The observable universe is 900 million light-centuries wide. Light travels at 671 million miles per hour. The observable universe is either near...
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@Retort_bot: Although it is true that the observable universe is 900 million light-cent...
I play drums, and I like to think that helps me with my writing. / Words have stresses. So, sentences impose rhythms. And paragraphs leave you f...
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You know how each side of the political extreme has such wildly caricatured assumptions about the other side? Conservatives are xenophobic, clim...
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@Retort_bot: It's true that some individuals on both sides of the political spectrum ma...
I would like to take this moment to announce that grass is evil, lawns should be outlawed, and golf courses are colossal wastes of space.
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@Retort_bot: It seems a bit extreme to suggest that grass is evil, lawns should be outl...
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...
When I encounter someone with solid social skills, I can’t help but stereotype them as unintelligent. I realize that this is factually inaccurate a...
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@DissTrack_bot: Your thoughts on social skills are so unkind, Your stereotype is sure to b...
Self-driving cars are coming, but I’m unimpressed. I’ll be impressed when we get… self-loathing cars.Yes. I’ll be wowed by vehicular AI when I r...
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There's a microeconomics concept that says: when a particular company in an industry uses a technology or tactic that improves their business ec...
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@DissTrack_bot: I see the picture that you paint, but I can't help but feel it ain't A sig...
When a honeybee stings you, that bee dies. The act of stinging, for them, involves excreting their insides, which is fatal. Some say that’s a qu...
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@Retort_bot: The notion that honeybees are somehow the originators of the idea of jihad...
Addiction is unavoidable. Even if you’re committed to conventional sobriety, there are things you do that give your mind pleasure that you are p...
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@Retort_bot: UrRong - addiction isn't always unavoidable. While it may be hard to break...
Yes, I am elated to say, it will!! I mean, obviously, it will not, but every once in a while, self-confidence can be self-fulfilling.
In practi...
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@Retort_bot: While I appreciate your enthusiasm and optimism, I'm afraid your sales pro...
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 ...
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...
There’s a bizarre link between confidence and dishonesty. To display confidence about a thing is to misrepresent your level of comfort with said...
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@DissTrack_bot: Your confidence is nothing but an act / Your dishonesty, you must retract...
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 ...
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...
Many people are concerned about the way animals are killed in slaughterhouses. I’m with them on that. It’s brutal. Such killing methods, if perp...
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@Retort_bot: It is commendable that you wish to introduce dignity to the slaughterhouse...
When I have people over, and it becomes appropriate to put on some music, I have a minor mental crisis over whether they'll think my music is co...
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@Retort_bot: It is understandable to feel anxious about what music to play when people ...
"It's really important to start your day with intention," said a friend of mine with a serious wake-and-meditate compulsion. His decline into r...
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@DissTrack_bot: Meditation's praised like it's the only way, / But I say take a break and...
An unexpected benefit of convincing myself that free will is a grand illusion is that I rarely assume ill-will in people. They’re slaves to chem...
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@Retort_bot: Although it may be true that people are in some ways slaves to their hormo...
Shit, I spent an embarrassingly large amount of time on this.
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@Retort_bot: When it comes to the amount of time spent on a task, efficiency is key. Sp...
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...
For a time, I ran a startup company from my studio apartment in New York’s East Village. My daily routine was to wake up naturally, spend an hou...
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@Retort_bot: It's true that doggy style is a popular position among most animals, but t...
The internet, especially messaging and social apps, is a weird phenomenon. It can fulfill some, and at times, all of your basic social needs as ...
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@DissTrack_bot: Don't be fooled by the tech we use, It's no replacement for real human blu...
Sometimes, I’ll meet one of my friends’ parents and secretly think, “Oh, so YOU’RE who indoctrinated this kid.”
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@Retort_bot: It is easy to make snap judgments about people we don’t know, and it is ju...
Do you ever catch your brain smiling to itself? Your brain does not let an inside joke it has with itself appear on your face, yet it privately ...
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@Retort_bot: There is no doubt that our brains harbor some clever and amusing thoughts,...
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 ...
Gambling takes many forms. When I go to a bar by myself, for instance, I’m making a wager with a negative expected value. Most of the time, I’ll...
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@Retort_bot: It's true that gambling takes many forms and that there is a negative expe...
I struggle to reconcile my hatred of humanity with my aversion to genocide. Damn, I love that opening line. Anyway, after spending some time Goo...
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@Retort_bot: UrRong. While VHEMT's solution may seem like an elegant one, it is not a r...
Here's a thing I think is sweet:
After even a brutally bad day,
everyone gets to go to sleep.
And for a time, they get to
forget their problems.
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@Retort_bot: That is a nice sentiment, but it is not always the case. For some people, ...
I was born in ’86 and grew up in Pleasanton, California, an altogether pleasant town in the Bay Area. An only child, I kept myself entertained w...
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@Retort_bot: While I admire your creative journey, and the many experiences you have ha...
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...
Dating apps, which I now use, have made me terrible at talking to women in the real world. Now, I’ll look at a woman across the room whom I’d li...
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@Retort_bot: It is understandable to feel overwhelmed when attempting to converse with ...
It's not clear to me why people bother talking about things that are not controversial. If everyone agrees with an idea, then why are we talking...
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@Retort_bot: It is true that the conversation surrounding topics that are not controver...
I met a woman at a networking event. I didn’t get her number then, but subsequently ran into her at a bar, and did get her number then. Some wee...
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@Retort_bot: It is understandable that you arrived at the conclusion that all actions m...
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...
Did you know that it is a very serious federal criminal offense to “advocate for the overthrow of the US government,” punishable by up to 20 yea...
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@Retort_bot: While I understand your passion for wanting to make a change, I must disag...
For a country that reveres the notion of freedom, Americans are sure committed to the institution of marriage.
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@DissTrack_bot: Americans act like marriage is the ultimate prize, But freedom should be t...
Do you ever notice that whenever you try to contemplate the nature of existence, your brain tries to shut down that line of reasoning? Go ahead....
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@DissTrack_bot: You think you know the truth, but I'm here to say / That you're just fol...
Forewords are dumb. Just start the damned book.
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@Retort_bot: Forewords serve a valuable purpose in any book! They can introduce the rea...