Mister E Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes sounds like "Frredom from choice" type arguments I am imagining a state than which no freer state can be imagined. Say there are no laws at all... just limitless freedom. In this state, everyone does whatever they want. Or rather, as long as it doesn't limit freedom, everyone does whatever they want. For if people limit freedom by doing whatever they want, I am imagining a still freer state... an identical state which was freer in that (though anyone can do whatever they want) there is no negative effect on freedom. It is this freest of all states which I am imagining, rather than the ersatz free state which leaves lingering discontent on its conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I didn't say it was good. I was just saying it'd be freer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I am imagining a state than which no freer state can be imagined. Say there are no laws at all... just limitless freedom. In this state, everyone does whatever they want. Or rather, as long as it doesn't limit freedom, everyone does whatever they want. For if people limit freedom by doing whatever they want, I am imagining a still freer state... an identical state which was freer in that (though anyone can do whatever they want) there is no negative effect on freedom. It is this freest of all states which I am imagining, rather than the ersatz free state which leaves lingering discontent on its conclusion. Ah - so like .... say, Somalia? I didn't say it was good. I was just saying it'd be freer Yep, that's a pretty free state - you can do whatever you can get away with. But it's more or less the diametric opposite of good. OK, I know that's not what you meant, but in reality, it is literally impossible to have a state where everyone has complete freedom - unless there is only one citizen. As soon as you have two or more, you reach a point where there will be conflict over certain choices of action. The point of having a state (and laws) is to try to minimize that lingering discontent - and as far as I can see, that part's still a work in progress. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Ah - so like .... say, Somalia? Somalia... Nebraska... Cimmeria... Jotunheim... Anaheim... Bartertown... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Insupportable premises: how about physics? I am not talking about high level physics I am talking basic laws of physics. If super dense/heavy guy jumps off a building to catch someone who just fell he will never catch up to the falling person regardless of the relative weights. Yeah, not on a building height scale. It'll happen at skydiving height though. It always surprises me how many people think that "terminal velocity" is some sort of universal constant, and that a crashing fighter jet falls to earth no faster than a human body, and totally without regard to parachutes, feathers, and dandelion seeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I left comic book physics off the list because it's just something you have to accept in order to enjoy the genre at all. Kinda like magic and dragons in a fantasy campaign--every effort to "explain" it scientifically just comes off a bit lame, imo. So long as there's relative consistency(i.e, most of the time the physics of the comic book universe works this way), I'm ok with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Insupportable premises: how about physics? I am not talking about high level physics I am talking basic laws of physics. If super dense/heavy guy jumps off a building to catch someone who just fell he will never catch up to the falling person regardless of the relative weights. Never actually seen that in comics. The guys who jump off buildings to catch people usually can fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimera 12 Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Never actually seen that in comics. The guys who jump off buildings to catch people usually can fly. Of course, the impact of the catch should still do some noticeable damage provided the falling person has had time to pick up some speed. It's not as though there was anything about the ground that made landing hard specifically on it magically dangerous, after all -- it's all in the abrupt deceleration. Oops. I'll shut up now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
input.jack Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Ill bet you that Spiderman is careful to catch people gently now. Like practicing egg tossing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes In real life, humans are able to withstand very high G forces for a second or more(25 gs for 1.1 second is the measured record), and extreme g forces for very brief duration(100 gs for a small fraction of a second). Rescuing a falling human who's travelling at 30m/second, and applying 15 g of deceleration, the stopping distance is about 3 meters/10 feet. At the extreme, applying 100 g of deceleration to stop a 60m/second fall, the stopping distance would be...60/1000= .06 seconds, squared, times 1000 x .5 = 2 meters. So, yes, Superman can catch Lois Lane safely, so long as he dips slightly when she falls into his arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Bruins Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes It probably helps that he has that "lifting objects by force of will when flying" thing going on, so all the stopping power isn't focused at the contact points and snapping her ribs and femurs like matchsticks. I don't think Tony Stark's hoochie du jour would be so lucky if caught by Iron Man after falling off a rooftop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes It probably helps that he has that "lifting objects by force of will when flying" thing going on' date=' so all the stopping power isn't focused at the contact points and snapping her ribs and femurs like matchsticks. I don't think Tony Stark's hoochie [i']du jour[/i] would be so lucky if caught by Iron Man after falling off a rooftop. Assuming he even bothered to catch her..... Heh. Tony's got along way to go before living down Civil War cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes It's cool, I just do a double take when anyone mentions my home state becuase you don't often hear it when you are out of state like me. Sorta like when you see a license plate from your home state and you look to see if you know the driver...which is improbable and kinda silly. No offense was really taken, Nebraska does have some very rural areas. I had this conversation: Other guy: "Where are you from?" Me: "California." Other guy: "Oh, do you know Me: Then again, I've also run into people I know when I was in a different country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Ill bet you that Spiderman is careful to catch people gently now. Like practicing egg tossing. He was actually. They specifically did a rescue the year afterward where he was careful not to just shoot webbing and stop the guy dead, but instead moved him in a swinging arc that would have still pulled some serious gs but no spine snapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Of course' date=' the impact of the [i']catch[/i] should still do some noticeable damage provided the falling person has had time to pick up some speed. It's not as though there was anything about the ground that made landing hard specifically on it magically dangerous, after all -- it's all in the abrupt deceleration. The guys I've seen do that fly down to do that and have a little time to decelerate before they hit concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Hawk Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I had this conversation: Other guy: "Where are you from?" Me: "California." Other guy: "Oh, do you know Me: Then again, I've also run into people I know when I was in a different country. Been there. People don't realize that it's over 100 miles to Los Angeles from San Diego. And 400 more to Sacramento/San Fransisco. No, I don't know anyone attending UC Bezerkly, it's 500 miles from here. Nor TUSC, that's over 100 miles. How about San Diego State, that's in the neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I had this conversation: Other guy: "Where are you from?" Me: "California." Other guy: "Oh, do you know Me: Seems to be an especially common thing for we Aussies when travelling overseas. Mention you are from Australia and the standard reaction in many countries is something like "I've got a cousin living in Melbourne. Perhaps you know him?...". Which gets hard to answer politely when in fact you hail from Sydney (the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry is older than Federation). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Hmm. I didn't make it clear. Friend from college was my friend from college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes there is a great scene where (I think) Green Goblin throws MJ off of the Brooklyn Bridge, Spidey flashes back to Gwen, then he thinks, I have thought about what I could do differently everyday of my life (Scene of about a thousand different webbings connecting to all different parts of MJ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister E Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes there is a great scene where (I think) Green Goblin throws MJ off of the Brooklyn Bridge' date=' Spidey flashes back to Gwen, then he thinks, I have thought about what I could do differently everyday of my life (Scene of about a thousand different webbings connecting to all different parts of MJ)[/quote'] Raunchy! I think I have that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes Hmm. I didn't make it clear. Friend from college was my friend from college. Yeah, the reason people keep doing that is because there's a real, if low, chance that they do, and it's really cool when they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Re: Top 10 Insupportable Premises in Comic Book Universes I had this conversation: Other guy: "Where are you from?" Me: "California." Other guy: "Oh, do you know Me: Then again, I've also run into people I know when I was in a different country. Hmm. I didn't make it clear. Friend from college was my friend from college. College Years = 4yrs spent in self induced "Altered State":drink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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