h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

[mr]

Oh dear. I seem to have accidently agreed to give a talk to the group of med students who do volentry sex education on "LGBT Health issues" next Wednesday.

Now I'm getting all worried and trying to get together the evidence base for the points I want to make..

[MTG]

Accidentally, Z? I'm sure you'll manage splendidly .

Well I was trying to make a casual conversation with a rather attractive girl...

mind you that's how I ended up agreeing to stand up in front of a 30 year 9 boys (that's 13 and 14) and talk about sex for 3 hours (in total!)

thought bout searching H2G2 have found some interesting links circa 1999-2000 PM pre so i cant draw your attention to them
pandora might be a good place to start.

Welcome to both Seth and Speckly.

I'd like to hear more about Lagos, too. My husband passed through there once on a business trip and he doesn't ever want to go back. I'd like to hear another opinion.

Does anyone think there is such a thing as unintentional trolling? I suppose someone could accidentally incite a brouhaha, but unless an apology or at least an explanation or acknowledgement that other opinions are worthy of consideration, then I don't think so.

Witty, the thing is, if it's unintentional, it really isn't trolling. Trolling is baiting behavior, saying provocative things trying to get responses.

At least that's what *I* see it as. So I don't know how you could have unintentional trolling. Are you thinking of specific example?

LGBT health issues, hmm. That's rather hard to talk about all at once since lesbians and gay men have drastically different health concerns (I presume that transgendered folks have a different set again, though I have very little knowledge of that). How sensible is it to lump them together? Not that I'm doubting your ability to make a good job of it, just curious about how you go about it.

Speckly.

I remembered reading that anger is a secondary emotion - that is, first you feel something else, then you feel anger. It is very helpful in controling anger, if you can identify that first feeling and deal with it. Anyway, I couldn't remember the details, so I went googling and found this page on anger:
http://eqi.org/anger.htm

It says what I was wanting to say.

Marv - what is your gut feel on the issue? When you think of moving, does your stomache drop and you feel down, or do you feel light and cheerful? How about when you think of staying? When you do this excercise, really imagine yourself doing each thing.

That's why the talk will be divided into 4 different sections. (L, G, B and T)

It's quite specific - covering the basics of L and G sex, the difference bettween sexual behaviour and sexual identity. (For example a person in a monogamous relationship may well idenfity as bisexual).

Perhaps an overview of issues facing gay teenagers - bearing in mind we're not sexuality consellors but it might be useful to know..

Then briefly mentioning sexual health needs of both men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women.

And then the basics of transseuxalism, and transgender..

I think I'll change the title..

MR, I suppose I would describe what I mean as a posting having the effect of trolling but not being the intent of the poster. Perhaps through inexperience or unfamiliarity with online behavior. I don't have an example, just trying to give a hypothetical newbie the benefit of the doubt.

Z--you always have the most interesting conversations with children.

I'm not going to presume to speak for the Dalai Lama, but a Buddhist would probably tell you, Lil, to fully experience the anger and recognize it for what it is--a projection of your self on the situation. Once you see that it is all in your mind, you control it (since you cannot control the behaviors and reactions of others) and realize it is meaningless and let it go. Personally, I've been trying to control my reaction to anger that is similar to Bryce's--stewing and fretting and not discussing my issues with the other party in any given situation.

I've been flirting with Buddhism for the last few years, however I cannot claim to understand all the teachings. *shrugs*

Nice. Very nice!

Lots of space, too!

workB4play

oooh, I don't know.

I mean, I think I see where you're going, but while I can see the initial post, unlike trolls, the unintended offender would say "whoops, I'm sorry, didn't mean that at all," or something very similar, and then it would end. It more of a faux pas than a troll.

But I see what you mean. I'll have to think about that one...

*waves to witty moniker and offers round a bag of toffee*

Am I the only one who has trouble imagining how you'd get from chatting up a pretty girl to giving a lecture?

That is a lot to cover. The whole identity issue has become a lot more complicated since the advent of queer theory. For instance most people seem to have trouble getting their head around the idea of a lesbian and a gay man having sex in the first place the idea that it is *not* heterosexual just because the participants are of opposite sexes.

Fun subject though.

It is game theory in practise, Courtesy, not just an analogy, and I find it works pretty well for me at any rate.

Lil, I could, and frequently do, drone on about Lagos for hours; but perhaps I'll restrain myself to something of relevance to this topic.

A BBC report before christmas had ranked Nigerians as the happiest people on earth - quite an achievement as the majority live in conditions that most of us would regard as abject poverty. Yet they manage to radiate positive emotions spontaneously, straight from the heart and without a shred of insincerity in a way that puts most of us to shame. It has its downside of course, Nigerian tempers can be quite volatile, but the overall friendliness and vitality of the place makes up for all that.

The most miserable nation by the way is Roumania apparently, but that's one place I've not been to so I couldn't vouch for it.

Mmm a toffee

*rudely dives in..*

Well she asked me too, - and I was too busy staring to say no..

*waves to Speckly*

Welcome.

Seth - I stand corrected, and I believe I will be utilizing that piece of game theory in my life.

Courtesy

Poverty is something I've been thinking about quite a bit lately. Now I've been lurking for a while and I think I can safely say that my lizard and I *holds up lizard girlfriend for all to inspect* earn quite a bit less than most of you. But we don't think of ourselves as poor and we are certainly happy. I think there is quite a bit of unconscious snobbery in western society which makes it hard for people to imagine *poverty* and happiness going hand in hand. The idea of what poverty is can also be a bit skewed. I really believe that money only has as much to do with happiness as you let it.