Unpopular opinions you have

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think that Vancouver is a fantastic city—easily one of the best in NA, but it pales in comparison to New York and Chicago, and the great European cities Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Istanbul, etc. Furthermore, I find both Vancouver and Seattle frequently to be emulations of one another on a few levels, and this in my mind detracts a little bit from the common claim about either of them being the "best city on the planet".

Ironically, your earlier post about knowing not of what you speak assumedly applies here... While I merely said that it was a good city that is well designed, and not that it was superior to any other specific city or even that it was among the best cities on Earth, I still disagree with much of what you're saying.

I've spent an awful lot of time in Vancouver and Seattle and the two are incredibly different. Seattle is far less attractive, less natural and has a much more "blue collar urban" vibe to it whereas Vancouver is more metropolitan. This glosses over the differences between the two; suffice it to say I could not disagree more vehemently with that statement. If not for the similarities in climate you might as well be comparing Vancouver to Pittsburgh.

Further, while there are cities that Vancouver pales in comparison to, I wouldn't list the ones you did. Personally I think Zurich is the best city on the planet (that I've been to). Vienna, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Florence. I would definitely not want to live in Rome, Paris, or London for any extended period of time (especially not Rome). New York and Chicago are so vastly different that it's difficult to compare and I suspect that whatever criteria you're using would make it impossible for a smaller city to stack up. And criteria does determine this; for argument's sake, why isn't Amalfi the best city on the planet?

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

I hate the two-week break before the super bowl. As a result we have to suffer through two weeks of Ray Lewis crying and attempting to dance.

Play your last game and retire, already!

No kidding. Good riddance to bad garbage. Can't believe the NFL considers him a role model. What a mickey mouse league. They should make a commercial for that to go along with the other 2500 commercials aired per 3 hour game.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Vancouver is very well designed. The downtown core is lively and vibrant. Much of the infrastructure is relatively new. There is no nightlife, but welcome to Canada-except-Montreal.

Vancouver sucks. Richmond is where it's at! too bad it might get wiped out in a tsunami.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think that Vancouver is a fantastic city—easily one of the best in NA, but it pales in comparison to New York and Chicago, and the great European cities Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Istanbul, etc. Furthermore, I find both Vancouver and Seattle frequently to be emulations of one another on a few levels, and this in my mind detracts a little bit from the common claim about either of them being the "best city on the planet".

There is no shame in being a world class city, but from among the 30 or 40 or so, it is pretty difficult determining "greatness" from top to bottom.

But to me, those comparisons don't make any sense. New York (plus all those other places) are special historical entities that arose, as if miraculously, through the social, and political currents of a great age.

That said, after having been to most of those cities on that list, I would not chose any of them over Vancouver.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

There are at least 30 cities in Europe and Asia that are more beuatiful than anything we have here.

Yeah, cities that are 500-1000 years older than anything we have here.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Ironically, your earlier post about knowing not of what you speak assumedly applies here... While I merely said that it was a good city that is well designed, and not that it was superior to any other specific city or even that it was among the best cities on Earth, I still disagree with much of what you're saying.

I've spent an awful lot of time in Vancouver and Seattle and the two are incredibly different. Seattle is far less attractive, less natural and has a much more "blue collar urban" vibe to it whereas Vancouver is more metropolitan. This glosses over the differences between the two; suffice it to say I could not disagree more vehemently with that statement. If not for the similarities in climate you might as well be comparing Vancouver to Pittsburgh.

Further, while there are cities that Vancouver pales in comparison to, I wouldn't list the ones you did. Personally I think Zurich is the best city on the planet (that I've been to). Vienna, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Florence. I would definitely not want to live in Rome, Paris, or London for any extended period of time (especially not Rome). New York and Chicago are so vastly different that it's difficult to compare and I suspect that whatever criteria you're using would make it impossible for a smaller city to stack up. And criteria does determine this; for argument's sake, why isn't Amalfi the best city on the planet?

Italians

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Vancouver sucks. Richmond is where it's at! too bad it might get wiped out in a tsunami.

Dude Richmond is TERRIBLE. I have family that lives there, including my Dad. It's the most suburban suburb ever. I mean it's better than Ladner or whatever but it's near the bottom of the GVRD list. If you want to claim a spot, claim the North Shore.

As for the tsunami, here is a map.

Spoiler!

See that big mass of land to the west of Richmond? That's Vancouver Island. It would take a hell of a tsunami to get past that sucker.

[polak]

Some more venting:

- I think the fact that Canada isn't more competitive in Summer sports is an absolute joke and really needs to be fixed. I'm talking major investments.

- I think "restraining" yourself from doing things in life cause they are unhealthy or frowned upon is absolutely stupid. I don't want to say it but... you do only live once and if you don't try something and it ends, then thats it. You're done. You will never get to try that again. That said, there is a line between "living life" and being a complete ######.

- I'm 5'10 and my ideal weight would be 160. I don't want to be any bigger then that.

- I think taking anything in business school besides Finance, Supply Chain Management or Accounting is absolutely stupid unless you're doing it for "fun" and not as a tool to get a job.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by polak

Some more venting:

- I think the fact that Canada isn't more competitive in Summer sports is an absolute joke and really needs to be fixed. I'm talking major investments.

First one, can I ask why, I don't think it is an entirely unpopular opinion, I just want to know why you think placing well in an international sporting event warrants major investments, when we have other issues that will surely need major investments as well (i.e. CPP, health care, and infrastructure etc.)

As for myself, I always get weird looks when I tell people I am not afraid of dying. Not in the sense that I am invincible and have balls of steel, but rather more that if I die, I am dead, I will not know I am dead and it will not really bother me that I am dead. The process of dying does scare me though, I hope my death is quick and not drawn out.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by polak

- I think the fact that Canada isn't more competitive in Summer sports is an absolute joke and really needs to be fixed. I'm talking major investments.

On that note, I think that investing in any kind of sports beyond the grass-roots level is a ridiculous waste of money.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by peter12

Vancouver is hands-down the most objectively beautiful city in the world.

Rates high with me too. San Francisco gets my vote. Others claim Cape Town is fantastic.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Third, our society has necessarily emerged as a collective of "ultra-specialists". Generalism has disappeared with increased needs for specialisation, and as a consequence, most of us tend to know a great deal about only a fraction of things. What so often occurs under these conditions is that we misconstrue a lot of knowledge about a few things for a lot of knowledge about everything: We extrapolate from the minutiae of our expertise to pretend to speak articulately about a great number of things of which we actually know very little.

Disagree somewhat. Overall we are smarter and more educated than we have been at any point in history. We have more people attending things like post secondary education and more vehicles to attain knowledge such as TV and the Internet. It may appear to the layman that more and more people who do not have the knowledge are speaking out, but that is more a factor of the methods (Internet, TV) than it is the people themselves.

There have always been idiots passing judgment about politics, religion and a variety of other topics at any period in human history. Now they can make their own webpage or Twitter handle and gain followers. There is more noise.

One can argue that the amount of knowledge required to be a specialist in a field has been expanded (and more to the point, the total amount of knowledge available), but overall the average person is in a better place and more informed than they were 20, 50, or 100 years ago.

Speaking out about things we really don't know isn't unique to "ultra-specialists", it is more just in our nature.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by troutman

Rates high with me too. San Francisco gets my vote. Others claim Cape Town is fantastic.

Love San Francisco, I lived there a year and would go back in a heartbeat if I could.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by polak

Some more venting:

- I think the fact that Canada isn't more competitive in Summer sports is an absolute joke and really needs to be fixed. I'm talking major investments.

I think people who think that a winter country should be raking in medals in summer sports at a rate well above it's size are delusional. Canada earned more medals per capita in London than the US, was neck and neck with France and just behind Germany. The same is true if we base it upon medals per GDP.

Canada is not a big country, we do not have multiple elite athletes in every sport, and those that we do have face major obstacles in summer sports due to the simple nature of the country.

Canadians need to accept that we do pretty damn well, and stop calling performances that are what any rational person should expect a joke. Based on what I've seen around here I imagine that last part is pretty unpopular.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by AR_Six

Ironically, your earlier post about knowing not of what you speak assumedly applies here...

Not so ironic, since I have no problem admitting that it rings especially true in this instance.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Vancouver sucks. Richmond is where it's at! too bad it might get wiped out in a tsunami.

The loss of BMWs would be staggering...

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Disagree somewhat. Overall we are smarter and more educated than we have been at any point in history...

This is not really what I was getting at. I agree, we absolutely and collectively know more now than at any point in history. My point was more along the lines that because of the knowledge explosion people are necessarily directed into increasing specialisation. My hypothesis is that people generally think that they know more than they actually do about almost any given topic, and this in large part a consequence of the depth of knowledge we tend to possess in a narrow topic.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Bonded

First one, can I ask why, I don't think it is an entirely unpopular opinion, I just want to know why you think placing well in an international sporting event warrants major investments, when we have other issues that will surely need major investments as well (i.e. CPP, health care, and infrastructure etc.)

National pride is an amazing thing cause it unites the country. I think more moments like 2010 would only lead to good things for this country.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by polak

National pride is an amazing thing cause it unites the country. I think more moments like 2010 would only lead to good things for this country.

Problem is that I think at least 1/3rd and probably more Canadians do not really care about summer sports. I would rather spend the money elsewhere. Winter is our time to shine.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Problem is that I think at least 1/3rd and probably more Canadians do not really care about summer sports. I would rather spend the money elsewhere. Winter is our time to shine.

I think they don't care, because we suck.

I honestly think if Canada all of the sudden became a power in Soccer or Tennis or whatever it maybe, then you would see them care. Those two sports are perfect examples because they're sports that matter on the international stage outside of the Olympics as well.