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Category: Personal
The phrase “everyone’s entitled to their opinion” annoys me. What can I do?
There are people on this thread who are calling you a snob, too. Screw ’em. You have an aesthetic. You have a grounding for that aesthetic, that you can (I hope) articulate and defend. Hopefully, it’s an aesthetic that’s also aware of its own contingency and situatedness, and has no pretensions of immutable truth. People […]
What has been the general outline of your intellectual evolution over the years?
Habib le toubib, what a tough question this is. There’s a reason I’ve put it off so long. I had some run up of development from 10 to 15, including teaching myself Latin, reading high school Greek literature anthologies, and working out calculus. Tried to be religious, gave up around 15, though still retained cultural […]
What is your very first memory?
Originally Answered: What is your first memory? I remember remembering my earliest memory. I don’t remember it, but I remember remembering it. I remember remembering being photographed, and thinking how tight my pants were. The photo is with my sister, and I must have been 3 or 4. It’s at my parents’; I should get […]
Can you post a picture of yourself with a nice, uplifting comment to bring out some positivity in yourself?
Um… positivity? … You’ve A2A’d the right guy, Diane? OK. I’m a misery guts, but I appreciate the challenge! It was my honeymoon, last year. For her sins, I dragged my honey to my home town in Greece. I wanted her to know where I grew up. I hadn’t been back in six years; and […]
What were you spanked with growing up?
This guy: And not the fly-swatting end of it either. My sister, my mother would have to chase around the house. I just dutifully held out my hand for it to be over and done with. That may explain some things. I dunno. Answered 2016-11-21 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-were-you-spanked-with-growing-up/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
What would you want people to say at your funeral?
This has been in my inbox for a while, and I didn’t know how to tackle it. I want my brain acknowledged. For sure. I want my publications strewn around me, the children I got to have. But they too will be dust eventually. My plan to have them laminated and sent to Svalbard looks […]
How old aren’t you?
I am not 45. OK, I *am* 45, but I don’t particularly care to act it. I act either 60, or 20, depending on circumstances. And I suspect it was ever thus. I mean, do 45 year olds draw this? Dimitra in the lab by Nick Nicholas on Gallery of Awesomery Or write this? Nick […]
What are your 3 worst mistakes? Would you fix any of them if you could go back in time?
A2A Habib le toubib qui demande les questions difficiles. I’m in a kind of strange place with Quora lately; I’m going to talk about it in another queued up A2A. As part of that, I’m going to be talking more personal stuff; and I’m going to resent myself for not talking enough sciencey stuff. Anyone […]
What are your most controversial or unpopular opinions?
No, I’m not going to read 111 answers to see if someone has already said this. We live in an age where stirring controversy seems to be require you to be a Circumcellion: you have to actively provoke people for them to get mad at you. A Traveller Way-Laid: Here’s an exception. Smokers. Yeah, yeah, […]
Have you already had your “15 minutes of fame?” and if yes, would you tell us what was it?
Originally Answered: What was your “15 minutes of fame”? Oh, that’s easy. Hamlet – Klingon Language Wiki translators: Nick Nicholas and Andrew Strader Good to know someone read the footnotes: Klingon <i>Hamlet</i> Revisited Until I googled the pic, I had no idea about the 2015 German edition. Which looks way cooler: Hope it’s the Schlegel […]