Bit of a big question there, and nihilism is a big concept—that often gets used quite loosely, to mean “relativistic” or “cynical”. We are in a time in the West, of course, when a lot of longstanding moral absolutes have been increasingly questioned or scrutinised, and the outcome has been called nihilistic by both proponents […]
I of course knew that as soon as I opened this question, I’d get several replies saying “no we’re not”. White Anglo-Celtic Australians (and these days, White Non-Anglo-Celtic Australians) are not the people to ask this. No, we don’t burn crosses in our yards. Yes, we did give Aboriginal Australians the vote, and we even […]
I should be careful about opining here, but this is a discussion that, as it happens, I’ve had recently with a couple of trans women. Gender dysphoria–or at the very least, awareness of gender/sex mismatch—seems to be very old, given the number of attestations of gender-diverse instances in human societies, and of androgynous cultural artefacts. […]
I’ve had the opportunity to travel a bit in my time; and because Australians are food snobs, I’ve used the opportunity to sample what the locals eat. I’ll put down two memorable meals. The first was in Amsterdam. On my last day there, I opened up my Lonely Planet guide book, flicked past the hoity-toity […]
Hokay. Let’s dance. Yes, my first name really is the same as my surname. Just like my three firstborn cousins. I did not speak to my parents until I was 2. While I was being wheeled in by the nurse to see the doctor about it, I was reading out the room numbers to her. […]
I am somewhat surprised to have been A2A’d this by four people. That my politics should be of interest at all, though I haven’t expressed my politics here coherently, is likely more a token of their esteem than my interest. I am somewhat mortified to have been A2A’d this by four people. Unlike the other […]
In my experience in Australia, we slotted readily into the stereotype of Arts students in general. (Well, I didn’t: I was a refugee from Engineering.) Leftie do-gooders, dressed down, partial to cheap wine, mostly laid back. Answered 2017-05-10 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-are-some-stereotypes-about-linguists-and-linguistics-majors/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Polling for the major parties even and low at 37%. Parties eroded both from their radical flanks (Labor by Greens, Liberals by host of right wing parties), and from centrist populists (Nick Xenophon). Liberal Party split between moderates and conservatives, with conservatives openly sniping at Turnbull or breaking away, and several conservative pretenders waiting in […]
A2A by Emlyn Shen. Now, I am cis. Emlyn is trans. Inspired by this tweet, pic.twitter.com/A47L9UBDtn — jordan (@redazarath) May 2, 2017 —I asked a trans friend of mine. I would have asked Emlyn herself, but she A2A’d me, so that hardly seems fair. Nick: You’ve reflected on femininity; you’d have a much better informed […]
Ooh. That’s a tough one, and I’m going to want backup on this. The nationalist writers of the 1890s: Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. Culturally defining figures. At the same time, the Heidelberg School of painters (back when Heidelberg was on the outskirts of Melbourne, instead of suburbia); just as strongly defining of Australia’s self-perception, […]