behemoth, meet the opposition

[mrglam]

Sadde doesn't seem quite able to focus on homework at the moment. He's fidgeting, and sometimes stares off into space for long periods of time before James has to snap him out of it.

Comments

[mrglam]

"We kept her for a couple of months, that's more than anyone's ever done. And I'm not totally sure how the law works there but I think this counts as her first strike."

[thinkering]

"True. Anyway. How about a mixed solution: we see if we're still together in a month, then we announce."

[mrglam]

"I mean, like I said, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to make us a complete secret, buuuuut yes I like that solution, we're totally gonna still be together in a month."

[thinkering]

"You're a precog now."

[mrglam]

"Nope, just insanely confident. Luckily you're here to take me down a few pegs."

[thinkering]

"I mean, I'm not planning to dump you, but one doesn't plan such things, maybe we have some fundamental incompatibility yet to be revealed."

[mrglam]

"Yeah, I guess. I think it's unnnnnlikely, but well, if I didn't I wouldn't have crushed on you in the first place! Probably."

[thinkering]

"Probably?"

[mrglam]

"I mean, there's also the possibility that I'm terribly bad at introspection and have been fooling myself all along, or something like that."

[thinkering]

"A common affliction, really. Or that one or both of us will undergo some significant personality change, seeing as we are both teenagers."

[mrglam]

"Exactly! But I can't condition on that, if I expected to change in any given particular way then I would already have. Modulo fooling myself."

[thinkering]

"Not necessarily. We work really high-stress occupations and even people who don't sometimes change in ways you wouldn't want to hurry up."

[mrglam]

"Like what?"

[thinkering]

"Like, if you determined that you were going to wind up with post-traumatic stress, this would be pretty significant as personal changes go but you wouldn't start imitating the symptoms in advance."

[mrglam]

"Oh. Fair enough. But I mean, if I expected that to happen then I would take actions to make it less likely, to the point that I no longer would."

[thinkering]

"Sure. But it normally happens unexpectedly, and not necessarily - evitably."

[mrglam]

"Yeah, but that's my whole point, I can't really act on unexpected changes to my personality. Or, really, predict the by-definition unpredictable changes and their consequences, amongst which potentially breaking up with you in a month."

[thinkering]

"They could be statistically predictable without being individually predictable, but it's certainly reasonable not to preemptively break up."

[mrglam]

"Right!"

[thinkering]

"I'm glad we're agreed on that. I'd feel awfully silly telling my dad 'yeah, about that, we broke up for statistical premonitions.'"

[mrglam]

He laughs. "I mean, if those statistical premonitions included 'huge fight, everyone's hurt, can't stand to see one another's face ever again, ninety-five percent confidence,' it might be a reasonable thing to say."

[thinkering]

"Lemme know when a precog that interested in our personal lives comes along."

[mrglam]

"Will do."

[thinkering]

"I've emailed my dad, by the way."

[mrglam]

"...that was fast."