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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2038 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 30, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Here's everything I read in January 2026, ordered from most to least interesting. I posted this on /r/slatestarcodex earlier, but figured the overlap between here and there is small enough that it would be of some value to post here as well.

You Will Not Have a Flat Floor: You can shim all you want and it still won't be flat.

Are joisted floors still a thing in the US? Here slab floors are much more common, even in wooden frame houses. Paging @ToaKraka

According to the US Census Bureau, of all single-family houses completed in year 2024:

Do you not add a mineral layer over the joists of the second floor in the US?

/images/17699581743749194.webp

For tile, specifically, you'll usually see some waterproof membrane or backing board, leveled with grout of self-leveling concrete, then using thinset to keep the tile attached, and the finally grout to interfere the gaps.

I don't think I've ever seen that used for carpet, hardwood, or linoleum, and at least in my neck of the woods tile is rare outside of restrooms and kitchens. Both my current house, last rental, and several of the other houses I'd looked at when in the market had joisted floors, though I was specifically looking for houses with a basement.

The Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction portray:

  • Joists

  • "Subflooring" of plywood

  • "Underlayment" of plywood, required for some finishes but not for others

  • Finish

A cursory Internet search indicates that the underlayment may alternatively be fiberboard, particleboard, etc.

No cement? I guess since you mostly use air for heating you don't need it.

A cursory search indicates that "self-leveling concrete" can be used as underlayment, but I guess it's much less common than plywood.

Never leave.

Nothing is certain. Maybe I'll become unable to tolerate the moderators. Maybe I'll fly to Australia to fuck a prostitute and get stabbed in an alley by a thug. Maybe my depression will get worse and I'll shoot myself in the head.

I'm just another random fake person on the Internet.

Well, some of these are a bit interesting. If you don't mind a few off-the-cuff takes--

Dating Roundup #9: Signals and Selection: "You're single because... [insert a bunch of reasons in a bulleted list format]".

These were interesting, obviously mostly well-known.

I do want to comment on the astrology thing though. I think I'd struggle to take a partner who used astrology as a means to talk about personality seriously. My view is that it's ludicrous, but moreso that it forces human personality into very silly boxes instead of using big-boy (girl?) words to actually talk about things in an organic manner. It suggests immaturity in emotional and social communication.

This tweet included in the essay was interesting to me:

Astrology is a vehicle women use to communicate indirectly. Why would it possibly make you annoyed?

That's actually a question that includes the answer -- the problem is that it's a way to communicate indirectly, and as the article says "super flexibly", without actually committing to making a statement. That's one of the worst traits in a partner, from my point of view.

This comment on the article was interesting:

A girl opens with "what's your sign", you tell her, and then you make up a story together about the relation between the two signs. There's no actual predictive power there, the signs are meaningless (she knows this, at least subconsciously), it's just a framework within which you can indirectly talk about how you'd fit together.

I love talking about values and hopes and dreams and goals. It's actually because I like talking about those things that I don't like astrology. I don't believe it's necessary or helpful to try to fit me, or you, into a star-sign box. If you're someone who likes to stay in a lot and is slow to trust someone, you can just say that. Have an adult conversation with me about who you are and who I am. I don't believe in "indirectly" communicating about "how we'd fit together," I believe in directly communicating it. I kind of want to make a joke on the "I don't consent" Jesus meme where the third player is "literally the observable universe." Don't bring galaxies into the bedroom, please!

I think tact is useful. But when I'm looking to share my life with someone, I want to know they can communicate about desires and preferences in a straightforward, clear, and reasonable manner. Astrology as an interest suggests a way of looking at life as a kind of following the wind, at the mercy of (literally) astronomical forces, and that leads me to believe someone is flighty and doesn't fully take responsibility for the outcomes of their own life.

I also disagree with this:

People underestimate how much relationships are built on that ability. To step into someone’s weird side hobby, their micro belief system, their little rituals, even when you do not share them. She might have astrology. Someone else has Dungeons & Dragons lore. Another person has fantasy football statistics. Your uncle has his grill.

"Dungeons and Dragons lore" or "fantasy football statistics" are generally not means by which people aim to understand themselves or their place in the social universe. The closest equivalent is actually if some guy tried asking his date about her DnD moral alignment -- I think most people would find that cringe. I'd be happy to listen to a date talk about her interest in makeup, or fashion, especially if she could forgive my ignorance -- but not astrology. It's just a different kind of a thing.

But what's most interesting to me is that the article ignores the biggest and actual reason you're single: the social people aren't available, and the available people aren't social, because they're on their phones scrolling TikTok because fewer and fewer people participate in voluntary social activity, especially after college. It's almost a meme how many times I've been told "I'm boring, sorry," by women whose hobbies included watching YouTube videos and eating dinner, alone, at home. I don't have any problem with that! But that's not exactly a social calendar that lends itself to meeting interesting people. If my girlfriend and I hadn't met each other at the right time, I'd probably be single too. And so would she.

That said, the main thing I have to say about astrology is I took an astronomy class in college for a natural sciences credit, and at the end of the course two girls had a short discussion in the class group chat, where they said:

This class was so hard [it wasn't], I thought when I signed up it was going to be astrology

BITCH ME TOO

I don't know why we're giving bachelor's degrees to people who can't distinguish between astrology and astronomy, but that's a different issue.

Alternative lifestyle choices work great - for alternative people: Pretty self-explanatory title. Alt lifestyles only really work for people on the fringes, and chances are you're not one of them. Examples include polyamory, drugs, sex-positive feminism, psychotherapy, gender transition, following your dreams, amateur pornography, and being a Linux user.

I'm a Linux user (btw), but I do have to admit I'm fringe.

Well, I guess I just had a couple thoughts as I actually selected what random neuron firings deserved being typed out. Anyway.

I do want to comment on the astrology thing though. I think I'd struggle to take a partner who used astrology as a means to talk about personality seriously. My view is that it's ludicrous, but moreso that it forces human personality into very silly boxes

People love boxes. I come from a culture with a much more pervasive background astrology radiation, so it might be hard for me to calibrate my assessment of what's going on in the US. What's the level you're talking about?

  • my date asks me for my birth sign or calculates it based on my birthday - a nothingburger, I'm a Sagittarius
  • I buy my GF a pendant with a stone that is compatible with her birth sign - wow, so thoughtful
  • my date calls her boss a typical Aries - as long as it helps her to put people into the right boxes, why not?
  • my date explains that she only trusts the horoscopes printed in The Daily Huntsman - a red flag, but is she hot?
  • my date explains she would never date a Pisces because of their duplicity - smile, nod, ghost
  • my date expresses befuddlement that I've never seen my natal chart and offers to construct me one for free, because she's a certified astrologist - smile, nod, ghost

What's wrong with a natal chart, other than that I don't know my exact hour of birth?

smiles, nods, ghosts you

A "certified X" offering to make you a Y for free reeks of someone trying to recruit you into an MLM.

Eh, regarding the practice of astrology in particular it doesn't give off that vibe for me. More like someone who's used to putting people in boxes for a living taking the opportunity to do so.

I could see it this way, if she wasn't certified (or at least wouldn't bring it up without prompting).

What is she gonna do, offer me to pay for another natal chart of me?

No, for your monthly horoscope.

And come to think of it, even if there's no money involved, it sounds like the kind of person that would use astrology to tell you what decisions you should make, and/or win arguments.

I don't know why we're giving bachelor's degrees to people who can't distinguish between astrology and astronomy, but that's a different issue.

Technically "we" (the universities) aren't giving bachelor's degrees to those people, they're selling bachelor's degrees to those people. For what can I gather be up to $20K tuition&fees/year * 4 years, you too might be more flexible regarding what sort of intellectual standards the clientele is expected to uphold...

It's almost a meme how many times I've been told "I'm boring, sorry," by women whose hobbies included watching YouTube videos and eating dinner, alone, at home.

Wait - are they calling you boring, or themselves? I've heard of a stereotype of some single women who badly want to be entertained despite being utterly unengaged themselves, but in the stereotype they're not self-aware about it.

I don't know why we're giving bachelor's degrees to people who can't distinguish between astrology and astronomy

When credentials weren't so important, efficiency made it seem sensible for teaching and student evaluation to be done by the same institution. Once credentials' importance skyrocketed, game theory concerns became paramount, but the mistake is now too ubiquitous to change.

I'm a Linux user (btw), but I do have to admit I'm fringe.

I use Windows and OSX too, but I do everything I can on Linux because I prefer the user interface.

Everybody who has an Android phone is technically a "Linux user". So it's about as much of an alternative lifestyle as driving a Honda Civic.

Desktop Linux (distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Gentoo, NixOS) and Android OSes are so fundamentally different that it's not very useful to describe both of those categories as being "Linux". Though I suspect @nomagicpill put "being a Linux user" on the list tongue-in-cheek.

The Linux quip was because of the post’s top comment saying the same thing :)

A long and wild list. You've read a lot, apparently.

I have a very long bookmark list and go through it in lieu of doomscrolling Twitter, Facebook, etc.

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