Disqus - Latest Comments for AceHarmon

Re: Page 86

Ben — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 12:04:18 -0000

I suspect this is a distraction technique designed to delay her opening that shockingly conspicuous door behind him.

Re: Page 59

Ben — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 13:32:00 -0000

Sociopathy is a perfectly understandable response to untamed empathy. This is, in fact, an (Optimus) prime example.

Re: Page 110

Ben — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 19:37:11 -0000

This reminds me of an incredible tale of the moral philosophy of evil. Harlan Ellison, the man who penned the greatest Star Trek episode ever, wrote a short story entitled "Would You Do It For A Penny?" It was originally published in Playboy and then collected in his anthology Shatterday.

Re: Page 103

Ben — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 13:05:36 -0000

I feel this brings up the question of who is responsible for accommodations. If people are promised something, is it the responsibility of the promise maker to provide accommodations for all, or is it the responsibility of the promised to know there will not be accomodations and to avoid accepting the situation? It would seem the rationale you provide would put that on the promised, which means that, rather than being enabled by society and encouraging a more empathetic society, people must self-segregate and the privileged able are under no responsibility to care for the differently abled.

I know this is a reductionist extrapolation, but I believe it's your right to demand that opportunities accommodate your condition, especially if you have something to offer. It seems that in your friendships, your compatriots already modify their expectations accordingly.

Re: Page 91

Ben — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:12:01 -0000

I don't think she's crying because she's happy. I think she's crying because her purpose has been taken from her. Allison was trying to do something nice for her friend, an ultimate kindness in a way, saving her, but she didn't want to be saved. Feral is a martyr of the highest order and one can't be a martyr if they are not suffering.

Re: Page 88

Ben — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 23:08:59 -0000

I can't tell if that's a giant burger or a really small bottle of whiskey...

Re: Page 14

Ben — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 21:35:17 -0000

A super genius is still trumped by the Road Runner.

Re: Page 8

Ben — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 08:38:54 -0000

He comes back, you know...

Re: Page 155

Ben — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 13:40:10 -0000

I've heard it argued, and have, on occasion, argued this myself, but the true mark of a friend is someone who's comfortable yelling at you, telling you like it is, and makes you see the world as you need to in order to move forward. Many of these arguments are a weird gray area between friendship and abuse, and I've made them less and less as I've gotten older.

Re: Page 155

Ben — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 06:04:20 -0000

If only friends were programmed better...

Re: Beneath the Glass

Ben — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 09:49:08 -0000

Your last suggestion is definitely my favorite and one I need to do better at implementing it. Oddly, the movement away from alarm clocks to using my phone for an alarm has made this more difficult. Checking my alarms often means I get caught up in my phone. I also read a lot on my phone, especially comics. I'm thinking that in my next cleanup/rearrangement of my room, I'll get an actual alarm clock out again and start leaving my phone charging in another room overnight.

This definitely flows into your third suggestion of dividing devices. Sadly, part of the reason why phones have become so necessary is that work requires me to be on email, and the slow death of my older devices (see desktop/laptop) make device division more costly and difficult.

I like your second suggestion of limiting my social media use, and, in general, I'm on Facebook less than 10 minutes a day already, the exception being that I'm emailed when I get a note or do join an active conversation and that's fine. Google+ I spend more time on, simply because it's a NewsFeed. I'm more struggling to get back into the things I was into before as alternatives to screens: music, sports, playing in my non-existent backyard. Struggling with passion is one of my prime philosophical realms right now. It's easier to collect and read a variety of things on my devices, makes less mess, and I still love gaming as a hobby. Those are tough things to give up or move away from.

Though Facebook is certainly the prime offender when it comes to the birthday deluge, I really dislike the idea that people only care when they "have to," so unless I can privatize my birthday from the world, just hiding it on Facebook is not enough of a solution for me, though it is a reasonable suggestion.

Re: Page 123

Ben — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:11:16 -0000

That's assuming it is Moonshadow. Just because the mouseover text says so doesn't mean Brennan, Molly or Griffin aren't simply messing with us cause they're privy to the comments on previous comics.

Re: Page 120

Ben — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 22:43:25 -0000

As a resident of Colorado, I can tell you that pot advertising is rampant in print media here. The gaudy greenhouse casinos, with garish neon signs and bright come hither lights, are as plentiful as the quiet dispensaries. Of course, in the internet age, it's hard to imagine that the classic ad campaign could be as effective as the poorly founded pop-science studies of the diet industry has been.

Re: Page 115

Ben — Tue, 19 May 2015 09:20:15 -0000

Nor will I, but I will feel bad for Allison, since she took things one step further than she wanted to and will be suffering guilt for a while.

Re: The Gravity of the Situation

Ben — Fri, 15 May 2015 15:55:00 -0000

If you tried to be a bit less amazing, perhaps the rest of us could live in peace!

Re: The Gravity of the Situation

Ben — Wed, 13 May 2015 13:41:58 -0000

Thanks, Julia! I'm glad you enjoyed.

Re: Page 109

Ben — Sun, 03 May 2015 16:51:42 -0000

No, I meant male privilege. Male privilege isn't restricted or invalidated by sexuality any more than white privilege would be by gender (i.e. "I can't have white privilege because I'm a woman," isn't far from "I can't have male privilege because I'm gay."). The ability to make aggressive and forward advances is considered more appropriate for men and "unladylike" for women. That's part of the definition of male privilege. It gives Patrick an advantage whether hitting on gay, straight, bi, queer, or even asexual personages in that he has more leeway to push boundaries. His mind-reading only allows him to do so more safely, knowing exactly where that line lies for each person and how far he can safely push beyond it.

Re: Page 109

Ben — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 19:05:40 -0000

That's one side of it, and certainly Patrick's fear, but he also states that without "enthusiastic" consent, he wouldn't be able to enjoy himself. This would become a question of knowing your partner's doubts in the moment, the should I or shouldn't I, the thoughts of other people with whom they may or may not be involved. It would make many first dates and beddings extremely difficult at times (and extremely easy at others), and being able to use his male privilege to press those his prospective partner's doubts would only leave him with his own.

Re: Page 62

Ben — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:53:53 -0000

As opposed to fractured fairy tales?

Re: Page 59

Ben — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 12:14:41 -0000

Sorry, Keith. It was never my intention to accuse you of anything, nor to turn this into a fight, and given that I don't feel this can continue civilly, I must decline to participate at this point.

Re: Page 59

Ben — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 01:34:33 -0000

Well, yes, that's kind of the issue with religion and theology: it tends to fall apart under duress, especially when taken literally. Given that this discussion began with you asking how metaphorical interpretation can alleviate the conflicts between theology and its literal interpretation, I don't feel it's fair that you turn around and then cite literal differences in order to undermine it. If the story is metaphor, it's metaphor within context. Context now is different, therefore the metaphor will no longer match perfectly to reality. Does this make it an ineffective metaphor? No, it simply makes it outdated, which can also be said for much of the math and science done by Newton, Darwin, Galileo and Einstein. But that doesn't mean we can't appreciate their contributions and enjoy their texts, nor does it mean we should dismiss them as quacks simply because their theories no longer fit reality perfectly. The same can be said for the moral philosophies imparted by myth, including the Judeo-Christian theology. When examined as metaphor, lessons can be garnered that make the story worthwhile to ponder, and historical accuracy allows us to clarify the meaning and refine or understanding of what the author might be saying.

Re: Page 59

Ben — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:35:58 -0000

Ah, but given that man recorded the biblical texts, and man at the time was not privy to our current scientific understanding of animals, it would be fair that to treat the story as metaphor, one would have to being with the assumptions of the time, namely that humanity and other animals are somehow different.

Re: Page 59

Ben — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 01:08:32 -0000

You can read it two ways:

1) God is selfish, as is proven time and again by biblical verse. The old testament especially shows God to be errant, foolish, hateful and vindictive. Wandering deserts, punishing sin with death, preaching an eye for an eye, and demanding sacrifices. The new testament (especially the book of Job) shows how far God is willing to go to prove a point and come across as superior, even that God's son must die for our sins, though it's never really stated why Jesus had to die other than to saddle humanity with collective guilt.

2) God is loving. God knows the pain and unhappiness knowledge will bring man, the inability to truly succeed for there is always more to do. Therefore the forbidding is to prevent harm. Much like your mother says not to play with the stove because you might burn yourself despite the fact that it cooks food and makes life better, God forbids the apple because it brings pregnancy, doubt, shame, judgment, and knowledge of our own ignorance to an innocent and happy existence despite fact that it also brings sex, certainty, pride, friendship, empathy and the joy of learning. Modern parenting movements often show how misguided overprotection can be.

Re: Page 56

Ben — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 12:49:07 -0000

I've always felt that the legend of John Henry showed that fearing technology that can improve one's life is an act of stubbornness that can kill someone. Sure, he beat the machine through the mountain, but he also died in the process. Is Luddism worth that cost?

Re: The Impurity of Sport

Ben — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 19:02:58 -0000

Thanks Julia!