Ask the next person a Yes/No question

[Ironbound]

That isn't a yes/no question but

 

I don't think about them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Seriously, one can't do anything about such things, so one may as well not care. People you can respect, whether friend or enemy, will say their piece to your face.

 

Do you have four meals a day regularly?

 

[Daniel Blackworth]

No. I eat 3 meals a day. Isn't 3 the standard? Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

 

Do you love or believe in yourself?

[Ironbound]

Yes. It's a sad life if you can't love or believe in yourself.

 

I thought you said you didn't want the existential or heavy questions?

[Daniel Blackworth]

I thought it was a normal question, though. I'll revert to more simple questions, then.

 

Do you love chocolate?

[Ironbound]

Dark chocolate, if it's at least 70% cocoa and of a good single-source grade (preferably Trinitario, they started growing a custom grade over here in south India, chocolatiering has become the newest plantation fad here. I've sampled the grades from two states, they're good, I like the ones that use a bit of sea salt in them)

 

I'm a determined coffee and chocolate snob, and I take them very seriously, like an art form. I dislike milk chocolate and white chocolate, since I have a low tolerance for sweet stuff and it gets clawing very fast. I appreciate the bitterness of dark chocolates and black coffees. Coffee + dark chocolate is a match made in heaven, js.

 

I'll ask the same question: do you love chocolate?

 

[Daniel Blackworth]

Yep. I'm the opposite of you though. I prefer white chocolate for its sweetness.

 

Do you play Fire Emblem?

[Sardines]

Yes (and in a sense no). I play Fire Emblem Heroes. So, yes. But this is the first and only Fire Emblem game that I've played. However, this makes me want to play the other games.

 

Do you play any RTS (real time strategy) games? (and if I may add, if your answer is yes, which ones and what would you recommend)

[lifesapity]

Yes, Currently Dominions 4 and Age of Wonders 3.

Dom 4 being the most in depth game I have ever played.

Age of Wonders 3 is Final fantasy tactics meets Civ.

 

Pm me if you want more details or read up on them yourself. 

 

Do you like pizza with pineapple on top? 

Edited March 20, 2017 by lifesapity

[Rev]

Oh heck yeah I do. It is one of my favorites.

 

Do you like anything mint flavored?

[HongaarseBeer]

Only if it's peppermint or one of those mints restaurants often offer after having finished dinner. I absolutely hate chocolate with mint. Oh and toothpaste is alright, but not to eat, though...

 

Are you a dreamy person?

[Tartar]

As in whether I daydream a lot? No, never. 

 

 

I'll continue the chocolate question. Do you love chocolate? 

[HongaarseBeer]

I do, though I don't eat it often.

 

I will also continue the chocolate question. Do you love chocolate? If so, what kind?

[Tartar]

Chocolate is the most scrumptious thing on this planet. I mostly indulge myself with plain dark chocolate, but otherwise, I enjoy any kinds of chocolate, as long as they're well made. As compared to Viridescent, I do also enjoy light and white chocolate. Sadly there is too much sub-par milk and white chocolate that has flood the market, so most people don't respect such types, but when a good chocolatier makes high-grade chocolate, even things like white chocolate can be used to work in tandem with various fillings to provide exquisite flavours. 

 

So in short, I adore chocolate, which kinds? All of them. 

 

 

Do you that in life, one ought to act in such ways that avoid unnecessarily showcasing their talents, so as not to make others feel inferior?

[HongaarseBeer]

Yes, I do. Sometimes I know I'm good at something or simply better at something than someone else. However, every now and then people need to feel some appreciation from others, so I purposely don't showcase my talents and instead let someone showcase his/hers.

It's like it put myself in second place just so that the other will feel good. People might need that from time to time. So yeah, in such cases I choose not to show off and let others take the spotlight. Also, whenever I know I'm good at something but someone else clearly isn't, I just refrain from doing anything at all because it feels unnecessary.

 

I do want to make clear that I don't always act like this. Sometimes I just want to show others how good I am at something, for the same reason that I let others show off instead of me: to feel good/appreciated.

 

Do you think euthanasia should be legal for people who really have lost all hope (e.g. are terminally ill and simply don't want to suffer anymore)?

[Tartar]

Should it be legal? Yes.  In what way and to which extent it should be is a legal minefield that I'd rather not discuss, but I'll try to highlight some hurdles I can see in implementing such a policy. 
In an ideal world, it should be up to people themselves to decide when they want their lives to end, especially in a world where we can prolong human life to such an extent that the mental and physical faculties of the body cannot keep up. So if a person wants to die, even if they aren't terminally ill, they shouldn't be prevented from doing it. 
But this is where the legal minefield comes in, because how do you prevent people from being forced into such situations by others, or taking their lives due to not wanting to burden people around them. There many ways such a system could be misused, but in the end, it's something that needs to be implemented due to our current level of medical technology, and how it will develop in the future. 

 

 

Should languages outside of major lingua franca languages be made non-mandatory to take up in school (ie. like French, German and Spanish being mandatory in various countries), and the time allocated to learning languages given to subjects that can in a better way contribute to the development of society, like classes teaching the sciences, math or computer engineering? 

[HongaarseBeer]

It depends, mostly on the country you live in. No one in the world speaks Dutch or thinks about speaking Dutch, so as a Dutchie I love the fact that I'm bilingual (maybe even trilingual). If I wasn't taught Spanish, French, and German in school, I would have zero knowledge of it. Now I can follow conversations etc, so for me it's useful. I think that even people from countries like the UK should have basic knowledge of at least one foreign language that's of any importance in this world. It makes it so much easier for you if you do.

 

However, I would have loved to have spent more time on computer engineering since that's becoming increasingly important in today's world. I think it's a decision that needs to be made: What do you want to focus on? If schools give this choice to their students they can decide what they want to follow. If they have more feeling for languages or find that more important, they can choose to follow those subjects. If they don't want to, then they don't. I can see that this will cause a problem because schools will have to have teachers for a wider variety subjects (so more teachers for classes with fewer students. This will cost more money I imagine) than if they simply drop languages but I think that it's better for the students themselves. 

 

Do you think current politics should be part of the curriculum in schools? If so, from which class/age?

[Ironbound]

No. Civics (as in, the machinery of the state) and history can be explained with reasonable objectivity or impartiality, but not current politics. That's something every individual has to learn (or choose not to learn) on their own initiative, and form their own, unique opinions. To teach current politics in school is to place in the teachers, and in those who design the syllabus, power to plant their own political opinions or agendas into the minds of children. 

 

Not saying that doesn't happen already in many parts of the world, whether blatantly or covertly, but it's something to avoid in an ideal state.

 

 

Do you think religious education should be permitted, or even enforced by the state in its primary and secondary educational institutions?

[Tartar]

I think your understanding on what is religious education and mine differ. 

In most parts of the Western world religion is already taught in classes for a semester or two, to further the student's understanding of cultures around the world, and their own country's history. Teaching religion in this sense could be viewed as an extension to history education, since the history of many countries cannot be understood without a firm grasp of the development and practices of religions in it, as many nations have in many ways tied their cultural identity to religious doctrine.  Thus, while I don't believe education on matters of religion is especially important, it does have some merit for bridging the gap between nations and promoting cultural understanding which is always a healthy thing, and speaks for its inclusion in the curriculum.

 

Now if you meant that the state should teach and promote the beliefs and doctrines of a specific religion to its population, is an unhealthy practice that in your own words gives the government the  "power to plant their own political opinions or agendas into the minds of children". It is not the for the goverment to teach children what to think, but instead give them the tools necessary to think and search out new knowledge so that they can become good citizens. 

 

 

Should we stop teaching about the history? Many conflicts have arisen and perpetuated due to events that have happened in the distant past, and thus history could be viewed as a cause of discord among nations and preventing the world from coming together as one due to crimes and injustices committed in the past. 

[HongaarseBeer]

I don't think we should. The thing about history is that it teaches us how not to behave in certain situations. I mean, you learn from your mistakes, so humanity should look at its history in such a way to prevent bad things from happening, like wars etc. I agree with you that many conflicts arise because of historical events but I'm not sure if this would be preventable simply by not paying any more attention to our history. There is a lot of tension primarily due to religion (in my opinion at least) and by not teaching anything related to history, you would have to cut the good things about religion (religion was important and made a stable world a couple of centuries ago, if you don't look at crusades etc, life was quite okay) only because it also has a bad side. Look at WWII, that's terrible. But we learn so many things from it that it wouldn't be wise to just leave that out of the curriculum. Just look at the European Union, that started as a front against Germany (under a different name than EU) to make sure nothing like WWII would happen again. If you don't teach students about WWII, you miss a connection in explaining how the EU started out (if that's being taught at school). So because of this, I think we shouldn't.

 

 

Do you think that primary schools/kindergarten(s?) should have the right to reject prospective students (toddlers really) if they aren't vaccinated in order to prevent easily preventable diseases from spreading (like the measles)?

[Daniel Blackworth]

I'm not really quite sure about it, but I suppose I'm gonna answer a No to that. I think it's better not to reject prospective students if they aren't vaccinated. I feel that all potential students should have the right to education and in the event that a student has a contagious disease, it is best that that student should be asked to take a break from school until he/she recuperates fully.

 

Do you enjoy studying Foreign Languages either as a hobby or a subject in school?

[Tartar]

Not particularly. 

I like knowing foreign languages, but I don't find it an enjoyable process compared to other activities I could be doing.

 

Can a utopia exist in real life?

 

 

 

 

[Daniel Blackworth]

Yes. I'm saying yes, but it's very, very difficult to achieve a utopia in real life though. It would require people to work with each other, set aside differences, and remove their selfishness. It is hard, but it can happen.

 

Can you juggle?

[Rev]

Haha, I wish. The answer to that is no.

 

Do you have Persona 5?

[Tartar]

I don't own a PS4, but if it ever comes to PC, I'll consider getting it. 

Hopefully it's better than Persona 4, which I found to be a bit long winded. 

 

Do you continue to struggle and fight, even if you know that a situation is hopeless, and struggling will only prolong the inevitable? 

[Ironbound]

In any given situation, there can only be two alternatives: either there exists a way to improve it, in which case I do that, or there isn't anything that one can do, in which case it's not a problem, and must just be endured.

 

Your situation seems to fall in the first category, when there is something that can yet be done to improve the situation. Depending on the case and criticality, and also on my interest in such case, I generally tend to persist at a decision once it is made, though it is subject to periodic review in the light of new events. Once I determine that there is nothing that can be further done that is likely to achieve the desired result, I deem such further effort as pointless, and will not persist merely for the sake of sentiment. It is wiser to cut one's losses and do something more productive with one's time and resources than to persist in a project which you know is hopeless. If an end is inevitable, and nothing further can be achieved or improved by prolonging the struggle, it is better to terminate the process with grace rather than drag it out.

 

Of course, all this changes if I continue to believe that there is an acceptable chance (the definition of this acceptable chance depends on the case and criticality. In a matter of life and death, for example, even a miniscule chance of improvement is worth fighting for), because as long as I see that what I'm doing is achieving something or improving something materially, or if there is something that is a question of principle that is worth fighting for, then I persist tenaciously. I hold the logic above sentiment, but moral principle above logic, in determining whether to continue an endeavour or terminate it (always subject to facts and feasibility)

 

I'll ask the same question. I'm interested to see others' takes on the subject.