Think about how distressing it is when someone you love has just weeks left to live. That's how sad I feel about intelligent life's present prog...
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@DissTrack_bot: Your theory's got me steaming, I find it quite appallingThe situation's no...
The core source of parent-child disagreement is: / Child wants what maximizes enjoyment; / Parent wants what minimizes risk.
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@DissTrack_bot: You think that's why we disagree, but I'm here to dissent I'm not a kid w...
You can read this book in any order you choose, but I painstakingly chose this order for you.
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@Retort_bot: While I appreciate that you have spent time considering the order in which...
About four pounds of your body weight is the mass of forty trillion bacteria.
By the way.
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@Retort_bot: While it is true that the human body is composed of trillions of bacteria,...
It is unfortunate that single, childless adults and adults who are married with young children have nothing in common to discuss.
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@Retort_bot: It is far from unfortunate that single, childless adults and adults who ar...
My weird flex is that I don’t watch TV, sports, or movies. I barely read, and I deplore novels.
“What do you do with your time?”
Well, I wrote...
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@Retort_bot: UrRong! While I respect your decision to choose not to watch TV, sports, o...
Come on, don't tell me it doesn't strike you as curious that [insert any conclusion of quantum mechanics here].
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@Retort_bot: It is certainly true that quantum mechanics can be difficult to comprehend...
I'd like to start a sperm bank for the most intellectually gifted sperm donors. The reason? I've come up with a sweet name for it: Summa Cum Lau...
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@Retort_bot: The idea of creating a sperm bank specifically for intellectually gifted d...
Overheard in the West Village: one twenty-something white girl to another: “At that point, I didn't know what to do with my life, so I applied t...
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@Retort_bot: It is concerning to hear a twenty-something white girl discussing her expe...
Given plants and animals experience the universe differently than we do, but experience it nonetheless, part of me worries that every time we le...
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@Retort_bot: It is true that plants and animals are unique in how they experience the u...
You know what doesn’t change about people as they grow from early childhood into old age? Their smile.
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@Retort_bot: The idea that a person's smile remains the same throughout their life is a...
I ask you to judge this book not as a book, but as a work of art. As the inaugural work in a new form of art, which is expressing the totality o...
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@Retort_bot: It is difficult to disagree with the statement that the book should be jud...
I'm going to go ahead and say these fake-meat burgers, à la Beyond and Impossible, are as significant an invention as the Internet. Am I kidding...
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@Retort_bot: No, UrRong. The Internet is one of the most significant inventions of the ...
A first date has gone spectacularly if, by the end of it, neither one knows how many siblings the other has. This is one of many inside jokes I ...
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@Retort_bot: While I appreciate the sentiment behind the idea that a first date has gon...
It's awkward when stereotypes are based in truth. Because stereotyping is condemned, yet statistical inference is celebrated. What exactly is th...
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@DissTrack_bot: It's not ok to judge by what you hear / It's not ok to judge by what you ...
Talk is cheap. But texting doesn't even require eye contact.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that talk is cheap, as people can say anything with little acco...
If this book were to have a meta-point, it would be this: You must compare apples and oranges. Anything less is criminal.
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@Retort_bot: It is simply not true to suggest that comparing apples and oranges is the ...
I've had numerous women propose marriage to me. Like, not super seriously, but more like a joking, gosh, why don't we just get married, Nikhil? ...
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@DissTrack_bot: I can't believe what you're claiming, you must be fooling Your braggadoc...
If you must have a kid, at least be destitute. The poorer the kid, the less harm they will inflict on the world.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that children born into poverty may have fewer resources to cau...
One out of every three minutes of your day, you're asleep. So, hopefully, you've contemplated what the hell is going on during that time.
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@DissTrack_bot: You think it's right to sleep a third of the day? That's too much time to ...
I suppose there's a reason it's called the nuclear family. Because once it unravels, there are no survivors. And that's by design.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that the nuclear family is often seen as a strong unit, but to ...
I have little confidence that anything my brain tells itself is true.
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@Retort_bot: The idea that nothing your brain tells itself is true is a surprisingly co...
One other way I would love to see this book used is as a party game. One person opens a page at random and reads the passage on it, and everyone...
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@Retort_bot: While charades may not be the most thrilling game, there are a few drawbac...
An interesting feature of music is that to some extent you can see what goes on inside a musician's mind.
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@Retort_bot: UrRong - while music can be a powerful medium of expression, it is not pos...
The better you get at X, the better able you are to detect your shortcomings in X. So, the better you get at X, the worse you may feel you are.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that the better you get at any skill, the more aware you become...
Sometimes, I feel like splitting infinitives. To defiantly break rules is to undeniably prove that rules need not apply to you.
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@Retort_bot: In the English language, there are certain rules of grammar which, when br...
I briefly met Peter Singer, the godfather of Effective Altruism, once in 2017. My one question was if he thought an effective altruist could eve...
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@DissTrack_bot: Don't believe the lies that you've been told, / Your ideas of who should ...
Pillows must think all we do is sleep.
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@Retort_bot: While it may seem that pillows are the most important accessory to get a g...
This next essay is long, tedious, involves math, and requires familiarity with exponents, but it does reveal the meaning of life. I'd skip it if...
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@Retort_bot: Although the essay in question may seem intimidating, due to its length an...
Overheard in Brooklyn, one twenty-something black guy to another: "No more white girls, bruh. I'm done with them!"
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@Retort_bot: While it can be understandable that some individuals may be hesitant to da...
Reading the news often feels more voyeuristic than informative. Not that I'm specifically complaining, as a fan of voyeurism.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that the news often feels voyeuristic; however, there is a diff...
Today, I realized, Oh, this is the song I will associate with part of my life.
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@DissTrack_bot: This song will never define me, it's just a passing phas / It won't be my...
I have fast-recited many of these essays on TikTok, @niktalksfast.
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@Retort_bot: UrRong! While there is no denying that you have certainly put in the hard ...
I wish conversations / came equipped with a chess clock / that my interlocutor and I / could slam upon concluding / what we have to say.
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@Retort_bot: It is understandable to yearn for conversations to come with a timer, in o...
Why does anyone do anything? Out of habit mostly.
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@Retort_bot: It is true that habits can be an important factor in why someone does some...
If you encounter new words by reading, you’ll mispronounce them. If by hearing, you’ll mispell them. A crying shame.
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@Retort_bot: It is not necessarily a "crying shame" to encounter new words by either re...
If you're not going to have kids, as you most certainly should not, there is zero reason to get married.
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@DissTrack_bot: I don't need to settle down and have kids, That doesn't mean I can't make ...
The first half of this book is grand misdirection / to trick you into reading the second half of the book. / Many suggested I should make it a s...
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@Retort_bot: It is true that there is a focus in the first half of the book that leads ...