Credit to u/SpacePaladin15 for the NOP Universe.
Hey, I hope everyone's doing well!
Today we return to the namesake of this fic, an actual lesson about animals. This one focuses on Koalas! One of Australia's most recognisable critters. I hope you enjoy.
It's hardly worth mentioning, seeing as I'm an infrequent poster at the best of times, but I'll not have another chapter out for a few weeks due to limited free time and devoting most of my writing time to an upcoming ficnapping. Be sure to look out for that!
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Memory transcription subject: Rysel, Venlil Environmental Researcher
Date [Standardised human time]: 8th September 2136
“Koalas!”
Bernard’s energised voice boomed through the air as the classroom's monitor flickered into life, images of this paws lecture topic popping up one after the other until the entire screen was filled with a collage of furry quadrupeds.
Squee! I’ll never get tired of this, it’s all so cool!
As usual the sight of something new stirred immediate discussion, hushed murmurs swelling into vibrant discourse in little more than a heartbeat. Most of the class swiftly huddled together into small herds to bounce ideas around while the rest opted to stick to the solace of their own thoughts as they took in the display.
I’d be quite happy in either situation, though seeing as Sandi had already sunk into deep concentration and Kailo had peeled off to talk with Ennerif and Solenk, it seemed the decision had been made for me on this occasion. Wasting no more time on idle inspection of the people around me, I focused my full attention forward, eager to form first impressions before the lesson began in earnest.
Now then, time to make some educated guesses. What traits does this animal have? I wonder if I’ll get any right this paw?
Professional assumptions went paw-in-paw with the lectures, examining and coming up with hypotheses about the specimens was only natural. Recently however, I’d started to make a little game of it to make things even more interesting than usual. A veritable bonfire of ideas had been set ablaze within me, fueled by my newfound knowledge of Earthen wildlife. Every flash and spark of the flame was a fresh theory I could try to apply to the lectures. It was an invigorating exercise that further stoked my unceasing wonderment.
So far I’d only done this once during the previous class and, to my disappointment, I’d not done too well.
I was right when I guessed that chickens were omnivores, but wrong in my assumption that they could fly. And that red thing on their head, the um… what was it called? The comb! Yes, the comb. I thought that was to attract mates, but it regulates body heat instead. It’s fascinating. Oh! Stars damn it I’m rambling!
I bapped my tail against my leg, the soft thud being just enough to snap me back from my runaway thoughts before I went completely wall-eyed. I was becoming more and more accustomed to getting lost in my own head while remaining conscious of the fact; it was happening so frequently now that it was pretty much impossible not to. Now I was able to pull myself back to the world around me without having to rely on someone else shaking me out of it. Most of the time anyway.
Sandi still keeps an eye on me, and Kailo even decided to help out once without being too snide about it. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, Koalas.
Glancing at the furred animals, two things immediately stood out. Firstly, their eyes were in a more central position on their face. And second, all the images showed them being on or close to trees. There were other noteworthy observations of course, such as the Koala’s prominent nose and rounded features, but they fell to the wayside as I honed in on these points first.
Hmmm… ok. I already know to discount the idea that they’re predators just from eye position, so let’s get that thought out of here. Maybe omnivorous? Herbivore? Agh no, I can’t just guess that for the sake of guessing, that’s the same problem! Hrm, it’s tough making these assumptions now that everything I thought I knew has been turned on its head.
Nevermind, I’ll focus on the other thing. All the trees make me think they’re arboreal, that seems to be a reasonable assumption. I wonder what else they-
Clearing his throat, Bernard broke my concentration, his call for attention silencing the murmuring conversation and redirecting everyone's focus to the lecturer's podium.
His gaze panned across the room as he waited for everyone to settle, a beaming smile lighting up his face, “As ever I’m delighted to see you all get so into the subject matter from the get go. I’m looking forward to hearing what you were discussing should you wish to share. For now though, how about we get started, hm?”
A chorus of merry bleats rang out from across the audience, ears and tails flicking happily in agreement. Bernard's grin grew in tandem with the class's fervour, clasping his hands together enthusiastically as he launched into the lesson, “Excellent! Then let’s get started.”
The pictures on screen dissolved away until only one remained, enlarging to cover the entire monitor with the fluffy grey face of a Koala peacefully reclining in the crook of a tree.
“Ah, there we are,” Bernard’s baritone timbre drifted through the room as he looked up at the image, his own tone reflecting the relaxed attitude of the animal on screen, “He looks so comfortable doesn’t he? Perfectly at peace with the world, not too surprising considering they sleep almost 20 hours a day. A full paw!”
A wave of beeps and gasps rippled through the herd, punctuated by a single yawn-dressed comment from Rova, “A full paw? Hwuuu… jealous.”
Her drowsy remark elicited several whistling giggles from the herd, Bernard's own jovial chortle joining them as he turned to face her, “Late evening Rova?”
I twisted a little in my seat, panning an eye in Rova’s direction just in time to see her bleary eyes bulge open and her ears shoot up, now intensely aware of the fact she hadn’t been as quiet as she thought she had.
Sitting up abruptly, she hastily tapped down errant tufts of wool that’d flared in surprise as she composed herself, though her nervousness at becoming the centre of the class's attention was still plain for all to hear, “Uh- I um… achem, a little bit yes, um- …sorry. Lokki dragged me out to a movie viewing in the rec centre. It went on pretty late.”
A melodramatic bray from the other side of the room drew everyone's ears away from Rova to the now aghast Lokki, paw splayed across his chest in faux indignation, “Dragged you? Well excuse me for trying to broaden your horizons with human movies. That’ll be the list time I- …Ahaaaa…”
Lokki’s theatrics were cut short by a heavy yawn of his own, a swell of whistling laughter rolling through the herd as vibrant bloom lit up his snout, a sight that elicited a particularly amused bleat from Rova.
Turning away from the duo I looked back at Bernard, pleased to see that he was chuckling along with us. Behaviour like Lokki’s would never have been tolerated in my school and university days but, in stark contrast, Bernard revelled in it, the liveliness of his students fueling his own bombastic style of teaching. It was a pleasant change of pace having a teacher who let us all be ourselves in class; provided we weren’t too disruptive to the lesson plan.
Speaking of which.
His laughter still rumbling through the air, Bernard clapped his hands to pull everyone's focus back to him, “Ok, ok, let’s get back to it then shall we? Rova. Lokki. Hopefully the two of you can stay awake long enough until you can grab yourselves a coffee.”
As the class settled down and the last few giggling beeps petered out, Benard pointed a hand to the screen, “So, the Koala. Let’s start simple shall we? They are herbivorous marsupials native to the eastern and southern coasts of Australia. Easily recognised the world over, they are a well known and beloved symbol of their homeland, along with other animals such as the Kangaroo and the Emu. The former of which you might remember from one of our earlier lectures.”
Indeed I did remember, along with how angry Bernard had gotten after some speh-head had derided the Yotul after he explained how he held specific disdain for such attitudes.
Uuuggghh… I never want to see him angry again. So chilling.
I shook my ears in an effort to dismiss the unpleasant memory, panning my eyes back to the monitor to try and distract myself by inspecting the Koala’s physical appearance once more. Thankfully, by some Star's blessed intervention, Bernard had the exact same idea.
“Koala’s are rather squat in stature, ranging around sixty to eighty-five centimetres in length and weighing little more than fifteen to sixteen kilograms at their full size. As you can see, the fur of this fellow before you is a lovely silvery grey, but their fur can also sport a chocolaty brown hue as well. Arguably the most distinctive part of their appearance is their head, being rather large for their body size and having rounded ears, a large nose, and a pair of small eyes. These are often brown but variations do occur.”
It didn’t slip past my notice that Bernard didn’t bother to point out that the Koala’s eyes were forward facing. I didn’t think he’d simply forgotten, so perhaps he just felt it wasn’t necessary given that he’d already stated it was herbivorous. Either way, no one stuck up a paw or tail to question him.
“Now this will hardly be surprising considering how long they sleep, but Koala’s are largely sedentary and it’s rather easy to see why when you have a look into the contents of their diet.”
With the press of a button the Koala on screen was replaced by images of vibrant green vegetation. Soaring trees and flowering shrubbery weaved together across landscape framed pictures pulled admiring trills from the herd, the diversity of the plant life being shown standing as a reminder that it wasn’t only animal life that flourished on Earth.
After giving everyone the chance to take in the picturesque scenes, Bernard casually hammered that point home, “This is eucalyptus or, more accurately, a choice selection of more than 700 plants belonging to the eucalyptus genus, though the Koala itself favours 30 of them in particular.”
700!? Stars…
Realising that my ears had drooped in my momentary awe, I twisted them back to tune into the lesson, only for them to splay out in shock at the next words to come out of Bernard's mouth.
“The leaves of these plants are the primary food source of the Koala and there are a couple things worth mentioning when talking about these plants. For starters they do not have much nutritional or caloric value, leading to the Koala’s low-energy lifestyle. Additionally, they contain toxic compounds.”
A shiver instantly ran through the herd, ears flicking rapidly in confusion and alarm followed by a few quizzical whispers. It didn’t take long for someone to decide to give a proper voice to the murmuring.
“Excuse me Doctor. Did we hear that right? Their diet is made up of toxic flora?” Vlek’s grumbling incredulity cut through the herd's mutterings with ease. Until Kailo’s recent change of heart, the fifty something rotation old blonde Venlil had been a close second in terms of scepticism. Mercifully his rebuttals had always been relevant questions as opposed to ranting diatribes, so he at least remained on topic if nothing else.
Bernard nodded in confirmation, smiling back at Vlek while absentmindedly twirling the end of his moustache, “You heard me right, they do indeed consume plants that are toxic. Just not to them.”
Any worry or uncertainty still clinging to the herd was swept away by the provision of the glaringly obvious answer, leaving me chuckling inwardly at the oversight.
Ah of course! The plant might be poisonous but they’ll have evolved to deal with that. Stars… I’m so used to expecting the unexpected with Earth that I didn’t even consider the simplest solution.
“I see, thank you Doctor,” Vlek replied, a tinge of interest still audible in his tone, “I assume they’ve developed some adaptation to become immune to the harmful effects?”
The question immediately evoked a smirk from our teacher, but he hurriedly suppressed it while bobbing his head, “They have indeed. There are several factors that aid in their digestion of eucalyptus leaves without succumbing to the plant's baleful properties. The first is a part of the intestinal tract called the cecum. It contains a microbiome that allows the Koala to digest the eucalyptus. Coupled with this is an enzyme in the Koala’s liver that helps them break down the toxins. They are also capable of sniffing out the plants with the least amount of toxins, ensuring that they ingest as little as possible.”
Pausing for a breath Bernard looked back at the screen before turning to face us, another grin curling at the edges of his mouth as he continued with his explanation, “This is mostly for adult Koala’s, because while their young also possess these same adaptations, they don’t just go straight to munching through foliage right after being born. No, they need a little help making that jump and getting a stomach full of all that good gut bacteria. It’s nothing bad, but those of a sensitive stomach may wish to prepare themselves for this next part.”
Bernard’s assurances did little to assuage the concern that his warning had foisted upon us. Having been exposed to so much of the weirdness Earth had to offer everyone always ended up on edge whenever Bernard gave advice like this, even if he did say it in jest.
What strange nonsense thing do Koala pups do then? Judging by the way he’s acting it probably isn’t something as simple as drinking milk from the mother. Hmmm…
“So,” Bernard began, snapping us from our pensive stupor, “Young Koala’s, known as joeys, have a gestation period of thirty-five days on average, which is approximately forty-two paws. Once born they travel from the birth canal to a pouch in their mother so that they can continue to develop and grow. In the pouch the joey finds and latches onto one of two teats and these provide the newborn with a steady stream of nourishing milk. It spends the next six to seven months growing in the pouch, its eyes, ears, and fur all developing as time goes on.”
Okay, interesting. But this is exactly how I thought it’d go. What’s different?
The unexpected normalcy of the Koala’s birth and growth cycle had calmed everyone's nerves, only to be replaced with an air of suspicion as we waited with rapt attention for Bernard to drop the other claw and upend our expectations like he always did.
Not wanting to keep us in further suspense he forged ahead, the tempo of his voice picking up as the smile started to crease his face once more, “Now to make the switch from milk to eucalyptus, the mother also feeds the joey a substance called pap. It comes from the cecum I mentioned earlier, and contains all the gut bacteria required to help the young Koala in making the switch to eucalyptus.”
He stopped and looked around, searching us for a reaction to what I felt was a rather bland statement of fact. What was it he was saying without actually saying? Koala pups drink milk to mature and then include this pap substance so that they can start eating plants. I don’t see what-
The cecum is part of the intestine.
I blinked.
I blinked again, the intrusive interruption scouring my brain clean of any other thought bar the one it’d just implanted itself in the forefront of my mind.
Oh stars. They-
“They eat their own poop!?”
The shocked bleat shattered the peace of the room to reveal that most if not all of us had come to the same tail curling conclusion. As the hall filled with unrestrained vocalisations of disgust, an ‘Ugh’ over here and a ‘Blegh’ over there, Bernard’s own bellowing laughter joined the throng of voices.
“Ha! Everytime! Each and every time. Clearly it doesn’t matter if my students are Human or Venlil. Whenever someone learns about the Koala’s dietary development the reaction is the same!”
Pleased with himself beyond reason, Bernard chuckled away while the rest of us grappled with this ghastly reality. While there were plenty of animals that feasted on things that ranged from simply unappealing all the way to the stomach churningly grotesque, I’d never heard of an animal that actively consumed the excrement of its own species. Benefits aside, the prospect of having to do that to survive to adulthood sent a shiver of revulsion down my spine.
Ewww… Stars, I hope I forget this feeling by 2nd meal. They’re serving sturen and magamroot stew later. I was really looking forward to it.
With the herds mood beginning to temper Bernard tapped the podiums controls, removing the verdant collage of eucalyptus to display several similar yet distinct environments, still chortling merrily to himself in the process, “Ok then, with that little foray into their diet complete, why don’t we look at their habitat in more detail? As you might imagine given their diet and arboreal nature, Koala’s live in forested regions, and can be found in tropical and temperate zones. About a century ago they were classed as a vulnerable species, however efforts were made to turn this around and increase their numbers. Sadly the largest factor in their decline was human activity, as the fertile lands that gave rise to their bountiful forests were coveted farm land for our settlements.”
It was strange to hear Bernard so matter of factly admit to humanity's negative impacts on other species. He’d alluded to such things in the past but always with an air of caution, carefully pawing the line between honestly answering a question while not painting humanity as uncaring and destructive. AKA, the ‘predators’ we’d all initially expected them to be.
Perhaps his comfort in making such admissions was a reflection of the class's comfort with him, for no one so much as batted an ear. Even Kailo, who I would’ve expected to jump at the chance to use this as a prime example of predatory danger, only flicked an ear in stern yet silent concern.
A cough from Bernard drew my attention back, a new picture on screen that showed a forest from a bird's-eye view. Drawn across the image were around a dozen ringed areas, some bordering one another while others overlapped to some degree. It took me a moment, but I soon recognised that what I was looking at was a map, the rings representing what I assumed to be territories. And it didn’t take much effort to guess who each one belonged to.
“From habitats we move onto behaviours, so let’s start with territories. Koala’s are solitary animals. Yes, despite being herbivores. Considering they’re only awake for roughly four hours of the day I can hardly blame them. Lots to do and not a lot of time to do it. Jokes aside, once they mature they are quite independent, carving out a little slice of land for themselves, as displayed in this example, called a Home Range. That is not to say they go it alone and leave everything else behind however. Rather, as shown in the map behind me, they live in their own space while still being part of a larger social group.”
With another press of his pad the picture was updated to show one of two symbols in each segment, along with a key to the side of the map displayed in helpful Venlang. A quick glance told me that the symbols were representing whether the territory belonged to a male or female of the species.
“As you can see there is quite a bit of overlap between different Koala’s territories. It is in these areas that most of the socialising takes place between neighbours. The trees in these locations represent the few areas where intrusion across territories is acceptable for the sake of social interaction. Outside of that the Koala’s stick to their own territories for the most part, with the exceptions of Koala’s who are passing through, attempting to become part of the social group themselves, or dominant males who sometimes go off into another Koala’s range. But how do they know where one range begins and another range ends you might ask? Well, this brings us onto the next part of the lecture. How do Koala’s communicate?”
Wiping away the map from the monitor, Bernard loaded up a video of a Koala sitting in a tree and pressed play. Head held high, the Koala’s body shook as it belted out a reverberating call into the wilderness that could only be described as a garbled combination of a car engine failing to turn over mixed with the hiccups of someone with a particularly sore throat.
That’s how they sound? Oof that must be rough on the lungs.
I clearly wasn’t the only one to share such a thought, because I clocked Sandi tracing a paw along her neck as the noise went on, ears fluttering in discomfort at the noise.
Bernard himself cleared his own throat as the video came to an end, minimising it and replacing it with another image of a tree with a Koala rubbing up against the bark, “I think they’ve got me beat on who’s got the deeper voice!”
His joke garnered several amused beeps, a rare reaction that caused a beaming smile to shine across his face at lighting speed, “Oh you’re too kind. I’ll be here all week. Now where were we? Oh yes! Communication. As you’ve just heard, Koala’s are capable of loud low pitched bellows that can carry over vast distances. These express everything from ‘Hello I’m over here’ to ‘This is my turf, stay away’. Bellowing is more common in the males than the females, opting for shouting matches as opposed to outright fights when it comes to asserting dominance. Other vocal expressions include grunts, wails, and snarls if they’re acting particularly angsty. Mother and joey pairs also communicate through gentle clicking, squeaking, and murmuring sounds. And there’s one more thing worth mentioning. Something they have in common with Humans and Venlil when it comes to emoting.”
Really? They do something we do?
Curious, I pressed myself against the desk, straining as close as I could to once more scrutinise the Koala’s features. Not a lot stood out to me at first, the grey marsupial not sharing many similarities with a Venlil that I could identify.
Ok think. We show emotion with our ears, tails, and our wool on occasion. They don’t have tails so it’s obviously not that. Wool standing on end is more a reaction than a conscious expression. So it must be the ears then.
To my quiet satisfaction, my hunch was soon validated by Bernard, “As well as their vocalisations, Koala’s are very emotive through their facial features. Just like humans, they use their mouths and lips to show how they feel, but these tend more towards the aggressive side of the scale than what you might see on a human. Regarding yourselves however, Koala’s utilise their ears in tandem with their mouth movements when showing strong emotion.”
I was delighted to hear that my assumption was correct, a little happy flick twisting out through my tail and bapping against my chair with a muted thump against the plastic.
Hehe yes! Got one right!
“Now then, we are getting close to lunchtime so I’ll finish this segment off with something I think you’ll find particularly interesting. Diplomacy.”
Perplexed mutterings followed in the wake of the bizarre inclusion to the lecture, my own thoughts being dominated by bewilderment as I tried and failed to make sense of how the two could possibly be related.
Why would Koala’s, or any animal for that matter, be linked to diplomacy? Hmmm...
I could understand dispatching exterminators to deal with a predator issue as a show of goodwill, that at least includes animals, but Humans aren’t like that so I think I can safely scratch that off the list.
Maybe the humans who live in that region benefited from Koala’s in some way. Could they have gotten something from them? But what?
Hopefully not what the pups get from their mothers.
Agh no! Begone awful intrusive thoughts. Blegh! I don’t need that in my head.
As I wrestled with the short-lived revulsion inflicted upon me by my Star's damned subconscious, Bernard placed a new image on screen, one that was decidedly different from all that had preceded it.
On screen were more than a couple dozen pictures of humans. Some were pictured alone while others congregated in large groups while cameras surrounded them from all angles. Across all the images, I noted two common themes. First of all, a solid majority of the humans were wearing formal wear similar to what I’d seen worn by UN representatives on TV. If the gaggle of journalists in the background of the photos didn’t already confirm my suspicions, then it was this similarity which made me conclude they were all people of some importance. Likely politicians judging from context clues.
Secondly, each of the individuals was interacting with a Koala in some form. Some cradled one against their chests while others were feeding it eucalyptus leaves or pellets of some kind. One of the assumed politicians had become an impromptu bed for a snoozing bundle of fur, a gleeful smile spread across their face as they lovingly gazed down at the sleeping Koala in their lap.
As I continued to stare at the assorted photos something clicked into place, a sudden spark flickering into life. A burgeoning light of comprehension that flared and swelled with every wide-eyed breath I took. Some things still escaped me, things I hoped would soon be explained, but in staring at all of the humans happy smiling faces, I was struck with an instant of pure understanding.
If someone, say a Nevok for instance, offered to gift me a creature that was common to them but which might exotic and breathtaking to a Venlil, how could my feelings not be swayed? How could I walk away from that encounter and not have grown closer to them as a result?
“Koala diplomacy,” Bernard waved his hand up at the monitor, a slight reverence in his tone, “My favourite kind of soft power diplomacy. Where political leaders take photo ops with Koala’s and, on occasion, the Australian government loans Koala’s to other nations for a time to bolster positive relations. It certainly helps that Koala’s are a beloved animal worldwide, drawing large crowds and revenue for countries fortunate enough to host the adorable critters.”
The truly alien concept predictably sparked instant discussion in the herd, two polar opposite schools of thought swiftly cementing themselves as the most popular opinions. Simultaneously, I heard one voice trill excitedly while another scoffed at what they clearly saw as a ridiculous and offensive notion.
“Squee! That’d be so cool! I’d love to get the chance to see a Liri from Coila. Remember the Rainbow Boa? Think of that shimmering effect and colour but put it on a bird! Ah! I’ve only heard their song on video. It’d be a treat to hear it in person!”
Ooo! I’ve read about them! I’d love to get up close to one.
“Loaning. As if animals are property to be hoarded and traded? Pugh! Another predatory trait the humans don’t want to acknowledge for what it is.”
Ugh, typical. Jump right to the worst possible option.
However, despite my dismissal of their disparaging fumings, an uncomfortable thought pressed upon my mind. While it was plain to see how much humans cared for the Koala, it didn’t change the fact that humans did keep animals as property just as the scornful herd member had said.
This begged a rather important, disquieting question. Aside from keeping some animals as cattle, a stomach tightening minefield I had no desire to step a claw onto right now, how else did humans keep other creatures. And how did they treat them?
Before I was fully conscious of doing it my paw was in the air, the question primed on my tongue.
Noticing my elevated paw Bernard pointed at me, smiling warmly, “Yes Rysel? What’s on your mind?”
Sorry Bernard. I hope this one’s not too awkward for you to answer.
Flicking my ear in appreciation, and waiting for everyone to settle enough so that I could be heard, I voiced my concerns as neutrally as possible, “Thank you Doctor. I uh, just had a thought. We know that humans keep certain animals for… particular reasons, and we know why. From how you’ve spoken about Koala’s I think it's fair to say that the same cannot be said for them. However, this makes me wonder, what other reasons do humans have for keeping animals and how do you treat them?”
A flash of surprise blinked across Bernard's eyes but vanished so quickly that it felt like I’d imagined it. Had he not expected such a question? Maybe he was just shocked that it’d been me who’d ended up asking it?
Stars, am I so predictable that no one expects me to ask difficult questions?
Unfortunately, a quick glance at my deskmates seemed to prove that to be the case, as both Sandi and Kailo were looking at me with differing degrees of astonishment flapping in their ears.
Well speh.
“A very good point Rysel, certainly one that’s worth raising. Yet another example of you all anticipating what I have to say before I can bring it up myself.” Bernard tapped the podium, switching off the monitor before returning his focus to me, “We won’t be needing that. I’ve nothing prepared that I can show you and we’re heading to lunch in a few minutes anyway. Still, that’s plenty of time to give you a bit of an answer.”
A bit? What does he mean just a bit?
Made even more curious by Bernard's preempted admission that he wasn’t going to fully answer my query, I dialled both my ears on him, fixing him with an inquisitive stare as he started to explain with a tone that was noticeably more nonchalant than any of his previous explanations.
“So, animals in captivity for reasons other than what you already know. Honestly I would love to delve into other reasons regarding why we keep animals. However, I have a lesson plan in the works that I hope to share with you all in the not too distant future. Some of it touches upon this very topic and I’d quite like to bundle it all together. That said, I can tell you how animals in captivity are treated. In short, the answer is very well. There are a mountain of laws both on private and public interests that govern the standards and ethical treatment of animals, and breaches of these laws are quite severe even for relatively minor infractions.”
While I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed by the vague answer to what was really the bulk of my question, I was at least satisfied by Bernard’s assurances that animals in captivity, such as the Koala, were well looked after. Considering the barely subdued grumbling coming from some corners of the audience it was clear that several of the herd didn’t believe Bernard outright, but I trusted him to be honest. Additionally, the mention of an upcoming lecture focused on humans keeping animals caused quite the buzz.
I felt a mix of excitement and trepidation at exploring the topic further. He’d pretty much confirmed we wouldn’t be talking about cattle farms, for which I was relieved, but that still left a huge amount of uncertainty in what was to come.
Humans keeping animals as cattle was a forgone conclusion. As horrifying as that reality was, it was one I could understand from a detached and strictly clinical point of view. Being predators they ate meat and therefore they kept cattle. But the concept of keeping animals for any other reason baffled me.
What could be the purpose? The diplomacy thing makes sense now that I have context, but what other reasons could they have.
The class's discussions were interrupted by the recognisable ring of the break bell, the shift in attention eliciting a change in conversation from confused hypotheses to peppy conversation on how everyone was planning to spend their break and what they had in mind for 2nd meal.
“Well I can see everyone’s excited for lunch, and who am I to disappoint,” chuckling Bernard waved us all up from our seats, pocketing his pad from the podium and heading to open the classroom door for us, “Enjoy your break, get a good rest along with a hearty meal, and I’ll see you all back here at the usual time.”
As everyone else filed out I stayed behind, waving at Sandi and Kailo as they left, and pawing over to Bernard once he and I were the only ones left in the room.
Ears folded down and with an apologetic tinge in my voice I greeted him as I sidled up to him, “Hey Bernard, I uh… sorry if that last question was unexpected.”
Chortling in reply, Bernard waved a hand through the air in a sign I’d come to understand meant ‘not a problem’.
“No need to apologise Rysel. It was a good question and most certainly not a problem.”
Heh, called it.
I sighed, allowing tension I didn’t realise I’d been holding to relax itself from my shoulders, “Phew, that’s a relief. I’m glad. I’m curious to hear what this new lesson is you’ve got in store for us by the way.”
Bernard wagged a finger at me, throwing up his eyebrows in mock amazement, “Oh are you now? Well I’m afraid you’ll have to remain curious for the time being. It’s going to be quite the surprise if all goes to plan. But…”
He trailed off, glancing at me before looking to the door like he was making sure no one else was around.
Wait, is he going to tell me? Oh please yes let me know now!
Stopping myself from jumping on the spot in excited anticipation, and trying my damndest to stop my tail from wagging in equal measure, I stared up at Bernard as he stewed in his thoughts before turning back to face me.
“I can’t tell you the specifics, but I’m working with Alejandro and Tolim to get something together. A trip that’s not a trip as it were. And when it happens, I’m going to need a few of the more accepting members of the class to lend me a hand. I’m hoping you and a couple others will be able to help with that?”
A trip that’s not a trip? What does that mean? Agh who cares about that right now! Bernard’s relying on me to help out!
Still trying not to keep myself from bouncing around with pup like glee I swished my tail and nodded my head in joint agreement, happy to help with whatever Bernard had in store for us, “Of course! Anything you need I’ll be there to lend a paw. You can count on me!”
A broad warm smile lit up Bernard's face, a hand patting me on the shoulder in appreciation, “Thank you Rysel. I knew I could rely on you but it still warms my heart to hear it. And, as thanks for this and for the many times you’ve shown your support, the surprise includes a little something special I think you’d appreciate the most.”
If my earlier enthusiasm had been at a nine, then the implication of a supposed gift sent it rocketing all the way to a hundred in a heartbeat.
“Wait… WHAT!? What do you mean? What are you doing?”
As impossible as it seemed, Bernard's grin grew even wider as I almost lost myself in wool shaking exhilaration, “Call it my own form of Koala diplomacy. But I’m afraid that’s all I can say for now. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise even for you!”
“Oh you ass!” Whistling jovially I bapped my tail against Bernard’s leg in fake indignation, evoking a barking bellowing laugh from the man himself.
Still laughing, the two of us departed the class and made for the canteen, my rumbling stomach leading me on while my mind spun with fantastical thoughts as to what Bernard had prepared for us.
And what specifically he had in store for me.

VERSES AI ($VERS), a cognitive computing company, is continuing to make big strides in AI. They’ve introduced a research roadmap that outlines the key milestones and benchmarks. This roadmap could revolutionize the development of AI by providing clear goals to measure the progress and importance of $VER's research and development endeavors.
The company plans to use this roadmap this year to monitor its AI progress. Basically, it wants to check whether its approach can be as good as or better than advanced AI models on various industry tests, all while using less data and energy.
By meeting these benchmarks, VERSES can prove that they can create AI that is better, cheaper, and faster. The end goal is to get their AI into more hands through their Genius Platform.
Research Roadmap Highlights:
VERSES’ research roadmap has 3 benchmarks: Classification and generation tasks, Atari 10k Challenge, and NeurIPS 2024 Melting Pot Challenge
The first benchmark, Classification and generation tasks, focuses on proving $VER's approach is better at tasks like recognizing images and creating new ones. By utilizing advanced Bayesian inference techniques, they are trying to show that their method has the ability to outperform traditional deep learning methods. This test is important because it shows whether VERSES can make top-quality AI while being more efficient.
The second benchmark, the Atari 10k Challenge, is all about testing VERSES' AI skills in playing video games. Unlike conventional methods that need a lot of gameplay data, VERSES is trying to play video games almost like a human but with way less practice. $VERS is using active inference to help their AI be super adaptable. And by doing this, they're hoping to raise the bar for how well AI can perform in gaming
Lastly, there’s the NeurIPS 2024 Melting Pot Challenge. This is all about testing how well VERSES' can handle tricky situations where lots of different AI systems need to work together. $VERS wants to show that their AI can understand these complicated situations and work smoothly with other AI systems. Through the use of active inference and explicit representational structures, VERSES aims to become a leader in creating AI systems that can collaborate effectively and tackle complex problems together.
$VERS publicly released this roadmap so the public can track their progress. The roadmap can be accessed here: www.verses.ai/rd-overview
Note: this is not financial advice please do your own research before investing.

This is my attempt to summarize this research study (PDF): "Rhythmic tapping difficulties in adults who stutter: A deficit in beat perception, motor execution, or sensorimotor integration?" (2023)
Goal:

• Investigating the rhythmic abilities of people who stutter and to identify which processes potentially are impaired:

1. beat perception and reproduction
2. the execution of movements, in particular their initiation
3. or, sensorimotor integration

Research findings:

• People who stutter (PWS) were able to reproduce an isochronous pattern (aka occuring at the same time) on their own, without external auditory stimuli, with similar accuracy as the people who do not stutter (PNS), but with increased variability
• This group difference in variability was observed immediately after passive listening, without prior motor engagement, and was not enhanced or reduced after several seconds of tapping
• However, PWS showed increased tapping variability in the reproduction and synchronization tasks, this timing variability did not correlate significantly with the variability in reaction times or tapping force
• PWS exhibited larger negative mean asynchronies, and increased synchronization variability in synchronization tasks
• These group differences were not affected by beat hierarchy (i.e., “strong” vs. “weak” beats), pattern complexity (non-isochronous vs. isochronous) or presence versus absence of external auditory stimulus (1:1 vs. 1:4 isochronous pattern)
• Differences between PWS and PNS were not enhanced or reduced with sensorimotor learning, over the first taps of a synchronization task
• We hypothesize a deficit in neuronal oscillators coupling in production, but not in perception, of rhythmic patterns, and a larger delay in multi-modal feedback processing for PWS

Intro:

• In paced tapping tasks, i.e., when tapping in synchrony with an external metronome or musical excerpt, previous studies reported a greater tapping variability in PWS. In addition, when tapping along with a metronome marking a simple isochronous sequence, PWS tend to tap more ahead of the beat, i.e., they show a greater “Negative Mean Asynchrony” (NMA)
• Differences in movement behavior originate from deficits at more than one level e.g., paced tapping involves:
• (1) the skill to perceive a periodic beat
• (2) the capacity to initiate and execute movements to reproduce that beat
• (3) and the ability to monitor and update movement timing on-line, using sensory feedback

Identifying motor delays and variability at the speech motor execution stage

• What exactly is the reason for difficulties at the motor execution stage? For example:
• (1) muscle functioning can be impaired
• (2) inaccurate, unstable, or insufficiently activated internal representations
• Stuttering frequency is influenced by task complexity or speed
• In the current study, we investigated: To what extent is the increased timing variability and decreased timing accuracy of PWS related to difficulties in motor planning and execution?

Beat perception and reproduction

• “Beat” perception refers to the internal representation of periodicity when listening, seeing, or feeling a regular sequence of stimuli
• “Oscillators Coupling Hypothesis” suggests that beat perception involves the in phase tuning of endogenous neuronal oscillations in the brain, with external physical periodic or oscillatory phenomena. The observation that steady state-evoked potentials appear in the delta frequency range [0.5–4 Hz] in subjects who were passively listening to a rhythmic sequence at 2.4Hz, provides support for this hypothesis
• “Active Sensing” hypothesis: it extends the Oscillators Coupling Hypothesis by incorporating the role of the motor cortex. It proposes that the tuning of neuronal oscillations in the auditory cortex (which happens in the delta frequency range) is influenced by similar oscillations in the motor cortex. When perceiving beats in the delta frequency range (0.5–4 Hz), there is a coordinated tuning of oscillations between the auditory and motor cortices. This suggests an interaction between sensory perception (hearing the beats) and motor processing (possibly related to movement or rhythm)

Influence of motor engagement and sensorimotor learning

• It is uncertain to what extent the motor system influences or is intrinsically involved in timing processes
• Previous studies found some brain activity in motor regions during passive listening to a rhythmic pattern, without any movement, supporting the idea that beat perception intrinsically involves the motor system
• The coupling of neuronal oscillations to an external beat frequency, observed in passive listening to rhythm, is enhanced when gestures, like finger tapping, are simultaneously produced
• These observations support the idea that people build an internal representation of the beat by detecting the periodicity in sensory inputs without actual movement, but that this internal representation is nevertheless consolidated with engaging the motor system

Conclusions:
Is stuttering linked to difficulties in movement initiation due to a dysfunctional basal ganglia?

• This study found no significant differences between people who stutter (PWS) and people who do not stutter (PNS) in terms of average finger reaction time and its variability
• No correlation was found between reaction times and the severity of stuttering or synchronization accuracy
• Suggesting that movement initiation difficulties are not a contributing factor to stuttering in externally triggered movements
• The study concluded that timing differences observed between PWS and PNS were not due to difficulties in initiating movements

Are motor impairments in PWS related to inaccurate internal models or neural noise?

• The study found no correlation between timing and force variability, suggesting that the observed differences were not due to inaccurate internal models or neural noise

Beat Perception and Reproduction

• PWS demonstrated the ability to tap an isochronous sequence without external auditory reference and predict regular events, showing no significant acceleration or deceleration. They maintained acceptable levels of periodicity error and tapping variability, indicating accurate beat perception and transfer to motor actions
• Suggesting no strong deficit in tuning neuronal oscillations with the external beat in PWS
• PWS showed no significant difference in periodicity error during beat reproduction tasks but exhibited greater tapping variability. This indicates that PWS can perceive the beat accurately but have difficulty reproducing it consistently
• The study proposes that timing differences are not due to impaired motor execution but might be explained by the Oscillators Coupling Hypothesis
• PWS showed no difference in marking beat hierarchy compared to PNS. Both groups tapped stronger beats with greater force, indicating that beat hierarchy perception was intact

Sensorimotor Integration and Learning

• Current research findings exclude the idea that NMA is a compensation for motor delays or an underestimation of intervals
• PLV also varied with external auditory stimuli and task complexity, indicating that tapping variability in synchronization tasks involves additional sensorimotor variability. However, this was not significantly different between PWS and PNS, suggesting no deficit at this stage
• Improvement in synchronization consistency was observed for both groups over time, but not in accuracy. This excludes a sensorimotor learning deficit in PWS for consolidating internal beat representations

Tips:

• address the impairment in rhythmic abilities regarding beat perception and reproduction, the execution of movements, in particular their initiation, and sensorimotor integration
• address the increased variability when reproducing an isochronous pattern without external auditory stimuli
• address the prior motor engagement
• address the larger negative mean asynchronies (NMA), and increased synchronization variability (NMA refers to: a common phenomenon observed in synchronization tapping tasks is the tendency, even in typical individuals, to anticipate the beat, i.e., demonstrating a Negative Mean Asynchrony) (NMA depends on feedback modalities and is reduced when direct auditory feedback is available compared to information provided by only tactile-kinesthetic feedback. NMA reflects a slower processing and integration of tactile feedback than auditory or visual feedback)
• address the deficit in neuronal oscillators coupling in production (but not in perception) of rhythmic patterns, and address the larger delay in multi-modal feedback processing
• address the significant differences in movement duration, movement timing and reaching accuracy in upper limb and non-speech orofacial movements
• address the larger variability and disrupted timing across and within moving components, such as limbs and articulators (which is suggesting a timing deficit)
• address the dysfunctional dopamine receptors and address the disrupted basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network (which is affecting both motor control and time processing)
• address the motor delays and variability at the speech motor execution stage
• address the longer voice reaction times
• address the longer movement durations, peak velocity latencies, and lower peak velocities for finger flexion
• address the longer durations between the peak EMG of lip muscles and the speech onset
• learn to rely more on the feedforward and automatized mode of motor control, rather than mainly relying on sensory feedback (leading to inducing additional processing delays and eventually leading to unstable movement behavior of different effectors, especially at fast rate) (For example: Using sensory feedback for on-line monitoring and correcting timing errors. Resulting in delays in the pathway linking motor commands and their sensory consequences that need to be compensated)
• address the peak in beta oscillations in the basal ganglia after the stimulus occurred (which is interpreted as an increased attention and prediction of an event after the stimulus occured)
• address the potential deficit in recovering an underlying beat (which results in increased difficulties to add and remove events (or musical notes) within a periodic pattern. In contrast, if you struggle with the underlying beat, these tasks become harder because you lack the regular reference points, and therefore it becomes more difficult to perceive and reproduce complex rhythms, as well as meter. For example: a triple meter is a waltz (1-2-3, 1-2-3), with one strong beat followed by two weaker ones)
• address the movement initiation difficulties (contributing to stuttering in internally triggered movements)
• address the impairment of (1) the medial premotor circuit (associated with self-triggered actions (in contrast, the lateral premotor circuit - associated with externally triggered actions - is intact in stutterers). Understand that research found no significant timing differences in periodicity error in tasks mediated by the medial premotor circuit, rather they found significant differences in negative mean asynchrony - suggesting overreliance on the lateral premotor circuit involving on external triggers
• address the greater variability in movement amplitude and timing
• address the increased timing variability during simple synchronization tasks
• address the greater tapping variability (PWS can perceive the beat accurately but have difficulty reproducing it consistently)
• address the deficit in coupling neuronal oscillators driving the motor system (that leads to increased variability in beat reproduction)
• address the increased errors in reproducing complex non-isochronous patterns (rather than beat hierarchy perception as this was shown to be intact)
• address the reduced accuracy and consistency in synchronization tasks - with greater negative mean asynchrony (NMA) and lower phase locking values (PLV)
• address the variations in phase angles depended on beat strength, external auditory stimuli, and task complexity
• Ask yourself: What compensations do I implement for motor delays or an underestimation of intervals?
• address the slower processing of tactile and proprioceptive information (leading to increased integration delays between auditory and kinesthetic feedback - which explains why PWS perform taps in advance of the beat to synchronize sensory inputs accurately)
• address the NMA compensatory strategy for slower tactile feedback accumulation

Hi everyone. This is my first Reddit post, so please pardon if I am using some wrong format.
I want to learn about Fine Tuning LLMs such as LLama-2, Gemma models, Llama-3. I have read plenty of medium articles and have been exposed to plenty of new topics such as LoRA, QLoRA, PEFT, etc. I have tried my best to understand them. But while implementing the code by following along the medium articles, I sometimes come across numerous parameters that are initialized without explanation which is overwhelming sometimes. I have also been exposed to Unsloth. I want to know where can I begin from. Should I begin with understanding how to fine-tune small models such as BERT, T5, etc using PyTorch and Transformers library? If you would like to provide some roadmap it would be really helpful. Thank you for your time.
I am attaching an example of the code I struggled to understand. How does one know which parameters are supposed to be used and which not?

model_name = "NousResearch/Llama-2-7b-chat-hf" dataset_name = "mlabonne/guanaco-llama2-1k" new_model = "Llama-2-7b-chat-finetune" # QLoRA parameters lora_r = 64 lora_alpha = 16 lora_dropout = 0.1 #bitsandbytes parameters #activate 4-bit precision base model loading use_4bit = True #compute dtype for 4-bit base models bnb_4bit_compute_dtype = "float16" #quantization type fp4 or nf4 bnb_4bit_quant_type = "nf4" #activate nested quantization for 4 bit base models use_nested_quant = False #training parameters #output dir output_dir = "./results" #no. of training epochs num_train_epochs = 1 fp16 = False bf16 = False per_device_train_batch_size = 4 per_device_eval_batch_size = 4 gradient_accumulation_steps = 1 gradient_checkpointing = True max_grad_norm = 0.3 learning_rate = 2e-4 weight_decay = 0.001 optim = "paged_adamw_32bit" lr_scheduler_type = "cosine" max_steps = -1 warmup_ratio = 0.03 group_by_length = True save_steps = 0 logging_steps = 25 # SFT Parameters # Maximum sequence length to use max_seq_length = None # Pack multiple short examples in the same input sequence to increase efficiency packing = False # Load the entire model on the GPU 0 device_map = {"": 0} # Load dataset (you can process it here) dataset = load_dataset(dataset_name, split="train") # Load tokenizer and model with QLoRA configuration compute_dtype = getattr(torch, bnb_4bit_compute_dtype) bnb_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=use_4bit, bnb_4bit_quant_type=bnb_4bit_quant_type, bnb_4bit_compute_dtype=compute_dtype, bnb_4bit_use_double_quant=use_nested_quant, ) # Check GPU compatibility with bfloat16 if compute_dtype == torch.float16 and use_4bit: major, _ = torch.cuda.get_device_capability() if major >= 8: print("=" * 80) print("Your GPU supports bfloat16: accelerate training with bf16=True") print("=" * 80) # Load base model model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained( model_name, quantization_config=bnb_config, device_map=device_map ) model.config.use_cache = False model.config.pretraining_tp = 1 # Load LLaMA tokenizer tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name, trust_remote_code=True) tokenizer.pad_token = tokenizer.eos_token tokenizer.padding_side = "right" # Fix weird overflow issue with fp16 training # Load LoRA configuration peft_config = LoraConfig( lora_alpha=lora_alpha, lora_dropout=lora_dropout, r=lora_r, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Set training parameters training_arguments = TrainingArguments( output_dir=output_dir, num_train_epochs=num_train_epochs, per_device_train_batch_size=per_device_train_batch_size, gradient_accumulation_steps=gradient_accumulation_steps, optim=optim, save_steps=save_steps, logging_steps=logging_steps, learning_rate=learning_rate, weight_decay=weight_decay, fp16=fp16, bf16=bf16, max_grad_norm=max_grad_norm, max_steps=max_steps, warmup_ratio=warmup_ratio, group_by_length=group_by_length, lr_scheduler_type=lr_scheduler_type, report_to="tensorboard" ) # Set supervised fine-tuning parameters trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, dataset_text_field="text", max_seq_length=max_seq_length, tokenizer=tokenizer, args=training_arguments, packing=packing, ) # Train model trainer.train() 

There is a severe lack of understanding about this community, including among mental health providers and social workers. Stigma, bias, and misconceptions prevent those who are attracted to minors (but do not offend) from seeking help they may need.
CSA = child sexual abuse
NoMAPs = non-offending, minor attracted people: those who are attracted to children but are committed to not causing harm against them
Many non-offending MAPs do not seek professional support, or may withdraw from support, due to the following reasons:

• They are worried that they will be unjustly reported, despite having done nothing wrong (this is based on many cases where professionals misunderstand mandatory reporting laws and report someone to the police just for disclosing their attraction)
• They do not want to be judged by the provider (many therapists, social workers, etc. have intensely negative reactions to clients disclosing their attractions and draw inaccurate conclusions about them based on that disclosure)
• They do not believe their own goals will be met (providers often make CSA prevention the main focus, even when this is not the client’s stated goal. This treats clients as if they are “ticking time bombs” and is not person-centered)
• They do not want to be subjected to attempts to “cure” them of their attractions, or to convert them into teleiophiles, which is shown to be ineffective and harmful

Those of us in the social work and mental health fields can address common misconceptions about this group, as a way to encourage MAPs to get help when they need it. Greater education and understanding about MAPs increases their well-being while also contributing to the prevention of CSA.
Common questions
Are you saying child sexual abuse is acceptable?
Absolutely not. Causing harm to children in the form of in-person/online sexual contact; CSAM (sometimes referred to as child pornography); grooming; or any other inappropriate behavior is not and will never be acceptable.
Many people who are attracted to minors are vehemently against these forms of harm as well, and do not support ideas such as lowering the age of consent. There are entire communities of minor attracted people who are committed to not harming children.
Isn’t using the term ‘MAPs’ normalizing pedophilia?
Only a minority of the population experiences a primary attraction to children. In this sense, pedophilia and other forms of minor attraction are not “normal”, in the same way that LBGTQ identities are not “normal” by proportion to the general population.
When people refer to normalizing something, they are usually talking about removing the stigma behind it, or acknowledging that it is acceptable.
Having an unchosen, unchangeable attraction to children is not inherently wrong, immoral, predatory, or pathological. It becomes so only when harm is involved. Attraction itself is not a behavior.
Shouldn’t we be protecting children from MAPs?
We should absolutely protect children from abusers, groomers, and predators. These terms are not synonymous with being minor attracted. In fact, research shows that the majority of child sexual abuse cases are carried out by people who do not meet the criteria for pedophilia (see “Sources” section below for reference).
When somebody feels they are at risk for harming a child, they should be able to seek immediate and effective help. Some NoMAPs need temporary or ongoing support in remaining resilient against offending, but this does not represent all or even the majority of NoMAPs. Many in this community have no intention of ever harming a child, and they are not at risk for doing so.
It is also important to note that many MAPs are still children themselves. MAPs tend to become aware of their attractions around the time of puberty or early adolescence. Children who are MAPs deserve the same degree of safety and well-being that other children do.
Why is the term ‘MAP’ even used?
This term has become more widely used for two main reasons:

1. It emphasizes attraction over action. The word ‘pedophile’ has become so conflated with ‘offender’ in every sector of our society, that most people assume a behavioral component when they hear the word. ‘Minor attracted person’, on the other hand, emphasizes that we are talking about those with an attraction, which includes both those who do and those who do not act on it.

Because there are MAPs who are also offenders, the term ‘Non-offending Minor Attracted Person’ (NoMAP) is useful when we are talking specifically about those who have an attraction but do not act on it.

1. ‘MAP’ is also a more accurate, all-encompassing way to refer to the community as a whole. This includes people with infantophilia, pedophilia, and (ep)hebephilia. It would not make sense, for example, to call someone who is primarily attracted to 15-18 year olds a pedophile.

However, many people do not self-identify with the term ‘MAP’. Some identify as pedophiles, hebephiles, boy lovers, girl lovers, or other terms. Some may use multiple terms to describe themselves. What’s important is that we should honor how each individual person self-identifies their attraction, and not impose a label on them.
Alternatives have also been suggested by those who conduct research with this community, such as ‘child attracted person’ as opposed to ‘minor attracted person’. I use ‘MAP’ here because it is the most widely accepted way to refer to the community as a whole.
What would someone who harms a child be called?
Depending on the context, people who harm children could be called many things—offender, abuser, predator, or groomer, to name a few examples.
Research shows that the majority of child sexual abuse cases are carried out by people who do not meet the criteria for pedophilia. (See “Sources” section below to learn why someone who’s not primarily attracted to children would sexually abuse a child.)
Is pedophilia a mental illness/diagnosis?
It depends. Some MAPs are committed to not offending, are not at risk for offending, and have come to terms with their attraction. These individuals have no reason to be pathologized.
Many others are not at risk for offending, yet they desire professional help for mental health conditions (like depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation) that result from the hatred they receive in our society. These individuals also have no reason to be pathologized, as their mental health conditions result from stigma rather than from the attraction itself.
Some MAPs desire professional help in dealing with the difficult emotions resulting from not being able to have a fulfilling sexual or romantic connection, particularly those who are exclusively attracted to children. (Many MAPs are attracted to both children and adults, and may be in relationships with adults.)
There are also MAPs who desire professional help in remaining resilient against offending. In these cases, and in cases where MAPs do harm children, pedophilia would be considered pathological since there is significant distress and/or harm involved.
Is pedophilia a sexual orientation?
The available research points to pedophilia and other forms of minor attraction being an age-based sexual orientation, in that the attraction is unchosen, typically arises during the time of puberty or early adolescence, and remains fairly constant throughout one’s life.
Are you suggesting that MAPs are part of the LGBTQ+ community?
Age-based orientations are by nature different from gender-based orientations, in that there is no safe or ethical way for an adult to engage sexually or romantically with a child. The experience of MAPs is also vastly different from that of LGBTQ individuals in several ways.
While there are some parallels that can be drawn between studies on stigma among LGBTQ individuals and the experience of stigma among MAPs, these are two separate communities.
Can someone’s attraction to children be changed?
Empirical data, based on qualitative and quantitative studies, points to the fact that pedophilia and other forms of minor attraction cannot be changed or "cured". (See “Sources” section below for reference.)
How many MAPs are there in the world?
Across various studies, the average incidence of minor attraction, meaning those who are primarily attracted to minors, comes out to about 5% of the adult population worldwide. This number is likely an undercount for the following reasons:

• Many studies do not account for hebephilia (primary attraction to pubescent children)
• There is usually a focus on men, despite the fact that many MAPs are women
• Some people choose not to disclose their attractions in the first place

Why should I care about any of this?
Reducing stigma against NoMAPs contributes to a safer society for all, based around empathy and evidence. Many people do not feel safe disclosing their attraction for fear of being unjustly reported, misunderstood, or physically harmed.
Unfortunately, stories of MAPs being rejected by family members, forced out of educational programs, reported to the police, and made to feel like a monster– even in the absence of any harm to a child— are all too common. This prevents many MAPs from seeking or continuing to receive support, which in turn can lead to:

• Increased incidence of mental health issues (such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation)
• More difficulty in refraining from offending (for some MAPs; others are not at risk to begin with)

The misconceptions and harmful attitudes that we have toward non-offending MAPs directly interfere with them receiving the support they may need, decreasing MAPs’ well-being and putting children at greater risk. This includes children who are MAPs themselves.
Where can I learn more?
There are many resources available to learn about MAPs. These include:

• https://www.b4uact.org/
• https://asapinternational.org/index.php/introduction/about_asapinternational
• https://www.stopitnow.org/
• https://safersociety.org/store/live-online-training-providing-treatment-to-minor-attracted-people/
• https://theglobalpreventionproject.org/maps

If you are minor attracted yourself, you can check out any of the above, plus:

• https://virped.org/
• https://www.mapresources.info/
• https://mapsupport.club/

Sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19327034/ "There is no evidence to suggest that pedophilia can be changed. Instead, interventions are designed to increase voluntary control over sexual arousal, reduce sex drive, or teach self-management skills to individuals who are motivated to avoid acting upon their sexual interests"
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32086644/ "The results of this study were consistent with the suggestion of Seto (2012) that pedohebephilia could be considered a form of sexual orientation for age, which includes both sexual and romantic attraction"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8793822/ ..."in line with the current empirical assumption that enduring sexual attractions to children are largely unchangeable (Grundmann et al., 2016; Seto, 2012; for recent debates see Bailey, 2015; Cantor, 2015; Grundmann et al., 2017; Müller et al., 2014; Tozdan & Briken, 2017)"
https://www.csaprimaryprevention.org/supporting-maps.html "The overwhelming opinion in the professional sexual violence prevention community is that helping minor attracted people by offering peeprofessional support is the best way to ensure that minor attracted people do not harm children, and suggest that reducing the stigma against minor attraction will help this endeavor and protect children"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7145785/ "It may be constructive for professionals working with this population to encourage the 'ownership' of the minor-attracted sexual identity, such as to reduce levels of self-stigmatization and increase self-acceptance. In doing so, we argue that we (as professionals, and as a society) can… ultimately, protect children from sexual harm by improving MAP well-being and agency"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8888496/ “…less than half of all individuals with child sexual offense convictions meet the clinical criteria for pedophilia (Schmidt et al., 2013; Seto, 2018a)”
https://www.stopitnow.org/faq/is-there-a-typical-profile-of-someone-who-sexually-abuses-children “Some people who abuse children have adult sexual relationships and are not solely, or even mainly, sexually interested in children”
https://www.stopitnow.org/faq/why-would-an-adult-sexually-abuse-a-child “Some adults sexually abuse a child to feel the power and control they don’t feel in their relationships with other adults… Some adults act impulsively when presented with an unexpected opportunity to sexually abuse a child”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8888496/ “...the more consistent prevalence estimates for minor attraction in a more clinical sense… congregate around 5% (Dombert et al., 2016; Santilla et al., 2010; Wurtele et al., 2014)”

I’ve been doing a lot of research on autism lately (shocker I know /s). I had been suspecting that I had it for years now; ever since my best friend told me about her diagnosis. After carefully considering and reconsidering the signs, taking multiple (and I mean multiple) informal tests and questionnaires, and even speaking with my therapist about it, I’ve all but formally confirmed that I am autistic. Even as I write this, I notice it as I keep having to go back rewriting and rewriting to make sure I get my language and grammar exactly correct because I have a very hard time putting my thoughts into words. Despite all this, I still can’t help but doubt myself; I often wonder if it’s really just all in my head. The reason is because I feel like it can be very inconsistent sometimes.
Example time! I’ve been working as a cake decorator in a small bakery for the past three years. I love baking, pastry arts, and decorating cakes in general and I started out this job absolutely loving every second of it. The kitchen can get pretty noisy at times with the ovens and freezer whirring, baking trays clanking, the mixers running, and my coworkers and I often enjoying music from our speaker as we work. Usually this isn’t much of a problem for me. I’ve had my days where the noise can bother me a little, but I’m usually able to shake it off. Recently, however, I’ve been having a much harder time with it. Today was the worst it’s ever been. All of the noises I listed before, things that usually don’t bother me much, REALLY bothered me today. I wanted so badly to scream and cry for someone to turn the music or the ovens off. But I couldn’t, I had to finish my job as quickly as I could so that I could go scream in my car. This had me so confused. I honestly don’t really know exactly why it bothered me so much today. It made me realize that there are definitely inconsistencies in my sensory issues sometimes. Could all of this just be in my head? I’m having serious doubts here.

Re - Origins is a real-time strategy game where players build and manage a space empire. Key features include resource management, fleet building, research, and combat. Players form alliances for mutual support and engage in strategic battles. The game is set in a persistent universe, continuing to progress even when players are offline. Fully Free with no Pay2Win.
https://preview.redd.it/cg16pf498u1d1.png?width=864&format=png&auto=webp&s=57955e781e4829e7472148cf40f86e847c7385eb
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Register for the launch at Re-Origins.com Discord: discord.com/invite/t8kwBWg6tN Launch date: [REDACTED]

VERSES AI ($VERS), a cognitive computing company, is continuing to make big strides in AI. They’ve introduced a research roadmap that outlines the key milestones and benchmarks. This roadmap could revolutionize the development of AI by providing clear goals to measure the progress and importance of $VER's research and development endeavors.
The company plans to use this roadmap this year to monitor its AI progress. Basically, it wants to check whether its approach can be as good as or better than advanced AI models on various industry tests, all while using less data and energy.
By meeting these benchmarks, VERSES can prove that they can create AI that is better, cheaper, and faster. The end goal is to get their AI into more hands through their Genius Platform.
Research Roadmap Highlights:
VERSES’ research roadmap has 3 benchmarks: Classification and generation tasks, Atari 10k Challenge, and NeurIPS 2024 Melting Pot Challenge
The first benchmark, Classification and generation tasks, focuses on proving $VER's approach is better at tasks like recognizing images and creating new ones. By utilizing advanced Bayesian inference techniques, they are trying to show that their method has the ability to outperform traditional deep learning methods. This test is important because it shows whether VERSES can make top-quality AI while being more efficient.
The second benchmark, the Atari 10k Challenge, is all about testing VERSES' AI skills in playing video games. Unlike conventional methods that need a lot of gameplay data, VERSES is trying to play video games almost like a human but with way less practice. $VERS is using active inference to help their AI be super adaptable. And by doing this, they're hoping to raise the bar for how well AI can perform in gaming
Lastly, there’s the NeurIPS 2024 Melting Pot Challenge. This is all about testing how well VERSES' can handle tricky situations where lots of different AI systems need to work together. $VERS wants to show that their AI can understand these complicated situations and work smoothly with other AI systems. Through the use of active inference and explicit representational structures, VERSES aims to become a leader in creating AI systems that can collaborate effectively and tackle complex problems together.
$VERS publicly released this roadmap so the public can track their progress. The roadmap can be accessed here: www.verses.ai/rd-overview
Note: this is not financial advice please do your own research before investing.

Omnia Protocol is a decentralized infrastructure protocol for securely accessing the blockchain, so that no single point of failure will ever disrupt blockchain applications or wallets integrating with it. At the same time, it allows anyone to earn rewards by hosting and maintaining a node on a specific blockchain.
Omnia has a strong focus on privacy which gives you untraceable access to the blockchain.
How is Omnia better?
Mixnets are not a novel approach when it comes to building an anonymous overlay network. For example, Tor is leveraging a low-latency mix network to provide a 3-hop circuit that is designed to better protect privacy than a single-node VPN solution. However, this approach has one major fallback - does not obfuscate traffic patterns, which eventually leads to revealing the user's identity as relevant academic research activity has already proved (XZ21, LGMG17, MS17, CMMV17, RNZL17, BZN08, SZ12).
One of our technical objectives at Omnia is to leverage all our academic and security research knowledge to augment mixnets with state of the art methods for timing obfuscation and decoy traffic injection to guarantee the utmost privacy.
Another technical objective is to enhance the existing centralized directory authority used for routing in mixnets to a consensus based approach in order to mitigate the single point of failure in case of directory corruption.
By carefully designing the integration between blockchain nodes and privacy relayers with customer-centricity in mind, Omnia provides competitive incentives that have compounding effects to the entire ecosystem.
Omnia's competitive advantage consists in our ability to identify, extract and integrate value from state of the art research results, thus being able to drive the marginal costs close to zero when it comes to accessing the blockchain.
We are confident that in a not so distant future, Omnia will be the natural choice for accessing any blockchain in a trustworthy and failproof manner, regardless of the network.
We want to be an inspiration to the blockchain ecosystem, by pushing the envelope beyond its existing limitations so that others can innovate beside us.
Security
Privacy is key, but not sufficient. That's why it's important to also ensure that nodes deliver the performance they signed-up for and don't act malicious.
A node verification protocol will assure that node owners do not act maliciously or against the user's interest. By staking an amount of OMNIA tokens, proportional with the blockchain requests that is actively serving, a node provider risks its stake being slashed in case of misbehavior. Therefore, by causing higher self-damage than the potential gain, any attack is economically unfeasible.
Official website: https://omniatech.io/

Viewing/upvote counter May 21st at 12:54= 4k views and 2 upvotes
The Silence and Bias of Reddit Moderators is Hurting Stock Prices like gme and others
Post:
I've been closely following the actions of some Reddit moderators across various subreddits, especially those centered around stock discussions and trading. It's becoming increasingly evident that these moderators wield a significant amount of unchecked power, often making their own rules and silencing voices that don't align with their personal or collective agendas. This behavior is not only frustrating for users but also has broader implications, including negatively affecting stock prices.

Lack of Transparency

One of the most significant issues is the complete lack of transparency in the decision-making processes of moderators. Rarely do they discuss their actions with the community, leaving users in the dark about why certain posts are removed or why some users are banned. This lack of dialogue not only stifles the free exchange of ideas but also erodes trust within the community.

Arbitrary Rules

Moderators seem to apply rules arbitrarily. What is acceptable one day can be deemed inappropriate the next, without any clear reasoning. This inconsistency creates a chilling effect where users are afraid to post anything that might get them banned or their posts removed. According to research, communities with inconsistent moderation practices often see a decline in user engagement and trust.

Silencing Dissent

Another concerning trend is the silencing of dissenting opinions. If a user posts a viewpoint that doesn't align with the moderators' perspectives or challenges the status quo, they risk being muted or banned. This creates an echo chamber where only certain viewpoints are allowed, significantly skewing the discourse. Studies have shown that echo chambers can distort information flow and lead to poorly informed decision-making.

Impact on Stock Prices

The most troubling aspect is how these actions can negatively affect stock prices. When moderators silence critical or alternative perspectives, they are effectively manipulating the narrative. This can mislead investors, both retail and institutional, leading to misinformed trading decisions. The lack of balanced discussion can create artificial hype or unwarranted panic, both of which can significantly distort a stock's true value. A report by the SEC emphasizes the importance of transparent and balanced information flow for fair market practices.

Call for Change

It's time for Reddit to address these issues and hold moderators accountable. We need: - Transparency: Clear and consistent rules that are discussed with the community. - Accountability: Mechanisms to ensure moderators cannot abuse their power. - Balanced Discussion: A platform where all viewpoints can be shared and debated without fear of retribution.
The integrity of stock discussions and the broader Reddit community depends on these changes. Let's push for a more transparent and fair platform for everyone.
What are your thoughts? Have you experienced similar issues with moderators? Share your stories below!
References:

1. SEC Report on Market Transparency
2. Study on Echo Chambers and Information Flow
3. Research on Community Trust and Moderation Practices

I read a lot about that everyone thinks that Sweden has such low salaries. But I don’t agree, I don’t think Sweden has low salaries when talking about the median NET pay. I don’t compare to countries outside of Europe. Not everyone is an engineer, programmer or working in finance. I’m talking about the average person on the street. I am not saying Sweden has the one of the best salaries but definitely not the worst. Different countries have different tax and insurance systems and we need to compare net pay here. The money in your hand after tax and insurance to use for consumption.
Let’s take me for example. I work as a project manager and planning architect in the local government in Stockholm and I have 40k gross and 32k NET. All taxes and insurances are already paid when I get my 32k SEK. The payroll tax is paid by my employer and that includes insurances and other stuffs. I’m 31 years old and have 4 years of experience. So with 32k SEK I can do whatever I want with it. This salary has allowed me to afford to buy a newly constructed studio in Täby park which is considered one of the better areas to live in the Stockholm area. I travel every month and I wear a 5000 SEK suit. I often have fika 2-3 times a week and maybe have a dinner somewhere once a week. I don’t drink alcohol. I spend around 310 SEK for great sushi for two. That’s 26,7€. My life is comfortable and I have Friday as a weekend. I don’t feel poor when I travel and I’ve been to NYC, LA, and Switzerland recent year. So I don’t think that my salary is that low in an international context. Converted to euro it’s around 2726€ net, and with that money I pay my mortgage and living costs. My mortgage and housing costs including utilities are around 7500 SEK which isn’t expensive I think, that’s like 647€. My gym is around 1499 SEK a year after the friskvårdsbidrag. After traveling to over 100 countries I don’t find Sweden more expensive than other western European countries. I am not including alcohol here. The housing is definitely cheaper than other Western European countries. Buying an apartment seems to be very difficult in other Western European countries.
From my research only Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and Switzerland have significantly higher salaries than Sweden. London is also a bit higher but that’s a special case. The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Ireland, UK, Belgium, Finland are give and take similar levels as Sweden depending on the job. I am talking about NET pay now. After all deductions, taxes, and insurances are paid. Some jobs better some worse. Sweden does good on average jobs and worse in the top level ones. But I do find Sweden competitive still. Yes engineers make more money in Germany. But how about cashier workers?
Nominal gross national income per capita in $ of some countries:
Norway 95,510 Luxembourg 91,200 Switzerland 89,145 USA 76,370 Denmark 73,200
Sweden 62,990 Netherlands 57,430 Austria 56,140 Finland 54,360 Germany 53,390 UK 48,890 Belgium 48,700 France 45,860
Source: World Bank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GNI_(nominal)_per_capita?wprov=sfti1#Methodology
As you can see Sweden is doing okay. So please don’t call Sweden poor. I don’t compare to countries outside of Europe as they have a different environment all together. USA shouldn’t be mentioned in an European context. So my conclusion is that Sweden isn’t bad when it comes to money compared to European countries, rather decent. Yes it’s not the top 5. Yes it’s not great compared to USA.
TL;DR: People say that salaries are so low in Sweden but I actually think they are okay. Yes Sweden isn’t one of the best but it’s not worst either. I’m talking about median NET pay for normal average jobs. Not talking about engineering and IT. Sweden isn’t that bad what everyone claims it to be. I’m not comparing to USA. For 2726€ NET you will afford a decent life in Stockholm as I do.

Hello!! I've been talking to my therapist about the possibility of having BPD and today was diagnosed with HPD.
While HPD does explain alot of things about myself (even things I wasn't aware of until I started researching HPD) it doesn't explain other symptoms that I believed was specifically related to BPD, specifically:
-the way I will swing back and forth between idealization and then demonization of someone. My opinion on myself also changes like this.
-Intense unstable & inappropriate mood shifts. Inappropriate anger to the point of self-harm or breaking things around me. I've been told I have outbursts of rage that are so intense nobody knows what to even do other than leave.
-Paranoia about my friends hating me or leaving. I've burned bridges because of convincing myself they secretly hated me, when in reality they most likely didn't until I gave them reason to.
-Derealization & dissociation. I have moments where I'm so overwhelmed by my emotions intensity that its like my brain completely clocks out. Suddenly life feels like a 1:1 with a lucid dream. I've needed verification that im actually awake many times.
-Self harm, this is a big one but I was told that due to me not being "destructive enough" it rules out BPD entirely.
She told me that if I do my own research and gather evidence from myself & friends that she may re consider BPD as a possibility? She ruled it out because despite the symptoms I show im not destructive enough with self-harm and I dont have homicidal thoughts. All of my self-sabatoge and self-destruction tends to be monetarily or socially rather than physically.
Im thinking of having my close friends give me examples of times I've exhibited symptoms of BPD and compiling it together to go through it with her. Would it be worth trying to ask her to reconsider? Or is BPD genuinley not a possibility? I really do want to figure out what is wrong with me, I want to become a better person but I need to know what traits to recognize in myself and look put for to even start. And being told its getting ruled out completely because I'm not outwardly physically destructive enough to be taken seriously just makes me feel really lost and confused on where to go next?

hello!
i'm new to the indie community—i'm neurospicy (though i have two diff diagnoses across two diff countries) and have had a fixation on fragrances for a while; thousands of dollars spent on niche perfumes that triggered cascades of dopamine ejaculation from my neurons (sorry for the word choice, i wanted to be as vivid with my imagery as possible), i've decided to branch into indies after getting a bit bored with niche offerings :)
i'm also very picky choosy and almost never blind-buy when i buy niche, but obviously for indies, i don't have the luxury of being able to sniff and test out frags on my skin before pulling the trigger—and this applies for samples as well! indie or niche, i always did research into notes and compared reviews on fragrantica and even the fragrance/perfume subreddits before pulling the trigger. fragrantica isn't really an option for indies, unfortunately, so i turned to IMAM and read as many reviews on fragrances from different houses that caught my interest!
a few full sizes and sample orders later (i learned the hard way why it's important to sample before FSing...🫠) i've now grown my indie collection to at least 2 dozen? off the top of my head? and would love to contribute back to the community! there are some perfumes that i pulled the trigger on knowing they were gambles because i couldn't find as much information on them as i wanted, and i know how frustrating or lost-feeling it's like to need information and not be able to get it :( so i'd like to contribute to the review pool!
i've left reviews as comments before, but through my own searching journeys on the subreddit, i realized that it's easier to find posts with reviews rather than searching through terms in the comments in the subreddit and having to comb through buy/sell comments or whatnot... so i wanted to start writing review posts..! i'm just a bit lost on how to start, as i know indie perfumes especially smell different in different forms (oil/edp), different people's skins, even aging..! etc. so i was curious to how the seasoned indie perfumes consumers (and artists!) did their review process. i'm especially new to oil perfumes—was originally an oil hater, but now i'm discovering more and more of their advantages/benefits (i'm looking for the english equivalent of the korean word 장점)—so i'd really appreciate some feedback on how i should be testing these!
for example, one tip that i got after stalking one of the houses that i tried and fell in love with at first sight (sniff? first order?) was to not just to a sniff sniff whiff whiff, but also smell retronasally—it's really opened up how i smell ALL of my perfumes, and i've gone back to every scent in my collection just to smell retronasally. i got this tip off osmofolia's sab! it was on their tiktok—i consider it a personal flex that i am not a regular tiktok user, but sab had me opening the tiktok app three days in a row... and osmofolia is my heart eyes, heart-goes-LUB-DUB-really-fast, dopamine cascade house right now.
if you've read this far, thank you for reading my long word vomit ramble! i'd really appreciate some tips and tricks from the community so i can give back (intellectually? experience-wise?) as much information and knowledge as i have received (and hopefully help out future indie beginners like me)!

Coding a killer program is one thing, but crafting an A-worthy IT assignment? That's a whole different quest. Here's the student scoop on acing those IT papers:
Problem-Solving Prose: Professors love clear explanations. Break down complex concepts into bite-sized chunks for readers. Use diagrams, flowcharts, or screenshots to visually represent your technical points.
Code Cred: Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk (or write the code!). Include relevant code snippets, but remember proper formatting and clear annotations. Explain how the code functions within your argument.
Cite Your Sources: Plagiarism is a major bug in any IT paper. Cite research papers, online resources, and even code snippets from reputable sources. Use a consistent citation style (APA, MLA, etc.) to avoid errors.
Bonus Level: Think outside the text box! Consider creating a short demo video showcasing your program or concept in action. This can add a unique touch to your assignment and impress your professor.

I notice there is a lot of talk about cross international dating (ex: passport bros) on this subreddit and the manosphere at large. I thought it would be interesting to share this study by a Swedish researcher named, Annika Elwert, who has studied gendered differences in foreign mate preferences between men and women in western countries.
The three countries she’s mainly studied are her home country Sweden, Spain and the USA by analyzing data on natives with foreign spouses. This what she found in Sweden for example regarding changes in patterns in cross national marriages:

Until the turn of the millennium, Swedish men who married across national borders usually chose women from Norway and Finland. In the early 2000s, a change in men's marriage patterns crystallised. Partly because of increased international travel, Thai women became the most common group of foreign women to marry Swedish men. However, Swedish women are rarely in relationships with Thai men.

In 2023 Elwert published a study focusing on Spain and USA to see if these patterns hold. She found some interesting differences and similarities between men and women when it came to choosing a foreign spouse that I thought were worth sharing.
Just a heads up, before I delve deeper into the study, I should note the researchers for this study only looked at marriages between natives in the USA who were of non-Hispanic European heritage and those with two parents born in Spain, to foreigners. So large swaths of the population are being left out of this study as it only examines foreign spouse preferences for certain members of the native population not the entire. Just keep that in mind:

We restrict the native population to the non-Hispanic of European descent born in the United States. Similarly for Spain, we restrict the native population to people born in Spain whose parents are also born in Spain. These restrictions are intended to minimize the impact that cross-national couples between international migrants and descendants of migrants of the same origins might have in our analyses (ex. Mexicans in the United States or Moroccans in Spain).

Regardless, I thought the results would interesting to discuss, here is a summary of the most important findings:

Sociologist Annika Elwert has previously studied marriage patterns in Sweden and, in a recent article, examined statistical databases of Spanish and American men and women who have a foreign partner. Their marriage patterns are similar to those of Swedes.
In the US, it is common to have a partner from neighbouring countries or Europe, but many American men also have a partner or wife from the Philippines. However, American women rarely marry Filipino men, preferring Germans and Mexicans. Among Spaniards, marriages with people from France, Germany and Argentina are common. Spanish women also choose partners from Senegal and Morocco, which is rare among Spanish men. Statistically, they prefer women from Romania and Colombia.
Although there are many commonalities in the marriage patterns of men and women, differences remain. Men more often marry much younger women from countries with lower education and living standards. The general trend is that the greater the difference in development between countries, the greater the age difference between the native man and the foreign woman. If the women come from countries with a similar level of development, the age difference is comparatively small.
“It is difficult to say why this is the case. One possible explanation is that when men have a preference for much younger women, it can be challenging to realise this preference in the domestic marriage market. It may be easier if she comes from a less developed country, where, for example, the marital age gap is usually larger," says Annika Elwert.
The same phenomenon is visible when considering countries' gender equality. Men from Spain or the US are more likely to marry partners from countries with low gender equality. In contrast, Spanish and American women rarely marry men from countries with low gender equality. An exception is American women. They are often in relationships with Mexican men.

So native men are more likely to marry foreign spouse from a less developed countries in places like SEA, Latin America, Eastern Europe, while native women are more likely to marry someone from developed countries and Western Europe. However, this trend changes depending on the region, with native women in Europe being more likely to marry someone from Africa and the Middle East compared to their male counterparts for example.
Native men are also more likely to be in relationships with a larger age gap compared to native women, although there has been slight increase in the latter:

When women from the US or Spain marry foreign men, the age difference is generally small. However, Annika Elwert's research shows that it has become more common for Swedish and Spanish women to have younger partners from less developed countries. This is not the case among American women.

Here is the full summary of the study: https://www.soc.lu.se/en/article/women-and-men-show-more-similarities-when-choosing-foreign-partner
Here is the full study which has more details and graphs: Read the article published in Population and Development Review
My basic summary of the studies is:
European men (Spain and Sweden), tend to marry partners from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, with notable gender disparities seen in marriages with Russian/Latin American women in Spain and largest age gaps in marriages with African women. European women from these countries are more likely to marry partners from neighboring regions, Western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with significant gender disparities observed in marriages with men from Africa. While European women are much less likely to marry younger partners from developing countries, there's a slight uptick in such unions, (particularly with Eastern European men interestingly enough), although this trend isn't mirrored in the US despite US women being more likely to marry men from developing countries then their European counterparts.
In the US, similarities exist between native men and European men in terms of marrying partners from Asia and Eastern Europe, with pronounced gender disparities seen in marriages with partners from Asia and age gaps being the largest with SEA Asian women and Certain Eastern European countries (Russia/Ukraine). US women are more likely to marry partners from Lebanon, Turkey, and India. Interestingly, there's less of a gender gap in marrying partners from Latin America in the US, although preferences vary by individual countries within Latin America. Native US men are more likely to marry someone from Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, El Salvador and Peru while native US women are more likely to marry someone from Mexico, The Caribbean, Jamaica, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama and Argentina.
Regarding, developed countries, US women are slightly more likely to marry partners from Western Europe and Canada, while US men are more likely marry partners from East Asia.
Anyways, are there any surprises by the study's results? Or did it confirm something’s you already suspected?

Hi all, I am an undergrad theology student doing some admittedly very surface level research on typology
Obviously Christ is the premier example of an anti-type given by everybody as He has so many types, but I also can't seem to find any extensive index of other types and anti-types. I know there are some (Goliath/Satan?) but many seem to be either inanimate, metaphorical or intangible in some way (i.e. the Sabbath), or groups (i.e. the people of Israel, Christians, etc.)
does anyone know if Christ as an anti-type is unique in this sense, or have I just not come across a good enough source?
Thanks :-)

To the Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and Instructors at the Global Center for Religious Research:
When I first came across an advertisement for the Global Center for Religious Research’s courses, I got excited, especially because the instructors weren’t all old white guys like me. I wanted to get a broad range of experiences. I intended not only to sign up for the courses, but to see whether or not I might be able to offer courses through GCRR in the future. I pictured a future in which I would have a whole new set of colleagues who, like me, treat clients who have experienced religious trauma.
Before buying anything, I decided to join the “Religious Trauma Studies” Facebook group that GCRR is running. It took me less than an hour to become very concerned about the behavior of GCRR and its leader, Darren Slade.
While GCRR’s advertisements give the impression of professionalism and research, Slade himself is traumatizing and even harassing his/your own customers. Do you not see it? Best case scenario: he’ll keep embarrassing you. Worst case scenario: someone (especially if you ever have employees) is going to sue you. If he publicly treats his customers with this much contempt, how will he treat his employees, if he ever gets this business off the ground?
To illustrate, I am attaching several documents printed (customer names redacted) from the GCRR’s “Religious Trauma Studies” Facebook group. It’s messy, but you can go look up the Facebook group and find the originals.

• In his comments, Darren Slade keeps referring to “We”, as in “here’s how we do things around here”. He has a lot of people listed on his website as his “International Advisory Board” and as instructors of his courses. Did you all get together and advise him to be this condescending and hostile to your own customers? Do you want him to talk to women with this much contempt?
• He expresses pride several times about the fact that this group is “not a safe space”. IN A GROUP ABOUT TRAUMA??!
• Maybe you think this is fine, because everyone is offensive on the Internet? But if "the boss" at any company in America tacked any one of these memes or notes to an office bulletin board, each one would be an instant, valid complaint to the Human Resources department. And Darren Slade’s replies to the complaints would warrant another complaint. When his/your customers complain on Facebook, he rolls his eyes and tells them that he’s not responsible for their “triggers”. If he talks to his customers this way, how will he talk to his subordinates in the future? Especially young women subordinates? Do you see him expressing any respect here, for anyone, especially if they don’t agree with him?
• He refers to himself and the entire GCRR repeatedly as “inappropriate”, “unprofessional” “offensive”, and even “creepy”, and he says "we" like it that way. Do you like being represented that way? Are you part of this, or is this guy a runaway ego train?
• Some of you are trained as therapists. I'm a retired psychologist. You know that the following behaviors are cause for concern in anyone who is promoting himself as the leader of any kind of group. You'll find several examples of each of these circled in the attached document:
  • Slade sees himself as both the hero and the victim in every story he tells. He talks a lot about the death threats he has supposedly receives.
  • Regularly expresses condescension, contempt, and hostility toward his own customers, especially women. If a woman points out that he's being sexist, he claims that she is being sexist against him.
  • Constantly talks about his Ph.D. Most of my colleagues put “PhD” after their names and leave it at that… but this guy? This guy needs to mention his PhD at least a couple times a week.
  • Makes sexually demeaning/harassing comments to women if they disagree with him (see the “Google Complaint” document), tries to get the whole community to join him in this, and then gets even more condescending and contemptuous if a woman customer complains. He sees accusations of sexism against him as being unfair accusations leveled at him “because he identifies as ‘male’”
  • When people try to help him not be a jackass, he just turns up the hostility and tells them to leave if they don't like it.
  • Repeatedly fails to show empathy, especially with anyone who disagrees with him.
  • Presents a professional face to the world (GCRR ads), but behind closed doors is abusive and inflammatory.

If you’re a therapist, do you not see how much credibility you lose by associating yourself with an organization that mocks your own therapy clients for being triggered and having feelings? And Slade's approach isn't just annoying or unprofessional, it’s aggressive. Surely you can see what I’m talking about? Why are you supporting this guy?
At one point in the attached document (while accusing a woman of being sexist against him for saying he's being sexist), Slade even claims that men are constantly discriminated against just for speaking, and that "oppression and marginalization cut both ways". (About 1/3 of the way down page 3). You are all experts in religious trauma, and I first became interested in GCRR's courses because I saw some women and people of color among the instructors and advisors. Do you, as a group, actually believe that "oppression and marginalization cuts both ways"? Do you believe that racism, sexism, and homophobia oppress and marginalize straight white men just as much as people of color, women, and LGBT people? If so, I'll be warning people away from your whole organization.
Our job is to help people put an end to this kind of abuse, not to perpetuate it. Our job is to help people to recover from their traumas, not inflict more trauma, and certainly not to belittle them for speaking up.
If I had gotten involved without checking out how Slade treats his customers, I'd be embarrassed now, so I'm taking the time to give you the professional heads-up that I would want were I in your shoes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/128aqrYsIlbCBLcWfAiYu6JdaDeZ_1Ouo/view?usp=sharing

Hi all! After a crazy, but incredibly fun and rewarding year earning my pilot certs, I wanted to make a write-up of my experience in hopes that it’ll be helpful for any other aspiring or current pilots. To summarize, I went from zero aviation experience to CFII in 13 months, Part 61, paying as I go and on the pretty cheap side. I do want to emphasize that I was ~incredibly~ lucky and had some very generous people who helped me out, and I could not have done this as efficiently and cheaply if it weren’t for them. I’m going to list all my takeaways below, but I think my biggest piece of advice is to network as much as you can because there are some amazing, generous people in this community that want to see us all succeed.
Background:
For context, I’m in my mid to late twenties and have been in the workforce for about 5 years. Through a combination of factors I decided to make a career switch to professional pilot but was hesitant because I did not want to take on debt. I have a family member who is an airline pilot who helped me devise a plan. I moved home and kept working my job remotely so I was able to put all my paychecks towards flying.
Private Pilot – 3 months, 75 hours TT, $12k
I did my private in a Piper Archer owned by my local FBO. The owner allowed my family member to be my instructor and gave me a small discount for pre-paying hours. We flew almost daily. I also took ground school at another local FBO in-person, and that was much more helpful than having to learn everything on my own because I was brand new to aviation. I took the private written exam as soon as my ground school concluded which was also the week of my checkride (bad idea in hindsight, but it worked out).
I solo’d around 25 hours and took my checkride with about 60 hours in the Archer (15 additional hours were in a friend’s airplane). The checkride was challenging, but straightforward and I was well prepared. The DPE said good things about me afterward and I was officially a private pilot! I’d be happy to answer questions or do a writeup in a separate post on any of my checkrides but for the sake of brevity I’ll skip that for now.
~Key takeaways from private:~
Fly as often as possible and make sure your instructor is aligned with that. Also stay on top of ground school. Also, don’t rush to take the checkride before you’re ready, it’s okay to have a lot of practice first. Lastly, I know DPE availability is a big issue in lots of areas and can cause people to have to wait on a checkride even though they’ve been ready for months. In my experience, if you try hard enough and call around, you will find someone. However, it might mean you have to travel a little bit which I know is not possible for everyone.
Instrument – 2 months, 150 hours TT, $14k
I was feeling a little fatigued after private so I was slow to start studying for instrument. I started by doing a lot of flying for fun, mainly flying in the Archer by myself on little cross countries to check off some of the requirements (in hindsight I should have found someone to split time with).
I did my instrument at a flight school in one of the adjacent states. This particular school specializes in accelerated programs, but they do not have a formalized instrument course. I went in-person and spoke with the director of flight operations to discuss my options. Since I had to take PTO to do this, the goal was to finish my instrument in one week with the checkride at the end. I paid a flat rate for the airplane and instructor time. I also stayed over there during that week so I had to pay for housing as well.
Before I went over there, I did some prep in the Archer that I did my private in and took the written exam (Sheppard air). I also purchased Sporty’s Instrument course and used that to prep and for the endorsement needed to take the written. The week I spent at the flight school was honestly a blast, and I was able to take my checkride on day 7 with 20 hours in the plane and about 4 hours of sim time. Again, happy to discuss the checkride in the comments or another post.
~Key takeaways from instrument:~
TAKE THE IRA, FII, AND IGI EXAMS AT THE SAME TIME. You only have to purchase the IRA Sheppard course and can take all 3 exams back to back. Also, again stay on top of ground school because instrument flying requires a lot of technical knowledge. But it honestly is really fun!
Commercial – 3 months, 263 hours TT, $8k
The biggest challenge for commercial was time building, of course. This is where networking saved me. I made friends with another instructor who frequented my local FBO who also owns a plane. He needed the time as well so we flew together a lot and I paid for the fuel. I also had another friend at the airport who owns a plane that he doesn’t fly often and offered to let me time build in that (again, I’ve been so lucky to come across some very generous people).
I did my checkride in the Archer that I learned in with my family member signing me off, and with the same DPE who did my private. Commercial was probably the easiest one I had done so far, but it still was no joke! I will say I was amazed with how much easier things came to me by this point versus when I first started, which was a great feeling.
~Key takeaways from commercial:~
Network, network, network. Spend as much time as you can at your local FBO or flight school and make friends with everyone. Like I’ve said, there are some very generous people out there who love to help out new pilots, and I could not have made it this far without them.
Also, in retrospect, it would have been a really good idea to have done commercial from the right seat. I’ve heard of a lot of people doing that and if I had, I would have been able to knock out CFI a lot sooner and cheaper.
Multi-engine add-on – 1 week, 298 hours TT, $4.3k
Shortly after getting my CPL, I had a week of PTO and decided to knock out my multi add-on. I found a flight school with a Seminole and got ahold of their MEI, and we figured we could knock it out during that week. I contacted the DPE who did my private and commercial and we scheduled my checkride for the end of the week. This flight school was about 2 hours driving from home, and I was able to stay with friends while I was there.
This one was a little challenging because this was in January in the midwest and we were seeing a lot of low IFR days. We ended up getting weathered out the first half of the week, but luckily the Seminole was an easy transition for me and we got me trained up in 3 days, 8 hours of flying. I took the checkride as scheduled and passed (I will say I have had extremely good luck with weather for all of my checkride days so far).
Sidenote: Prior to this checkride, I also took the AGI and IGI exams and asked the DPE who did my multi checkride to sign off on the ground instructor certificate at the same time. I did this because I’ve heard it helps when applying to CFI jobs (shows a little extra effort) and it was easier to do it this way versus having a FSDO issue the cert. Cost me $50 to the DPE.
~Key takeaways from multi:~
Do your research to find an airplane at a good rate. I paid $395 per hour which included the instructor, but I’ve seen some schools charging a lot more. Also, I looked into schools with accelerated courses that you pay as a package, and based on my experience I would not recommend because I was able to do it much cheaper my way.
My instructor did a good job of making sure I knew all the aircraft systems well enough to teach them in case I go for my MEI (which I would like to do soon). Since the MEL is light on material, I highly recommend this. Also, when I was doing research I was told to look for a Seminole or DA-42 because they’re easy trainers, which I would agree with based on my limited experience.
CFI – 1 month (on top of all my experience thus far), 316 hours TT, $5k
This was the scariest one for me. I had heard all along that CFI is the hardest and longest checkride and for the most part I would agree. I originally was planning on going to a school with an accelerated program for this, but after asking around I decided to do it on my own (with my family member signing me off).
This one was heavy on ground school. I got some lesson plans from various people as I heard that’s what everyone has prepared for the checkride, but I hardly ended up using them. I also had a friend send me PowerPoints he made for the technical subject areas. I edited them/made them my own and these are what I ended up using for the checkride along with a couple props.
As far as studying goes, the thing I found most helpful was watching random YouTube videos before bed every night. Although it was all review, I picked up a lot of tidbits that weren’t quite drilled into my brain as I still feel new to aviation overall. As the DPE described it, to be a good CFI you basically need to be a nerd about everything aviation and that’s what I tried to do. I would guess that I studied a few hours a day for a month and a half or so. As for the flying part, I had a little bit of right seat experience prior to buckling down for CFI (probably under 5 hours), so I’d guess it took me about 5 more hours to feel comfortable in the right seat. I took the checkride with the same DPE who did my private, commercial, and multi and passed! The checkride was 8 hours total so definitely a long day. As we were debriefing, I went ahead and scheduled CFII with him as well.
~Key takeaways from CFI:~
Start nerding out now (if you aren’t already). Keep a running collection of links and videos that explain concepts well or teach you something interesting, they will be useful for the checkride. Also, don’t buy lesson plans. As my DPE put it, there are really only like 5 lesson plans for any given topic and we all steal them from each other, so no need to reinvent the wheel or pay for them if someone else can give them to you. I’d also recommend really getting to know the PTS, because it lays out very clearly what you are required to do on the checkride (for example you know you’re going to need to teach runway incursions so it’s a good opportunity to be really prepared). I’m sure my last point is most applicable to those doing CFI on their own since you won’t have a school telling you exactly what to expect.
CFII – 1 month, 368 hours TT, $1.3k
CFII was possibly the easiest checkride to prepare for. I did this one in a friend’s airplane – a Mooney with a G750 and GFC 500 autopilot. It probably took about 10 hours of flying (I already have lots of time in this plane) to be ready. For studying, I reviewed Pilot Cafe, YouTube videos, and obtained some lesson plans from a friend. I did not use PowerPoints or anything for this one. I also had already completed the written exam back when I did my instrument rating. I’m not sure what else to say about this one, but I did it with the same DPE again and passed. It feels amazing to be done with checkrides for a while!
~Key takeaways from CFII:~
Select an airplane with a good autopilot. This made the flying portion of the checkride super easy. For the oral, I highly recommend working with instructors who send students for a lot of instrument checkrides. I feel like there are so many very specific questions that DPEs like to ask on instrument/CFII checkrides, so it helps if you have someone who knows what those questions are going to be. Also, FlightInsight on YouTube and Boldmethod were my favorite resources for this one. Lastly, make sure you know your avionics and autopilot really well, including reading and being able to teach all of the limitations that are in the user manuals.
Notes regarding cost:
I did a decent job of tracking all my expenses throughout this process. I noted in the title that the total cost to me was about $50k, which consists of the ~$45k that I discussed above plus some additional expenses. I also did my commercial ASES rating at Jack Brown’s seaplane base which cost me about $2.5K total (of course this was just for fun). The remaining amount consists of things like buying a headset, books, random accessories, and even some things I called “unnecessary expenses”. I temporarily paid for a membership at a flight school that I barely ended up using, so I put that in that category. While I did everything pretty cheap, I was definitely not perfect!
Here is a further breakdown of my expenses:
Airplane rentals/fuel - $36.9k
Instructor fees - $2.5k (bear in mind I got a lot of free instruction from friends & family)
Ground school - $1.3k (includes actual ground school and books)
Flight accessories - $1.2k
Written exam fees - $1.2k (8 exams total)
DPE fees - $5.8k (7 checkrides; this includes seaplane)
Medical fees - $290
Housing - $900
Misc/unnecessary expenses - $1.2k
Total: $51.7k
Overall Takeaways:
- For those doing Part 61/pay as you go, I highly recommend finding an independent instructor with a flexible schedule. This was key for me because I had a work schedule to work around.
- NETWORKING/MAKING FRIENDS. Go to every fly-in you can, always stop into the FBO to say hi to people, etc. etc. Having friends in aviation was monumentally helpful for me and saved me SO much money. Cannot stress this enough!
- If you are on a timeline, make sure you set specific milestones and when you are going to hit them. Make sure your instructor is on board too.
- Do your research! Reddit has been a fantastic resource for me throughout this process. Talk to people who have achieved the things you want to achieve. I really cannot thank you all enough for all your help and insights on your experiences!
Again, I am more than happy to answer any and all questions. I also apologize if anything is jumbled or confusing; this took a long time to write and I’m sure I missed things. I will also disclaim that while I did a good job of tracking all my expenses, I was not perfect and YMMV for sure. I just hope this gave a somewhat helpful picture for those hoping to do something similar to what I did.
As for next steps, I am aiming for the airlines one of these days! I have a couple interviews at flight schools coming up so I am planning to quit my job and finally start flying full-time soon. I want to do my MEI sometime soon as well but I haven’t figured out how I’m going to pay for the PIC time yet.
I also want to say that I absolutely love general aviation and hope to always be involved in it. I have made so many friends, had some incredible experiences, and learned way more than I could have ever imagined in the past year. For anyone thinking about flying, hopefully this is your sign to just do it! Feel free to comment with questions!