 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.440 pressing the button. That doesn't change the chance, but it 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.240 might change the outcome. So maybe it was what's the 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:02.880 lady's fault that the player lost the bet. While I 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.280 don't have specific insights into how slot machines are programmed, 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:11.280 the principle usually holds true across various applications. Random number generators, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.520 or RNGs, play a crucial role here, producing vast sequences 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:20.000 of numbers every second without any discernible pattern. These RNGs 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.960 can be classified mainly into two types. True random number 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:29.600 generators or trngs and pseudo random number generators or PRNGs. 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:35.519 Trngs derive randomness from physical phenomena, making it virtually impossible 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.800 for attackers to predict the sequence of numbers. On the 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:43.280 other hand, PRNGs generate numbers based on algorithms and a 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:47.160 seed number, which could theoretically be reverse engineered, although the 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:51.320 likelihood is exceedingly low. This distinction is crucial because it 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:55.240 highlights how even seemingly insignificant factors like who presses the 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.640 slot machine button or the exact moment it's pressed, could 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.080 influence the game's outcome in a system that relies on PRNGs. 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.160 I thought this perspective might add an interesting layer to 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:09.520 your discussion on control and randomness, emphasizing how deeply intertwined 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:13.359 physical actions and digital outcomes can be, even in systems 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.480 designed to be as unpredictable as slot machines. Thank you 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:18.800 for the continuous effort you put into making such thought 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.440 provoking content. Your show has been a source of endless 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:24.119 fascination and learning for me, and I eagerly look forward 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.400 to each new episode. Please keep up the great work. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:30.680 Best regards, Aril from Argentina. Well, thank you so much Aril. 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.560 This is a wonderful email, and it raises a great 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:39.200 question about what it really means to cause an outcome 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.920 and what it really means for an outcome to be random. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.640 It's absolutely true what you say that random number generators 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:51.320 can be, for example, time based. I remember this is 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.080 a very primitive example, but I remember when I was 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.800 in middle school and I was trying to program weird 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.880 little computer games in que basic. I would use a 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:05.200 demand in the Cubasic code called randomized timer. And the 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.880 way I understood that is that the code I was 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.400 writing would use the computer's internal clock as a seed 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.400 to generate unpredictable pseudo random numbers. Because I think if 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.040 you try to get Cubasic to generate a random number 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.640 without doing a command like that, like to pick a 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.159 seed out from the timer, it would just give you 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.560 the same random number every time. Not very random. 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:28.800 Yeah. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.240 So in that case, the exact time the code was executed, 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.400 down to some fraction of a second, would determine what 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:39.600 random numbers you got. Slot machines may work differently from that, 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:42.799 but it's at least possible that someone pressing the spin 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.640 button at a slightly different time could lead to different 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:51.279 physical electrical processes producing a different output, So a slightly 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.159 different trigger timing would in theory be the difference between 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.599 winning and losing. But I would still say it is 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:01.360 sufficiently random from the point of view the player, because 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.839 while there is a difference, that difference is not something 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.080 that the player could use to predict or control outcomes. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:10.760 And this is what you meant Aariel when you said 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.400 that quote. This doesn't change the chance, but it might 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.400 change the outcome. So I think you could compare it 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.720 to how unless you're talking about like a practice cheet 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.839 or something, two regular people rolling a die will inevitably 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.880 roll the die differently, and in fact, the same person 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.800 rolling a die at different times will roll it differently, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.599 but neither one is better than the other at getting 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.120 high dice rolls. There would be no way to predict 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:41.080 in advance which role will be better unless you know. 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.680 Unless your Laplace's demon and you can like algorithmically calculate 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:46.920 the future by knowing the position of every particle and 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.200 photon in the universe, which we're not that demon. We 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.680 can't do that. So if somebody rolls your dice for you, 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:57.320 in one sense, you could say they caused you to 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.880 win or lose because they physically set the dice in motion, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.560 so they physically caused whatever the role was. But the 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.479 way we would normally understand someone to cause you to 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.760 lose would mean that they did something that could have 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.880 been predicted to lead you to losing or could be 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.680 predicted to decrease your chance of winning. And so somebody 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.320 rolling the dice for you or pressing the slot machine 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.840 button for you would not be that kind of cause 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.320 because no matter who does it, the outcome of each 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.640 roll or spin is not predictable. Okay, So again I 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.080 think this really plays on like different ideas of understanding 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.800 what it would mean to cause an outcome or for 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.200 that outcome to be random, you know, questions of quantum 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.240 physics aside. I think you can argue that nothing on 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.880 the macroscopic scale in the universe is actually random. It's 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.760 all physically determined by preceding causes. But lots of stuff 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.200 is functionally random from our point of view, and functional 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.200 randomness just means that there's no way for the party 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.680 in question to predict each outcome in a pattern. There's 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.480 like no predictable pattern into it, even though there might 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.560 be predictable overall percentages. It's like, you know, when you 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.159 flip a coin. You can predict the outcome of a 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.560 series of coin flips in a way because over time 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.040 those coin flips will converge on a fifty to fifty 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:17.000 of heads and tails. So you can predict the overall 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:20.280 pattern of outcomes, but you cannot predict with better than 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.280 fifty percent confidence what each individual flip will be. 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.920 Yeah, Like, overall, you know that in your career, our 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.760 life of playing Dungeons and Dragons, you know the D 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.440 twenty rolls are all going to even out, but maybe 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:36.640 you're only going to roll five of them tonight. What 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:37.560 are those going to look like? 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.080 Right? Right? Exactly In the same way you can know 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.119 exactly what your true odds of winning on a slot 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.400 machine are. I think in some sense they're probably that 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.080 those odds are public or posted, and they do reflect 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.720 your true odds of winning. But that's not very helpful 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.520 in determining what's going to happen on your next spin, 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.200 except I mean in the sense of telling you that 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.840 you know most spins you're gonna lose, you will probably, 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.960 and also in letting you know that you know your 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.880 odds are low enough that you will eventually run out 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.120 of money and stop being able to play, and so 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:10.400 that's the end of the game for you. 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.640 All right. Well, now that we've gotten the serious listener 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:16.200 mail out of the way, let's get to the weird 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.680 house cinema listener mail. This first one I'm going to read. 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.960 This one is I guess, half listener mail response and 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.400 then half weird house cinema response. This one comes to 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:34.840 us from goth mom Light. Hey, fellas number one. As 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.120 a long time Durani, I was delighted that you named 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:41.480 January's listener mail episodes after Duran Duran tunes. However, I'm 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.080 puzzled as to why I listened to each of these 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:48.120 episodes but didn't catch any other Duran Squared related stories 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:51.840 or references. What am I missing? Is there something I 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.480 should know? Whether, No, there's nothing you should know other 0:08:55.559 --> 0:09:00.360 than I too. Am a longtime durand Ran fan since 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.679 I first saw the music videos for Wild Boys and 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.400 View to a Kill on MTV or I don't even 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.520 think it was MTV, it was a it was a 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:14.000 Canadian channels to the CBC. Once I saw those videos, 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.160 I like got they got their Hooks in early and 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.000 I've remained a fan, you know, at least a casual fan, 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.040 my whole life. But I got to see them in 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.160 concert just last year. My wife and I went, and 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.839 they put on such a great show. It like it 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.720 invited me to go deeper into their discography and discover 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.000 some really great tunes that I wasn't that familiar with, 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.160 to rediscover my appreciation for other songs. So that's about 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.600 all there is to it. And in general, some months 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:46.839 for listener Mail episodes, I'll just randomly choose titles. Well 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.360 not completely randomly, since we're talking about randomization, but I 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.840 will I'll say pick an artist and be like, Okay, 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.360 this month, all the titles are going to be based 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.640 on track titles by this particular artist. 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:00.640 I don't always know what these are going to be, 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:01.800 but it's a pleasant surprise. 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.720 Yeah, generally a lot of thought does not go into it. 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:07.839 I just kind of go with the guy, we got 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:10.040 to name them something. And you know, sometimes you can 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.560 name a listener mail episode because you know, you have 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.040 a lot of listener mail related to a particular topic 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:16.400 and you can kind of, you know, theme it a 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:18.640 little better. About other times you just have to have 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:20.839 to go with something that's going to stand out, and 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:22.360 you know it's not going to be mistaken for an 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.200 actual episode. Right. But that's not all that goth mom 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:30.400 Light has to share. She continues here quote I have 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.760 a weird house cinema suggestion for you. Ramikin from twenty eighteen. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.559 In this indie horror comedy quote, a college girl is 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:42.480 terrorized by a ramikin. Ramikin, of course, is a small 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.480 little container. We use them all the time in the 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.120 house for just any time you need to, like, put 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.040 a snack mix in it, put a small amount of 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:51.840 soup in it, you know, whatever the case may be. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:54.440 I use a lot of ramikins in cooking, like if 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:56.640 I'm making a stir fry, and I have several small 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:58.760 amounts of things that I want to add to the 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:00.640 pan at different points, so I have them in a 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:01.479 little ramikins. 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.800 I've gotten aware if I'm doing something with eggs, I'll 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.560 break my eggs into a ram can, either one by 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.080 one or a few at a time, because that way 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.320 I need to pick a bit of eggshell out of there. 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.680 I'd rather do it out of the ramikin than out 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.800 of a bowl with other ingredients or out of an 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:17.840 active frying pan. 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.280 Yes, I also break eggs into a ram can. In fact, 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.120 I always do that if I'm going to poach the eggs, 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.040 because I don't trust myself to like crack it and 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.640 then drop it into the water right without like piercing 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.960 the olk and all that. It's a much easier You 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:32.920 put it in aramicin first, and you can just gently 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:34.320 lower the ramikin into the water. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.560 Oh that's an advanced technique. I don't even try that, 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.480 it's too much, but anyway, Yeah, aramikin is very useful. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.680 It's the kind of thing that would never ever try 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.080 to destroy us, and I guess it makes sense that 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.440 somebody would put it in a horror movie at some point. 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.640 Goth momlike continues here a college girl terrorized by a 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:57.440 ramkin for reasons anyone who's ever endured obnoxious roommates can 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:02.319 readily understand. Also Cupcakes, director Cody Clark made it and 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.280 it is available on YouTube for free. High fives, y'all, 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:07.199 goth momline. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.800 I've never seen this movie. I love the premise of 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:13.040 being terrorized by aramican, though I am a little confused. 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.240 IMDb says this movie is over an hour long. I'm 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.520 curious how that works with an hour plus runtime, but 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:19.439 I want to trust it. 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.520 Yeah, it's kind of an outrageous idea, so sometimes you 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:24.200 got to go for it. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.280 Okay. This next message comes to us from Mike. It's 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.479 in response to our Weird House Cinema episode on Blackula 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.880 subject line Blacula in the show Psych. Mike says, Hi, 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:48.360 Robin Joe in the Psych episode, that's Psych, it's TV show. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.679 In the Psych episode, this episode sucks. The two main 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.920 characters are trying to go undercover at a vampire club, 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:59.719 so they dress like Blacula and Lestat from Interview with 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:05.880 a Van Empire. Love the podcast. Thanks Mike, and I 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.160 looked this up. So I've never seen the show Psych, 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:11.040 though I do know about it for a strange reason, 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.680 I can mention it in a minute. But I looked 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.920 at the screenshot that Mike shared here and I checked in, Well, 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:22.400 that's Delay Hill as Mama Walde there, and I really 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.520 got to say, the costumes are dead on both of them, 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.920 down to Mama wal Day's like bushy eyebrows and sculpted sideburns. 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.840 They really did their research to match these movie characters. 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:37.960 The La stat costume is also very close. As I said, 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.480 I've never seen the show Psych, but I'm well aware 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.440 of it because Robert, I suspect this must have happened 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.160 to you at some point. Also, it's an example of 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:49.960 where I had an idea for the premise of a 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:52.560 story that I wanted to write, but I did a 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.920 quick check to see if there was already something out 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.440 there with this premise, and there was, and it was 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.640 the show Psych. So the idea was, I was like, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.800 what if there was a story where a character was 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.600 like an amateur detective who wanted to work as a 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:11.320 detective but didn't have credentials, and so they just pretended 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.840 to be a psychic using their actual, like you know, 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.640 logically derived insights, but presenting them as one of these 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.960 psychics who consults with police departments on cases, which has 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:27.600 happened in reality in some cases strangely. So that was 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:29.560 my idea, but I looked it up and that's apparently 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.000 exactly the premise of Psych. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.000 Yeah, I think I've only ever watched like one episode 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.480 of it, and I don't remember what my thoughts on 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.480 it were one way or another, So I don't maybe 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.080 I should revisit it. I know a lot of people 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:41.440 love it. 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.960 Well, I'll say, at least their costume department is crushing it. 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:46.880 All right. 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:54.960 This one comes to us from Chris, Robert and Joe. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.120 You said you wanted to have listeners tell their stories 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.520 about seeing weird house films, including ones featured in earlier appisodes. 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.680 Now you have done it, setting off an old cogres 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.520 I mean, early elderly man's descent into nostalgia with the 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:12.800 potential for blather. Is this what you two wanted when 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:16.320 you became shills for big video rental. It's true we 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.920 have become kind of shills for big video rental, or 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:23.760 at least locally owned video rental. Especially it's big. I 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.160 mean it's big to me. It's important to me. But yeah, 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.400 it's not like corporations at all. I mean, is there 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.080 big video rental anymore? I'm not sure. I don't think, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.360 but I will say, yeah, support your local video rental 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.120 stores if you were lucky enough to have them. Still 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.440 they need you, and deep down you need them, and 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:47.360 you know it. Especially again we've discussed the advantages of 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.120 physical media when it comes to films. You know you 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:51.840 can count on your video store as long as it's 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.760 around to have those films for you. If you own 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.400 those discs, you own them and you can watch them 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.960 whenever you want. It's very I think to everyone at 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:04.440 this point that you just can't count on streaming sources 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.360 to have the films you want to watch in the 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.720 cuts you want to watch them when you need them, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.400 without even getting into like cool extras and so forth. 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.080 All right, that's a tangent. But anyway, Chris continues, at 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.600 least you could make it up to me by doing 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.160 an episode on creation of the Humanoids, which I seem 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.840 to recall Robert swearing to do on a stack of 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.320 credit cards. This is what you get for triggering survivors 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.120 of the VHS Beta Max Wars of the mid seventies 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.320 to mid eighties. Even so, thank you for introducing me 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:39.280 to Carol Zaemon's Invention for Destruction. I enjoyed watching it tremendously. 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.840 Chris. That is a wonderful one. Chris. I think you're 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.480 the same one who keeps asking for creation of the humanoids. 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.280 We have considered it, we will do it at some point. 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:50.480 There you go. You just swore to do it, so no, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:52.120 now we have to. 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.560 I don't have any credit cards here, but should be 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:56.400 coming down the road. 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.520 And finally, this is little listener mail. Let's see I 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.960 guess the way that these are publishing. I will refer 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.399 to this again in the core episode tomorrow that we 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:10.760 recorded before we recorded this listener mail episode. So slight repetition, 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:12.960 but I think it all pans out. This is from 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:17.639 an individual on discord. Their user name is Passey Sish 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.080 or something to that effect. Sorry if I'm missing something here, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.560 they said. I think slash guests trying to influence the 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.919 dice result is not the main reason for rolling important checks. Differently, 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.280 in Dungeons and Dragons, building suspense is fun, and you 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.280 might roll it more properly to ensure that there is 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.480 no argument about the result. On the other hand, there 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.000 are a lot of fun rituals like praying to the 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.439 almighty dice God or sending quote unquote bad dice to jail. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.840 This is a great point. So this is touching on 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.800 something we talked about in the first Solution of Control 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.800 episode that sometimes people appear to be concentrating over a 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.280 ice throw, as if like it'll make a difference to 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:07.080 them getting rolling the number they want, and that I 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.479 do think that is actually operative in how people behave. 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.720 But there are other reasons people might appear to be 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.320 concentrating over a dice throw, for example, to make sure 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.520 that the dice throw is legal like this, you know, 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.800 they throw it in the right area, doesn't bounce off 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.760 the table or something and get an invalid result, or 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:27.199 maybe hit something and displace it. If you've got like 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.560 miniature set up on a tabletop RPG, so you know, 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.639 you might roll carefully so you don't hit that. So 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:36.400 there are legitimate reasons to concentrate on a dice throw, 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.679 I guess, apart from thinking it will help you get 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.919 the number you want, though, I do still think people 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:43.720 do it to try to get the number they want. 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.560 And then the second thing you say is about building suspense. 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:48.800 I think that's a legitimate thing too. Yeah, it's like 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:50.919 a drum roll. It's like a you know, acting it 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.359 out so everybody at the table can have fun anticipating 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.439 the result of this this pivotal event. 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.040 Yeah. Absolutely, there's a lot that goes into it. And 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:00.760 you know, we didn't in touch on the use of 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:04.840 dice towers and so forth. There's a and even sometimes yeah, 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:09.760 physical dice jail in which to punish a particular a 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:11.440 fencing roll and so forth. 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:13.720 I've never done that, But do you literally have a 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:14.359 dice jail? 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:18.000 I've I don't. I don't go that far, but I 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:20.880 see the examples of it. You can buy like little 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.280 three D printed dice jails and so forth, and yeah, 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:26.119 people seem to have a lot of fun with it. 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.719 You should have like a pit of scorpions you can 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:29.800 drop the dice into. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.960 Yeah, if it's fun, I say go for it. I've 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.520 also seen people engage in this when they have a 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.520 lot of dice, they bring like multiple air Like me, 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.040 I tend to just have the one set. I have 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.600 the one D twenty I always use, and I probably 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.440 get a little I'm a little attached to that one, 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:48.800 Like this is the D twenty that is you know, 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:50.720 it's failed me plenty of times, but it's also rolled 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.480 some great twenties. It's I don't know, it's just part 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.560 of the ritual. And I can't punish this particular D twenty. 0:19:57.600 --> 0:19:59.480 It's it's been with me a long. 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:01.479 Time, all right. Should we call it there for today? 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.120 Yeah, we'll go ahead and close the mail bag here, 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.160 but hey, keep them coming. Keep writing in. We'd love 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:10.000 to hear from you. Speaking of Discord, if you want 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.440 to access the Discord, shoot us an email and we'll 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.560 send you the invite. In fact, I just did it 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:16.920 just now. I just remember that somebody had just requested 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.000 it via email, and I went in and sent that 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.880 to them while we were recording this episode. And uh yeah, 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.479 as usual, will remind you that Listener Mail's air on Monday, 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.560 Core episodes on Tuesdays and Thursday, short form episode on Wednesday, 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.400 and Weird House Cinema on Fridays, in which we set 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:34.680 aside most serious concerns to just talk about. 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.200 A weird film, huge things as always to our excellent 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.320 audio producer JJ Posway. If you would like to get 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:42.480 in touch with us with feedback on this episode or 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.760 any other, to suggest a topic for the future, or 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.439 just to say hello, you can email us at contact 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:55.600 at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.679 Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.520 more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:04.439 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.