-
Posts
113 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Everything posted by ShieTar
-
Originally Posted By: SapientCrow As for the open ended world myself I actually like that I am traveling back and forth in a non linear fashion I was just at a point that I was really not making sense of where to go to. It also seems level accounts for far more in this game than does skills/stats. Well, more than most skills, true. Not so much stats, a lvl 30 mage that is all INT has a lot less chance to hit something with a sword than a lvl 15 Warrior with all STR. As far as skills go, they are mostly for finetuning, besides the basic skills that give you access to spells/talents.
-
Originally Posted By: Abdulla AlBinali Could you tell me where the Cave is? There is one to the west of Spire but I can't get in nor get any info from it as I've been there before. Have you talked to Scab about the cave specifically? The Dialog that you get from the Cave will change after Scab told you to go to it, just going there without taling to Scab about it won't work. As for Asp, you don't need to remember what he said, your character does. He will use the knowledge where it is needed.
-
A:EftP - How to defeat Drath?
ShieTar replied to Mad Genius's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
I have to say I found Drath rather easy, in any way much easier than any of the dragons. I think I was already close to lvl 30 thogh. My strategy was to spawn and buff summons with all 4 members (2x Arcane Summon and 2x Divine .. Body? Or whatever the last summon for priests is called) and then just kill Drath with my bows, while he tried and failed to kill my summons. He didn't fear or stun, so just healing and re-summoning was no problem. The fight took me about 15 minutes or so. Still better than that one dragon with her golems, which had me feared and the party sepparated and surrounded within 2 turns. Without leaving any space open for resurrections for a long time. -
Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity At the time of his writing, this was actually in some doubt; it was fairly widely considered that molecules were simply theoretical fictions that made certain calculations easier. Are you sure about "fairly widely"? I always thought that the atomic theory was already mostly accepted due to the experimental works of Brown (on molecular motions) and Loschmidt (specifically his measurements on the size of molecules of air). Maybe some biograph mixed up the atomic theory with the quantum theory of electromagnetic energy, as photons were indeed considered theoretical constructs for a while, even by Planck and Einstein themselves.
-
A:EftP - To kill or not to kill...
ShieTar replied to Fatman's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
He is an Agent of the Empire. If you get caugth killing him, you will be exiled and thrown into the caves of Avernum! Oh, wait. Seriously though, if you don't kill him you will still never see him again and nobody will mention him. -
A:EftP - Magical barriers
ShieTar replied to Earth's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
Yeah, I kind of agree. I refused to revisit all those spots after I finally gotten the third spell level too. I guess it's a bonus for your second play-through, when you have a good idea on just how early you can get that spell up to lvl 3. -
Yes, sorry for messing up that sentence a little, what the statistics gather up are W2/W3 positions, which in general are the only ways and also a almost sure way to get tenure. So I used tenure as a synonyme for the positions, not really correctly. Even though I seem to recall there used to be the option to achieve tenure (or something very similar) by simply working for more than six years at the same position at an university. Which is why most postdocs only received 5-year contracts, as the tenured contracts were somewhat more expensive. Quote: Frankly, a woman who has simply not grasped your perspective on the statistics, even after devoting all the thought appropriate to such an important career decision, is not a woman who would ever have a shot at a professorship in natural science. From very personal experience, namely with myself, I can not agree to the assumption that people will invest appropriate research and rationale thought into important personal decisions, if some kind of emotional pre-disposition exists. On top of that keep in mind that, at least for scientists and engineers in germany, a career in the private industry is already the prefered option from an economical point of view. Also keep in mind the absolute numbers at work here, the fact that only about 3% of all PhDs can achieve tenure, and less than 20% of all PhDs will continue to work at universities at all. IF only 30% of those 20% are female, that still means that 88% of all female PhDs and 72% of all male PhDs will leave the academic career. That is a difference in decision-making, but not a huge one.
-
Well, yes, the IQ 70 was Hyperbole on my part. Nevertheless I am truly not aware of any sign of even average intelligence on his part. And this not merely my personal opinion. If I may cite former german chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who did meet Bush personally on several occasions: Quote: "We noticed that the intellectual reach of the president of the most important nation at the time was exceptionally low. For this reason it was difficult to communicate with him. He had no idea what was happening in the world. He was so fixated on being a Texan. I think he knew every longhorn in Texas." Considering how diplomatic politicians usually try to be about international colleauges, I would consider this kind of official judgement to be rather telling.
-
Originally Posted By: Miramor [bolding mine] Umm. I hate to go there, but what would you call the Third Reich? Well, I did talk about centuries, and the Third Reich lasted for approximately zero centuries. But of course you are correct there, the Nazi-Regime did portray the woman mainly as "child-giving machines". Still, the ratio of married women working in the third reich was basically the same as in the US at that time, so I have no clue how serious the propaganda was really taken by the broad populace. Mostly because basically all germans got amnesia in 1945, and couldn't remember their own role in those years anymore. Quote: Disagree, disagree, and disagree. - In what passes for my field (CS/IT) there are enormously more men than women. And I've seen some pretty ugly attitudes towards women from other men in the field. No, I can't provide empirical data, but it doesn't take a genius to think that these might be connected. Sounds like there are indeed extreme differences between our nations. I can't talk about CS, but Physics is also a field where there are few women (interested), but I have never seen myself, and never heard from my female colleagues, of any negative attitudes towards them. Still, the sample size of my personal experiences is rather small of course. Quote: - Not sure about law, medicine, or business, but good gods, have you seen the treatment women in politics get around here? Even wingnuts like Sarah Palin have to put up with misogynist halfwits. Also, dare I remind you of former president Bush's treating your Chancellor Merkel to an impromptu backrub? Are you suggesting that I base my conception of the american society on Bush's behaviour? I would rather not do that. I am already hard at work trying to balance the rubish I see in american media with the good experiences I have with personel experiences with americans. I am sure I will be shocked for the rest of my life by the fact that a person without any recognisable skills and an apparent IQ of 70 could survive the supposedly democratical process of a vote, but please don't tell me that I should consider him as a typical example of the american male. Quote: *NB: not to say that there are no cognitive differences on average between men and women. I just think it's absurd the way pop psychology amplifies them into "OMG men are vastly superior logical thinkers." Go ahead and say it. I have read a dozen or so studies on the question, and nobody ever managed to find an actual biological difference in the mental capabilities of men and women. Only acquired preferences.
-
Originally Posted By: Lilith Who said anything about political science? I was talking about politics, and surely it's hard to argue that you don't need social skills to succeed in politics. I find it rather trivial to argue that politics are rather unrelated to social skill, but I assume there may be a mistranslation from german to english at work here, let me try to clarify this. When I refer to social skill, I do not mean something like "Knows ho make friends" or "Can talk convincingly". I rather am talking about an analytical understanding of social interactions and structures, as you would use it in Pedagogy or Psychology. Those are not considered the core competency of a politician in general (unless he specializes in propaganda). Originally Posted By: Lilith And if your best evidence is that the proportion of German cabinet ministers who are women is only a bit less than 50% instead of much less... then things really aren't looking too good for your contention that men are discriminated against for positions requiring social skills, are they? See, that is a prime example of how you can change the meaning of an statement by incorrectly simplifying it. My Argument, jokingly as it was made, was that the rate of female ministers (37.5%) far exceeds the rate of female politicians applying for those positions (20%), not that it is too close to 50%. If we had a green government right now, the 37.5% would be an underrepresentation (which knowing the greens would not happen). But with the situation within the ruling party being as they are right now, a male member has a lower chance to become a minister than a female member of equal qualifications. No Idea if that is for publicity reasons, or due to personal reference of our chancellor, or just a statistical glitch though (16 samples aren't all that much).
-
Originally Posted By: Lilith Are men really kept out of fields involving social interaction, based on stereotypes about their gender? It seems that if this were true, you'd expect to see men have a hard time getting into fields such as politics, compared to women. Is this in fact the case? It seems to me that it isn't, which means your argument that men and women are harmed equally by gender stereotypes is based on a false equivalence. Political sciences are not generally considered to be a field related to language or social skills. It is also not generally considered a field of study that will help you get a job or any political power. It is probably a worse economical decision than philosophy. As far as studying something supporting a political career goes, Law seems to be your best bet. In germany the path to political power is very much connected to being an active part of an political party, ideally joining as a teenager in one of the dedicated youth-sections. This is done besides and independantly of your "normal" job. E.g. Gerhard Schröder had studied Law, while our current chancellor Angela Merkel holds a PhD in Quantum Chemistry. But as a side-note, with 6 out of 16 ministers of the current german government being women, man are seemingly getting a little bit discriminated there. Keeping in mind that the currently ruling CDU only consists to 20% of women, 3 out of 16 would seem more accurate.
-
A:EftP - Lord Chuckles...where did he go?
ShieTar replied to Samael's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
The second time I did this quest, I attacked him when I first found him, brought him down to about 1% or so HP, THEN talked to him. And finished him off in the first round afterwards. Hide and Seek is for Kids. -
A:EftP - Spider Special Encounter
ShieTar replied to Abdulla AlBinali's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
But I think all happen on the Peninsula on which the two Aranae lairs are, west of Fort Draco. -
Originally Posted By: Lilith This post suggests a misunderstanding of what patriarchy is. It's not primarily some kind of conscious conspiracy by men against women; rather, it's a system of social relations that tends to give power to men at the expense of women (or, more precisely, to men who live up to a particular ideal of masculinity at the expense of everyone else). It sounds like you do in fact agree that patriarchy exists; you were just under a misconception as to what it is in the first place. It really is, at its core, little more than the "set of ideas imprinted in a society" that you describe in the second paragraph I quoted. Mmh, fair enough. I didn't use a dictionary in this case but rather reverse-defined the term from the contexts in which I had hear it before, which were almost exclusively ultra-feminist in nature. Still, even with your definition, I can not by any means agree that germany is, or has been in the last few centuries, a patriarchical society as such. The ancient germanic concept of "The men are always hunting or at war, the women rules and controls the house" has never been significantly replaced by the mediterranean/christian concept of "submit to your husbands", outside of the greater noble families of course. And gender misconceptions as "Women are bad at math/technical things" do not so much work at keeping women out of occupation, as they are just mirrored by "Men are bad at language/social concepts" stereotypes that is used to keep men out of those fields. And they are not really specific to occupations that grant power, as there are really no prejeduices against women in law, medicine, politics or Business Administration. So, stupid gender roles and prejeduices and incorrect actions based on those, sure. But all in all, men don't seem to profit from it at the expense of women over here, rather than both men and women being restricted in their options.
-
Originally Posted By: Lilith Originally Posted By: ShieTar You might help the process by stopping to spread the idea of a "patriarchal culture" exiting somewhere in the western civilizations. Sexual harassment and discrimination are still absolutely rampant throughout society. This really is just not the kind of problem where you can ignore it and it'll go away. The existance of discrimination and the existance of a "patriarchal culture" are very different facts. Even though I personally have to disagree that discrimination is "rampant" in my society (germany), this may still be the case for you. In either case, I did not at any point deny the existance of discrimination. I am fully aware that there still exist more than enough cases. I am also quiet aware that in a lot of cases, the discrimination is ocurring against men, but that those men will have a hard time finding help, as admitting being discriminated as a man is still not considered socially acceptable. What I refuse to accept is thus the allegation that gender discrimination has been designed by men, with women as a whole being nothing more than the victim. There is no indication for this being the case, but rather the gender roles, once implemented, have been defended just as persistently by women as they have by men. Even these days, there are plenty of mothers who will actively pressure their daughters to choose raising a familiy as a fulltime occupation instead of their careers. Discrimination occurs generally due to a set of ideas imprinted in a society, ideas which generally have grown from generalizations and misunderstandings of reality, but have not been deviously designed by a group of people as a tool of suppression. Also, keep in mind that the "Women are no good at work" was created at a time when for most people, work began to mean "work in a mine" or "work in a steel factory", and that work had a tendency of crippling and slowly killing people. At this point in time this rules allowed women to generally outlive their husbands by 20 years or more. I have a little trouble to imagine that they were designed by men as a means to suppress women, and just backfired horribly. We just stuck to the rules long after they lost their original meaning, and jobs started including comfy office chairs.
-
Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity My qualifiers (now with bold added) were not just the usual academic reflex to hedge. The scale of the gender imbalance problem IS the gender imbalance problem. In psycho-sociological study you get points for squeezing out every last tiny nuance of possible cause, but to actually change things, you need a killer factor, a main driver, a first priority that will break the back of the job alone in itself. Is moral suasion against stereotypes really that factor in this case? In case of Lilith's analogy I am sure there are more relevant factors, but in the case of female professors in STEM fields, I do indeed believe it is . At least based on my own experiences I can not identify any other relevant factors. Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity The proportion of female scientists in STEM faculty is something around 15%, give or take about 5% depending on country and field and just how recent the data is. Let's look at the numbers in a little more detail. I will use numbers from germany, as I know how to find them easily, of course the situation may differ significantly in other countries. The proportion of female graduate students as well as PhD in Math and Nature Sciences is at around 45%. The proportion of women working in post-doc positions is then immediatly below 30%. Finally, 24% of all applications for tenure are by women, and 27% of positions are granted to women (So, obviously no discrimination in this process). The difference between these 27% and the 15% to 20% of women in the current postions is due to lag, as some of the current professors got their position almost 30 years ago, the ratio in this group is relatively close to 0% still. Now, there is no indication of women being discouraged or downright discriminated in the process at any point before they achieve their PhD, there is no increased failure or abandoning rate of female graduate or PhD students as compared to their male counterparts. There is also no increased failure rate of women who do apply for tenure. Based on these facts, I would be really surprised if there is much discrimination in place in the process of hiring postdocs, which is done by the same persons that also judge PhD work and sit in tenure commitees. That only leaves the conclussion that young women are less likely to apply for a post-doc position after achieving their PhD. A minor contribution to this may come from the fact that you achieve your PhD at about 30 years of age, which is generally considered a good age to start a family these days (in germany). But the major contribution I think is that everybody makes the trade-off between the academical and the industry careers after getting their PhD. And even for men, Industry is winning in 2 out of 3 cases due to significantly higher salaries. Now if you look for a reason why women should prefer the industry more often than men, I am sure that academias reputation of being an "old boys club" will appear as a big "CON" bullet in the trade-off lists of most women. Thus it is my belief, as stated, that all we have to do to increase the number of women in tenure in STEM fields is change the prevalent communicated statistic from the current "Only 20% of professors are female" to the equally accurate but more positive "Female and male applicants for a tenured position have indeed exactly the same chance to get the position."
-
Originally Posted By: Goldenking You might help the process by stopping to spread the idea of a "patriarchal culture" exiting somewhere in the western civilizations.
-
Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I don't believe there are too many black people out committing crimes just because they themselves believe the stereotype. You make it sound silly, but maybe you should not dismiss it so easily. There have been several studies about self-fulfilling prejeduices lately, and all of them show that there is no need to actively believe a stereotype in order to be effected by it. As an example, one study did car driving tests with three groups of people. The first group consisted of men , the second of women, and both these groups achieved basically the same results in the driving test. The third group also consisted of women, but this group was taken aside for an hour before the test to discuss with the scientist the old "Women can't drive" stereotype. Most of the women strongly disagreed with the stereotype, either correctly dismissing any diference between the genders or proposing that women actually drive better. Still, in the test that followed this discussion, these women scored significantly worse than any of the first two groups. Even more fundamental are the "Women are more romantic" and "Men are more sex-driven" stereotypes which we invented in the 16th or 17th century. I don't know about you, but I personally knew several teenagers while I grew up who were downright comically commited to believe in and comply to these stereotypes. Now, you are obviously correct to assume that nobody will be driven to comit a crime just because of a stereotype. But they may very well fail to resist the temptation to break the law for economical reasons if the feel that society expects them to be predispositioned for crime. The main drive for a person not to commit a crime she would profit from is the instinctive fear of alienating herself from her social group. This is why laws like those against the consumption of Alcohol in the last century in the US, or against breaking copyright protections these days, or just against speeding and false parking with your car are generally quiet ineffective. As there is in most cases no expected social impact of breaking any of those laws, people will find ways to justify breaking them, even with no existentially driving need to do so. Now if a black person does grow up as a part of a black minority in a region of the world in which there are negative prejeduices about her being innately criminal, her fear of risking her social standing by commiting a crime is greatly reduced. In general, every persons actions are impacted by societies (real or perceived) expectations in them, and thus as a society we can indeed impact reality if we somehow get people to forget their negative stereotypes.
-
A-EftP - Avernum Android?
ShieTar replied to bushmins's topic in Avernum Trilogy (2011-2018 remake versions)
I read for tablets it is about 55% Apple and 40% Android by now (Or end of 2011). That's global, in Germany and the UK Android probably has the lead by now, in France and the US Apple tends to be stronger. Considering also the steep rise in overall sales over the last year it is safe to assume that there are now about twice as many android tablets than there were iPads one year ago (when SW released Avadon for the iPad). Also considering the fact that there are basically no other relevant RPGs for Android, I would not be surprised if absolute sales on Android would exceed those on Windows, where there is much more competition. -
Sure we have antigravity tech. That's how we keep string puppets from falling down ;-)
-
Did a search couldn't find anything relevant
ShieTar replied to whitknight26's topic in Avadon Series
That doesn't have to mean anything, there are merchants in Avernum selling Crystals that are good for nothing, too.
