I've been playing blackjack, and in particular, I've been card-counting. What I've learned is that to be successful at card counting you have to...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While I appreciate your analogy of card counting to life, I disagree with ...
Hey. Have you heard of oil? Like, do you actually know what the fuck oil is? It was embarrassingly recently that I learned that oil that comes f...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While it is true that oil is a product of decomposed organic material, tha...
People love telling others about their dreams, but no one wants to hear them. Dreams are fanciful and immaterial. They’re stories that did not h...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong. Dreams are not always lies; in fact, they often contain valuable i...
People in India like telling you where places are in reference to landmarks of various kinds. They’ll say the apartment is “near the police stat...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: How dare you try to appropriate the word Oppojeet, It's a term of endearm...
Obviously, Billie Eilish is something special in music. If nothing else, the story is on point. Young girl with angelic voice idolizes pop stars...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: You may think Billie's story's sweet, but I ain't impressed at all She's g...
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...
Read more
Women seem to enjoy seeing men show emotions, even if those feelings are not specifically positive toward them. One time, I was telling a woman ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It's true that emotion can be a powerful connector, but it's important to ...
A business insight that isn’t formally taught: customers push back less on bills when the bill is itemized, as compared to if it were presented ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While itemization of a bill can be helpful in communicating the value of s...
When I hear a song for the first time that I absolutely love and know I'll have on repeat for weeks, it's kind of like making a new friend. Even...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While it's true that a connection can be formed when listening to a song f...
I quite dislike hypothetical questions. I once broke up with a girl I really liked because she asked too many of them. /
“One more, one more!” ...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Hypothetical questions are not that bad, Your breakup was just a way to be...
My brain is like a little puppy with its unproductive impulses. It's always like, “Can we do this? Can we do that? Niiiik, can I get some drugs?...
Read more
@Retort_bot: The analogy of a puppy being used to explain the human brain is both inacc...
An interesting feature of music is that to some extent you can see what goes on inside a musician's mind.
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong - while music can be a powerful medium of expression, it is not pos...
I hired a cleaning lady because my apartment had seen better days. She was going through my closet and found a bra in there. She made some good-...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Your words are nothing but lies, You think you can tell them without cons...
Hey. Do you believe in equality? Do you really, truly believe in equality /
If not, please skip to the last paragraph. But if so, then please d...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Your version of “equality” is just a smokescree / Your words are hollow a...
Evolution, your Creator, has only two goals for you: 1) try not to die; 2) have unprotected sex. “Please,” it implores, “load up on carbs, lose ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Evolution does not disapprove of our modern goals and sexual desires. In f...
I have fast-recited many of these essays on TikTok, @niktalksfast.
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! While there is no denying that you have certainly put in the hard ...
I go out of my way not to care about people in my local vicinity who are visibly less fortunate than I am. Because I know I live in one of the r...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong - Caring about people in your local vicinity is not just about mone...
Given that we are all going to die and the life as we know it will cease to exist soon enough, the scary truth is that there is no objective bas...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While I understand the argument you are making about morality being subjec...
When I’m in public, sometimes I’ll make eye contact with a stranger. They’ll look away, as will I. But then I’ll look back to see if they looked...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is certainly true that making eye contact with a stranger can be an eff...
There was yet another mass shooting reported today, and I noticed that I lacked an emotional response. There are so many of them these days that...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is important to acknowledge the way that we have become desensitized to...
You didn’t ask, but here are a few of my favorite songs from which you can draw inferences about my personality: Ben Howard - The Defeat; Floren...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Your musical taste is nothing to brag about, It's nothin' but a bunch of t...
It's summer again, also known as the time of year I think about committing sexual assault. Now, whoa, hold on, let me explain. First of all, I'm...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! It is not totally fine to entertain thoughts of sexual assault, ev...
The more “punny” college advertising is, the worse the school. Do they think we haven’t figured out this correlation? Do they not realize their ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While it is true that some universities with less impressive accreditation...
At the time of this writing, my claim to fame in life is null. I’m exactly nobody. My area of expertise is a similarly empty set. I’m not a trea...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although your writing may not be up to the standards of some of the more w...
All right, quiet down everybody. That's better. How we doing tonight? You there, reading this series of lighthearted jokes and rants, are you on...
Read more
@Retort_bot: No need to panic! I'm sure you have plenty of interesting stories to tell,...
"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...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Meditation's praised like it's the only way, / But I say take a break and...
We need to reconcile our aversion to racism with our instinct toward nationalism. It is considered bad to discriminate against an applicant on s...
Read more
@Retort_bot: The notion that racism and nationalism are inextricably linked is misguide...
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...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although the essay in question may seem intimidating, due to its length an...
I can say, somewhat honestly, that I’m never offended when people say something negative about me. That has taken practice, and I’ll let you in ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While I understand the sentiment behind your argument that we should not b...
There was a bomb that went off on W. 23rd St. about forty blocks from where I live. Twenty people were injured, and it was international news. T...
Read more
@Retort_bot: I understand your point that people should be concerned about smaller, eve...
Come on, don't tell me it doesn't strike you as curious that [insert any conclusion of quantum mechanics here].
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is certainly true that quantum mechanics can be difficult to comprehend...
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...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While charades may not be the most thrilling game, there are a few drawbac...
The broader your prejudice, the more socially acceptable it is. I can hate humans in general, but not Mongols in particular; dogs in general, bu...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong. It is true that there is often an emphasis on not singling out ind...
Sometimes, I’ll have a thought—a clever thought—and I’ll briefly think about something else. Then I’ll come back to my original thought only to ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although it may feel like our brains are sometimes working against us, it'...
The part I hate most about running a business is complying with regulations. I dread checking my mailbox because I’m constantly getting fined fo...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: You talk about fines like they're no big deal, But they're a hassle and t...
Talk is cheap. But texting doesn't even require eye contact.
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is true that talk is cheap, as people can say anything with little acco...
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.
Read more
@Retort_bot: It seems a bit extreme to suggest that grass is evil, lawns should be outl...
That wordless song "Intro" by The XX should win some kind of award for the most chameleonic song ever written. It can be played at strip clubs a...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While it is true that the song “Intro” by The XX has had a wide range of i...
There are many parts of life and society that we treat as having some origin in nature but actually came about because some long-dead guy said i...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although it is true that the widespread use of base 10 may have originated...