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stonebro: Intelligence isn't hereditary.
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FlintlockJazz: It's a combination of nature and nurture, you can work on improving what you are born with but genes are still going to have a huge impact. So yes it is hereditary.
Also, while you can't fix stupid, but you can fix stupid people.
So... What exactly was the outrage about ? Are people who talk on their cellphones in libraries a strong lobby group or something ?

The girl seems to be of average or slightly-above-average intelligence and voiced an opinion I find reasonable. While it is likely that people of narrow mental horizons will latch onto the fact that she mentioned a particular group with which she noticed a correlation... I don't think this is particularly relevant to the issue at hand.
You can argue that them being Asian is not necessarily a REASON for them annoying others at a public place where silence is expected... but as for the group of people that DO engage in this kind of disruptive behavior, you can either argue for it or against it. In other words - the apparent point of the video is: "I hate people who talk on their cellphones in libraries. It is something I experienced personally. The people who did so happened to be Asian".
0_-
Funny, but really, wtf?
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Vestin: "I hate people who talk on their cellphones in libraries. It is something I experienced personally. The people who did so happened to be Asian".
More like: "I hate Asians, because they talk loudly on their phones when they are worried if people they know have been killed in a horrific natural disaster. And they do so in a funny voice. And their families visit them."

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Vestin: While it is likely that people of narrow mental horizons will latch onto the fact that she mentioned a particular group with which she noticed a correlation... I don't think this is particularly relevant to the issue at hand.
She spends several minutes ranting about Asians and when people criticize that, your response is that is not relevant to the issue at hand. Erm... What?

She didn't "notice a correlation", she made an arbitrary link between the behavior of a handful of people and their ethnicity, and then proceeded insult and deride all people of that ethnicity based on the behavior of a handful of people.

We have a word for this: Racism. Sane people now agree it's a bad thing.
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FlintlockJazz: It's a combination of nature and nurture, you can work on improving what you are born with but genes are still going to have a huge impact. So yes it is hereditary.
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hedwards: Also, while you can't fix stupid, but you can fix stupid people.
Heh yeah, though I think it's already too late for the world. ;)

Anyway, finally got to see those clips (was at work earlier) and I gotta say, that guy is an awesome singer!
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choconutjoe: More like: "I hate Asians, because they talk loudly on their phones when they are worried if people they know have been killed in a horrific natural disaster. And they do so in a funny voice. And their families visit them."
As she ingeniously pointed out - why do they have to call their families WHILE IN A LIBRARY ? Were all of them suddenly struck by the news while at the same type of facility ? Or perhaps a lot of them are NOT from Japan and even those that are have ALREADY assessed the situation earlier and were in no immediate need to use a phone ?
Note that all of the above dismisses the argument while implicitly assuming that if such an emergency IS the case, then you neither bother to take a few steps to leave the library before making a call, nor do you do so (at the very least) WHILE making the call.

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choconutjoe: She spends several minutes ranting about Asians and when people criticize that, your response is that is not relevant to the issue at hand. Erm... What?
I tend to filter out the noise, in order to better understand the point and not be sidetracked by peripheral stuff. In this case: cells in libraries, laundry, families visiting students.
I filter out the people in question being Asian because *I* am not a racist. She's very particular about the things she finds annoying and sincerely doubt she would have anything against Asians AS Asians (considered apart from such behaviour OR against Asians who act differently). I also think she would hate these types of activity just as much if non-Asian people engaged in them... Which basically means that the video is about what I pointed out earlier (and observed within a given group).

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choconutjoe: She didn't "notice a correlation", she made an arbitrary link between the behavior of a handful of people and their ethnicity (...)
Nope, I don't see any mentions of causality or such. If someone told you "Those two redheads are acting really rude" would you suspect he was discriminating because of hair color ?

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choconutjoe: (...) and then proceeded insult and deride all people of that ethnicity based on the behavior of a handful of people.
She noticed a pattern and worded it as well as she casually could.

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choconutjoe: We have a word for this: Racism. Sane people now agree it's a bad thing.
With a huge emphasis on "now"... Also - I like your usage of "sane" to denote "adhering to social norms" ;).
No, I don't.
Furthemore - that girl is most definitely not someone I would call "racist". She almost makes no assumptions whatsoever - she simply told us what she noticed.
Now - for examples of REAL racism - search the comments and you'll probably find plenty of people judging HER based on gender, hair color, breast size, etc...
Post edited March 25, 2011 by Vestin
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Vestin: ....
Vestin, she had some valid points, no one disputes that, she made her points in rather insensitive way. That's the criticism.
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Vestin: I filter out the people in question being Asian because *I* am not a racist.
Exactly. *She* didn't.
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choconutjoe: snip
The funny thing is, all my friends who have seen this just found it hilarious. And we're all asian, not a single one of us found it offensive. Hell, I even agree about the part that asians aren't independent enough.
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choconutjoe: snip
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wy4786: The funny thing is, all my friends who have seen this just found it hilarious. And we're all asian, not a single one of us found it offensive. Hell, I even agree about the part that asians aren't independent enough.
Tokyo University had a satellite at my school, it seemed to be more about focusing only on studies than anything else. I did have a Chinese bud I worked with for years, he lived at home for years until he got married and brought in leftovers of whatever his mom made every day for lunch. He drew a professional salary so this was clearly optional (at least financially optional). When he got married I was one of the very few non-Chinese in attendance. Different people are different, I think we only think of some traits as good or bad due to monoculture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL7vK0pOvKI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8zWH3T5RCA

I know those are long but this is one of the most fascinating people you'll ever listen to.
As a general rule if you have to put the sort of disclaimer on it that she did, you shouldn't be posting it to the internet.

That being said, I kind of hope she doesn't get in too much trouble, the embarrassment is more than enough punishment.
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orcishgamer: Vestin, she had some valid points, no one disputes that, she made her points in rather insensitive way. That's the criticism.
OK, that makes sense... Which is kinda sad, since I'd rather see people focus on what the idea is, rather than on how it is expressed :[.
But there is not much to dispute about in her message. Loud people in libraries are annoying. Full stop. Don't you object to Polish jokes that circulated in Germany that pictured Polish people as car thieves? Even though the fact is that there were Polish car thieves in Germany in the 1990s? It is pretty much the same thing.