The Bluestocking is open for business

[PricklyBall]

I've scrolled back a few pages and I can't even find the last pub thread.

So I've taken the beer towels off the pumps, tapped a new barrel, polished the glasses, fed the goat and applied brasso to the patriarchy busting canon.

Come and join me - all tastes catered for - beer, gin, wine, cocktails, coffee and a nice cup of tea.

Yup, there definitely is. It's called the Barnum effect, and it could be as simple as, "At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing" or "between the ages of 13 and 15 you went through a dramatic change". Easily applies to most people, but can be read as extremely specific.

Hemlock, to me that's not specific, I'm amazed anyone pays to hear that!

I wonder how much the council will charge me to set up Snowdrop's Pyschic Booth outside the Tube station or something?

Like that girl in Charlie Brown who had an "advice" booth.

You've now got me surfing sites on how to do cold reading - this site mentions the Barnam effect, along with "pick your subject", i.e. work out early on from the slightly look on Snowdrop's face that she's not the person from the audience you do pick on. I'm interested to see a form of gaslighting is recommended for people who don't rise to the bait - see "change your meaning" and "play the blame game".

I've got the giggles now

If someone said to me "you have recently lost an elderly relative" I'd be tempted to say "oh NO!! I forgot dad in Aldi HOURS AGO".

All jokes aside, I wasn't thinking about psychic events, are they well lit so they can see the audience' faces?

What happened to prompt this was that I was looking through some old holiday photos from forever ago - on camera film! - and I remembered the psychic. In fairness I think of her fairly often because she was so specific. So I was thinking of when people go as individuals, not like a big event.

My friend could see me btw, it was like beach huts that people were walking past, we didn't go to someone's home or anything like that.

the gaslighting thing sounds like the West Wing - and indeed politics thereafter - "if you don't like what they're asking, don't accept the premise of the question". No wonder we ended up with "alternative truths".

Re. the West Wing - I think psychics, con artists after money, politicians manipulating the emotional feelings of their audience - yes, they are all the same thing. Hence the phrase "dog whistle politics" - you don't win political arguments with actual logical argument from factually correct premises, you win them by pandering to an almost Pavlovian response in your voter base.

I think there's a huge body of psychological research on decision making in humans, and strategies known as "heuristics" which are basically quick rules of thumb based on generalisations aimed at making quick decisions on limited and imperfect information. The fact that humans do reason this way is fairly well documented, I think. The reasons for it often appeal to somewhat evo-psych just so stories: If you want not to get eaten by the sabre tooth tiger a quick decision to run is more important than a correct one - who cares if occasionally that means you run away from your mate Ugh who happens to be wearing his tiger-skin outfit.

So as the saying goes - you can't fool all the people all the time but you can fool most of them most of the time and that's good enough!

In that kind of vein, I think my next read will be a biography of Houdini....if anyone has any recs let me know. Friends saw that Barnum film at the cinema and really liked it but I think it's gone from the local now - though I'd opt for Three Billboards anyway I think.

I just peaktransed my mate. Took me four sentences before he went 'but erm, surely perverts are just going to use this GRA thing to harass and assault women?'

He also said he didn't want transmen eyeing up his manbits

It was fun. Might do it again later...

Good work Certain
Please share your four sentences?

Re-enters thread. Twirls to show off shiny new name!

Ahem.

'Have you heard about this GRA thing? At the moment if a transsexual man wants to officially become a woman they have to have a doctor sign them off and it's a fairly lengthy process. But this would mean that you could just fill in a simple application and sign it. Now, if that happens, can we think of anyone who might fill in a simple form so that they can come into the women's changing room and get changed next to me and dd? What kind of person might want to do that?'

Can I please have a (very) large and low cal tonic (lime & ice)?

I woke up this morning having had a nightmare wherein Dapper Laughs had taken over Britain and was running it as a brutal fascist state (I know, WTAF????!!!!!) and now I've been reading Patrick Harvie's absolute fucking bs on Twitter.

I honestly feel like my head is going to explode is there to be no end to this horror....weeps silently into empty glass.....

🍸 terry. Dapper laughs taking over the uk is very scary - the Gin is a double!

Beyond We will all be needing a ruddy bottle of each if Dapper were to lay his fascist state upon us.

I can't even get all this stuff out of my head when I'm sleeping ffs!!!! ....takes another slug of ........ Continues to weep.....

Certain, thanks. Sadly a similar chat just got me blank looks and "who" from some female friends. Then "oh no one's going to do that kind of thing". Sigh.

I only know of Dapper Laughs from the past, I'm disappointed he didn't stay there.

A pint of your best bitter please Prickly for Moth who's feeling somewhat melancholy.
And one for yourself.
Me? I'll have a Tia Maria and cherry coke.

It's been a week. Some highs, some lows. We will win this. And we'll do it with grace and dignity, logic and persistence.

Chin, chin

Chin chin, whitehandled

I had a pint of bitter and half a bottle of pinot noir this evening, all washed down with an hour’s rant about feminism to my long suffering Nigel.

It’s been a long week.

Thank you, whitehandled. I went to bed early after my little miseryfest last night but a pint of best for breakfast is just the start I need for a more positive day today. Cheers!

Luckily CBB hasn't penetrated my dreams yet, DH pulls faces enough when I just watch it. If I'd woken him up laughing about CBB last night (as I did, just I was laughing at ds2 in my dream) I think he'd move into the spare bed

Beyond The thing is I haven't actually watched any BB for years but happened to catch about 10 minutes of it the other evening - that was enough to poison my sleep.

Anyway you'll all be relieved to know I was Dapper-free last night so this morning I'll only need a large coffee not !!!!

so dare I ask what Dapper has said? I cba looking it up - also my browser will think I was interested.

I notice Jack Monroe said about losing followers after supporting trans women - and some of my Tweeps have "liked" that tweet. I honestly wonder if they understand what's happening.

Interesting article here about Tara Hudson
complaining about treated as a biological male

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/20/tara-hudson-transgender-prisoner-sues-government

I saw that article. Been living as a woman all her adult life, eh? That'll be the form of "living as a woman" that involves penetrating men for money with your "7 inch surprise" then. A part of womanhood I'm sure we can all relate to.

(No mention either of the fact that the headbutting attack was her 6th or 7th conviction for various forms of assault.)

HairyBallTheorem - what is the theorem by the way?

what I found encouraging in that article is that the government, as referenced, appear to be respecting actual biology!

Theorem in algebraic topology - you can't put a continuous non-zero tangent vector field on a sphere without a singularity. Or more straightforwardly, if you have a hairy ball and try to comb it flat, you'll always end up with a tuft sticking up somewhere.

Snowdrop To save you the horror I have googled Dapper so you don't have to and apparently the latest is that "Comedian Dapper Laughs has upset viewers by making a sexual joke about fellow housemate Ann Widdecombe"

I better not ruddy dream about him again tonight after googling him!!!