No. Do you think that would make a difference? I would assume that would only affect the cells in your eye that detect the difference between wavelengths of light, not the ones that detect changes in light intensity. Unless it's one of those things where you become more attuned to other kinds of visual input to make up for the lost data.

I've never seen that in person, but I'm somebody else.

I always wonder if I'm especially sensitive to the flickering on those lights or if the ones that annoy me are all defective in some way that makes the flickering more noticeable. I hate them.

My favorite is "I wish to have everything I could ever need"

I can't think of any, but I'm curious to see one now. Just some extremely skilled people pulling off the heist exactly as planned with no big twist surprises. There's something satisfying about watching people in their element being super competent at what they do.

Do you feel like all fiction is inherently duplicitous, just to a greater or lesser degree? It's all completely fake, of course. But I think that a work of fiction that claims to be a true story is not "more fake", but fake in a different way (vs a work of fiction that is up-front about being purely imaginary.)

Like, if James Cameron claimed that Titanic was based on the true romantic story of two real passengers on the Titanic, that's clearly not the same thing as making up a story about two fictional people on the Titanic.

People crave context. The quote can stand on its own, but people want to know more, and then their curiosity will lead them to find out it's fake. And it's got to be a little less motivational to be reminded that people are so willing to take shortcuts, tell little falsehoods, borrow cultural stereotypes to prop up their own invented proverbs etc. It's impossible to share the story without the context coming along for the ride.

Gato Gateau

Indeed. I pity all fantasy fans who also know a lot about horses.

Have you seen the movie Stranger Than Fiction? They talk about that important phrase "little did he know"...

It's one of those magic tricks for a writer, where if they can convincingly describe something that the reader knows to be real, it lends extra credibility to the parts where they describe things that only exist in imagination.

There's something nostalgic about a good Dramatis Personae section in a fantasy novel.

I think there's a certain literary qualitiy to the "for want of a nail" view of historical events, where seemingly insignificant things have disproportionate effects on the world. But those events only stand out because they're ironically unexpected. Wars start because of tectonically sized movements of economies and political factions so vast that one single bullet could only make them flinch a little, but that doesn't make as memorable a story.

The headline makes me feel the same way as if I'd read "Here's how I managed to save thousands of dollars on my weekly grocery bill."

Innocent poisson

The immediate loss of momentum when they land is the part that feels uncanny. Especially when combined with the feather-light roll down the initial slope, it feels like the density and friction of the balls is constantly changing.

Luck, wealth and persistence are all wrapped up together. The odds of success on your first try are slim. If you want to be "lucky" you need to take as many opportunities as you can despite failing. And having wealth to cushion the fall when you fail means life won't force you to stop taking chances.

Janet's a little confused, but she'll get you Eleanor Shelstrop's files soon

I was thinking "handwich" but I'm kinda basic like that :)

I think the first one I read was Inside Job and it was hilarious