Zompist Bboard Again

Does anyone among you have telepathic powers that would enable you to look inside my brain and tell me what I was planning to do ten minutes ago? Because that would be really useful right now.

Raphael wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 8:02 am Does anyone among you have telepathic powers that would enable you to look inside my brain and tell me what I was planning to do ten minutes ago? Because that would be really useful right now.

No, unfortunately I do not. (But Nort might.)

On climate change...
In Paris it feels like the weather is kind of the same all year round. There used to be some snow every other year or so; it hasn't happened in years (last time there was any real snow was in 2018 I believe) which is a bit sad.
Heatwaves in the summer can be unpleasant, due to a combination of the urban heat effect, very high density and -- this usually hits Americans hard -- very little use of AC. Statistically speaking they're worse than they used to; I don't know if psychologically it's really noticeable.

Where I live now (which is I think right at the edge of mediterranean climate), we hear horror stories of brutal snowstorms back in the '70s. I'm happy we don't have these anymore Summers are very hot (perhaps more so than they used to) but it's honestly easy to get used to.

Metropolitan France in general has a pretty mild climate so I guess climate change won't affect us that much (though storms are more severe, and so are the resultant floods) -- overseas it's another matter. Mayotte was recently hit by a freakish hurricane, as if they didn't have enough problems.

Ares Land wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 10:25 am
In Paris it feels like the weather is kind of the same all year round.

That's how it used to be here, too - some heat in the summer, some snow in the winter, otherwise meh. Now there's probably more heat in the summer.

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 7:05 pmI observe from that graph that it was well below freezing for nine days straight. Why anyone would voluntarily decide to live in that place baffles me.

Do you not understand how outerwear works? Like, yeah, it's cold outside but so what? You spend most of your time inside even on good days. In the winter, you just do that a little more. If you need to go outside, you dress for it. The range of breathable, lightweight, insulated fabrics these days is wonderful. It's not like you're draping yourself in homespun wool and wolfskins.

As I'm fond of saying at the place where I work, you can always put on another layer but there's a limit to how much you can take off. I grew up without AC somewhere it is hot and humid for half the year and I can't tell you how much I don't miss walking around with sweat in my eyes and swamp ass.

I suspect Brad, who lives in a country where every animal is venomous or vicious including the drop bears, is taking the piss. Still, I'd note that you can put up with nine days per year of just about any kind of weather. As lb says, you can just dress for it. Or you stay inside. Or, you know, you suffer the 20 seconds it takes to go from the door to your car.

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pmAs lb says, you can just dress for it.

This is my contention as to -20 being better than +35. As it gets colder, you can just put on more clothes. But as it gets warmer, you can't just keep taking off clothes. Around 30 it's comfortable to walk around naked, but you run the risk of getting arrested and/or getting sunburnt in particularly sensitive areas. After 40 there's no clothing you can wear that will make it comfortable. It's also very inefficient and expensive to cool a house to 15C below ambient temperature.

I'm with you guys here -- I much rather live with a few days of sub-zero F weather a year where I can just bundle up more for the limited time I do spend outside than deal with extended heat that can only be escaped through heavy air conditioning (and at least from my experience oftentimes AC is set to far too low a temperature, such that I need to wear unseasonably heavy clothes for when I go in buildings).

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pm I suspect Brad, who lives in a country where every animal is venomous or vicious including the drop bears, is taking the piss.

Only half… last year I was in Paris during the Northern spring, and even those temperatures were difficult for me to cope with. (It didn’t help that I‘d neglected to take my jacket along, mind you.)

Then again, my parents have often told me they never felt as cold in Vancouver as they do here sometimes. So there may be something to it. Similarly, I know that Paris at 30° feels hotter than Sydney at 30°.

bradrn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:07 pmThen again, my parents have often told me they never felt as cold in Vancouver as they do here sometimes. So there may be something to it. Similarly, I know that Paris at 30° feels hotter than Sydney at 30°.

Humidity makes huge difference in how a particular temperature feels. I grew up with humid heat and dry cold. The first time I encountred damp cold was in Germany. I couldn't figure out why I felt so miserable when I was dressed warm and it wasn't even freezing out. Suddenly a lot of English literature made more sense to me. (Since then, climate change has meant that Chicago gets more damp cold and I've gradually become adjusted to the dank.)

My first encounter with dry heat was West Texas. One of the natives told me it was in the 90s Fahrenheit and I refused to believe her, since I was perfectly comfortable and not marinating in my own sweat (something I'd only previously experienced when the temperature was below 80). When I visited Southern California, I realised that I basically had to force fluids since I couldn't rely on my Midwestern experience to know how much moisture was escaping my skin.

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:21 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:07 pmThen again, my parents have often told me they never felt as cold in Vancouver as they do here sometimes. So there may be something to it. Similarly, I know that Paris at 30° feels hotter than Sydney at 30°.

Humidity makes huge difference in how a particular temperature feels. I grew up with humid heat and dry cold. The first time I encountred damp cold was in Germany. I couldn't figure out why I felt so miserable when I was dressed warm and it wasn't even freezing out. Suddenly a lot of English literature made more sense to me. (Since then, climate change has meant that Chicago gets more damp cold and I've gradually become adjusted to the dank.)

I was under the impression that Paris was less humid than Sydney… except I just checked, and it turns out to be the other way around. That would explain how I felt well, then.

(There is a possibility that I may end up doing a PhD in Glasgow soon. That is one climate I’m not looking forward to.)

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:21 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:07 pmThen again, my parents have often told me they never felt as cold in Vancouver as they do here sometimes. So there may be something to it. Similarly, I know that Paris at 30° feels hotter than Sydney at 30°.

Humidity makes huge difference in how a particular temperature feels. I grew up with humid heat and dry cold. The first time I encountred damp cold was in Germany. I couldn't figure out why I felt so miserable when I was dressed warm and it wasn't even freezing out. Suddenly a lot of English literature made more sense to me. (Since then, climate change has meant that Chicago gets more damp cold and I've gradually become adjusted to the dank.)

My first encounter with dry heat was West Texas. One of the natives told me it was in the 90s Fahrenheit and I refused to believe her, since I was perfectly comfortable and not marinating in my own sweat (something I'd only previously experienced when the temperature was below 80). When I visited Southern California, I realised that I basically had to force fluids since I couldn't rely on my Midwestern experience to know how much moisture was escaping my skin.

I am personally particularly familiar with dry cold here in Wisconsin. Winters here are hard on my hands, which are very prone to developing cracks between October and April each year. Conversely, temperatures that people from elsewhere describe as awfully cold do not feel all that bad to me here.

When I was growing up it seemed like there was a day over 40 every week during summer, but that was probably a particularly hot period – we haven't had any very hot days the past few years; probably topping out with the odd 41 or 42. Summer 2023/24 was a particularly mild one; it astonishingly rained on Christmas and on Australia Day.

Darren wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 10:13 pm When I was growing up it seemed like there was a day over 40 every week during summer, but that was probably a particularly hot period – we haven't had any very hot days the past few years; probably topping out with the odd 41 or 42. Summer 2023/24 was a particularly mild one; it astonishingly rained on Christmas and on Australia Day.

A day over 40 every week? It must be because the desert is so close… even in western Sydney I think it’s not that hot.

(For those unaware, western Sydney is significantly hotter than eastern Sydney, and in summer is reasonably often the hottest place in the world.)

bradrn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 10:22 pm A day over 40 every week? It must be because the desert is so close… even in western Sydney I think it’s not that hot.

Adelaide is certainly hot. Also I'm relying on memories from when I was like 3-10 so do not take my word for it.

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pm Still, I'd note that you can put up with nine days per year of just about any kind of weather.

If you've got both heating and air-conditioning, yes. If you've only got the former, a nine-day hot spell in summer can get pretty unpleasant.

Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 3:41 am

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pm Still, I'd note that you can put up with nine days per year of just about any kind of weather.

If you've got both heating and air-conditioning, yes. If you've only got the former, a nine-day hot spell in summer can get pretty unpleasant.

You do recall that humans have lived in hot places for a quarter million years without A/C?

When I was in Iquitos, Peru, which is regularly above 30 °C, we went for lunch with one of my wife's cousins and his family at the tourist hotel, one of the few places in the city with A/C. We weren't staying there, but used to US temperatures, we appreciated the break. But his two kids, used to the heat, were freezing.

zompist wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 4:28 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 3:41 am

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pm Still, I'd note that you can put up with nine days per year of just about any kind of weather.

If you've got both heating and air-conditioning, yes. If you've only got the former, a nine-day hot spell in summer can get pretty unpleasant.

You do recall that humans have lived in hot places for a quarter million years without A/C?

It was probably pretty unpleasant for them too.

bradrn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:37 pm I was under the impression that Paris was less humid than Sydney… except I just checked, and it turns out to be the other way around. That would explain how I felt well, then.

(There is a possibility that I may end up doing a PhD in Glasgow soon. That is one climate I’m not looking forward to.)

The weather in France was also pretty bad last year. It's not usually that way. Some of you may remember how much it rained during the Olympics opening ceremony; we don't typically get that in July and I think it caught the organizers by surprise.

Personally, I need sunlight and heat, 30°C is about ideal for me. It doesn't quite get to SAD levels, but winter isn't my favourite time of the year.

zompist wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 4:28 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2025 3:41 am

zompist wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 4:00 pm Still, I'd note that you can put up with nine days per year of just about any kind of weather.

If you've got both heating and air-conditioning, yes. If you've only got the former, a nine-day hot spell in summer can get pretty unpleasant.

You do recall that humans have lived in hot places for a quarter million years without A/C?

When I was in Iquitos, Peru, which is regularly above 30 °C, we went for lunch with one of my wife's cousins and his family at the tourist hotel, one of the few places in the city with A/C. We weren't staying there, but used to US temperatures, we appreciated the break. But his two kids, used to the heat, were freezing.

Yep. There's a lot of individual variance, plus, you get used to it. To me, 30°C is great, 35° is fine; 40° isn't that pleasant but I can live with it.

Modern, urban, 9-to-5 lifestyles are terrible in a heat wave too. The sensible thing to do in a hot wave is to be active in the morning and evening , rest in the early afternoon. Not always easy to do.

You also want trees and water if possible; modern cities aren't great on that front, though things are improving.

As far as I know, the winters were deadly in pre-modern time.

Apparently, a lot of folks are just now hearing about the accusations against Neil Gaiman due to the rather graphic Vulture article that came out today. Unsurprisingly, it tries to delve into psychologising, seeking to connect his pathology with early childhood abuse. Meanwhile, an excellent video essay on the topic takes a completely different tack, seeing Gaiman as just another specific case of a more generalised malady. It's worth watching in full, but its central thesis is that men with power in a particular community often end up abusing it and maybe the long-term solution to this (rather than seeking to empower victims and appoint more watchdogs) is not to give them that power in the first place.