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People Debate If They'd Want The Ability To Speak Every Language Or Play Every Musical Instrument

People Debate If They'd Want The Ability To Speak Every Language Or Play Every Musical Instrument
Soundtrap/Reddit

People are often impressed by those who are multilingual–mainly because they can't imagine having the ability to communicate with others in different languages themselves.

Equally respected individuals are those who can play multiple musical instruments. Sure, playing the piano alone is impressive. But if a pianist can also play the bass and drums–essentially being their own one-person band–that is also a major wow factor.

So if you had the option to have the capacity for one or the other, which would it be?


That is the query Redditor MrJoelDude posed online, asking:

"Would you rather be the best at speaking every language or be the best at playing every instrument? Why?"

Things kicked off with wisecracks.

Musical Lingo

"does either skill require upkeep of any kind?"

"will these skills diminish if I don't keep them sharp?"

– dae_giovanni

As In "Be Flat"

"No they will Bb."

– wizecrafter

"Pack it up folks the comment section has been won."

– G-Mang

The Hits Keep Coming

"He's A natural."

– snakemaster77

"I C what you did there."

– Danysco

But, seriously, folks.

Here's what music lovers had to say.

An Introvert Responds

"Ooh, that's tough. Speaking every language would be so amazing, because you could communicate with literally anyone. You could talk to anyone on the whole planet, and I bet you could also get a fantastic, well-paid job with that skill."

"But I don't like people all that much. I'd find it much more personally satisfying to be able to be able to play any instrument. How amazing it would be, to be able to express myself with any instrument that exists. You could also be a musician and that would be way better for me than being an interpreter. So I'd have to go with that."

– IroniesOfPeace

Musical Dreamer

"As a professional translator with musical aspirations, this is one of the hardest questions for me. Obviously, the languages would make me the most useful person in the office and I'd be set for life, but being able to play every instrument has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and it would allow me to make all the music I've always wanted to but didn't know anyone with the right skills and interests."

– MrLuxarina

Solo Endeavor

"Instrument. I am scared of social interaction."

– Hannah_Halfblood

What Legends Are Made Of

"Also great to learn if you're highly social and want fans the world over. I don't think people realize the significance of this premise. You'd be the very best in the world at every musical instrument. Better than Hendrix, Page, Clapton, SRV, Chuck Berry, David Gilmour, Van Halen, Prince, Mark Knopfler etc. at the guitar."

"Better than Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Thelonious Monk, Kieth Jarrett, Duke, Art Tatum, and every 9 year old prodigy ever at piano. Better than Miles at the trumpet and Coltrane at the sax. Better than Gene Krupa, Stewart Copeland, John Bonham, Danny Carey, Neil Peart, Buddy Rich, etc. at the drums. Better than Les Claypool, Jaco Pastorius, Mingus, Bootsy Collins, Wooten, Cliff Burton, Geddy Lee at the bass. All at the same time."

"You could easily make it as a studio or live session musician but if that musical ability came with a bit of songwriting/compositional talent/luck than you could release some of the greatest music ever. Nobody who has a legitimate discography of some of the greatest music ever remains a nobody for long—especially in the age of the internet."

"Obviously one could make an argument that songwriting ability matters far more than raw musicianship and that person would probably point to artists like The Beatles and Kurt Cobain who were far from the greatest musicians of their respective ages—or any age—but still managed to write timeless, classic, hit music, but raw musicianship can still go a long way in allowing one to manifest one's creativity."

– thebenetar

The art of language spoke to these Redditors.

Hear Me Roar

"Speak every language. I’ve always wanted to speak T-Rex."

– TannedCroissant

Ancient Manuscripts

"Language. If it's every language, it means I could speak dead languages and translate some of the oldest texts in the world. That would be super cool."

– Terradactyl87

The Benefits

"I am a world traveling professional musician. I can play a handful of instruments but I can only speak one language. To have access to a foreign language while abroad in say ,India where there many. Would be a super power. To sing to people in there own tounges everywhere I go would be a treasure to myself and my audience. The absolute hardest and most dangerous part about traveling the world is not knowing the language."

– GobNarley

Would Be Outta This World

"Every language because I would dress like C-3PO and mess with people."

– Complex49

Because I love to travel, I would prefer the ability to speak multiple languages.

But either way, the ability to speak different languages or play different instruments are great options.

Since communication has the powerful potential to bring people from different backgrounds together–whether through the universal appeal of music or through common language–it could greatly benefit much of humanity.

People Describe The Dumbest Thing They've Seen A Coworker Do On The Job

Reddit user Adrian0091 asked: 'What‘s the dumbest thing you‘ve seen a coworker do on the job?'

woman in black long sleeve shirt using macbook
Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant as a hostess. Since I previously only babysat and tutored, a restaurant was a whole knew world to me.

Two of the girls who worked the same days as me were the ones to train me. They were a couple of years older than I was and had been working there for a year already, so they had a lot of experience. They not only taught me how to do the job, but gave me a lot of tips to make some of the more tedious tasks easier.

They both seemed like responsible girls, so when I came in the week after my training was over, I was shocked to hear they were both fired. According to a server I'd become friends with, the girls had snuck in some alcohol on what was supposed to be a slow day (it was a Tuesday, which was always our slowest day) and decided to have a "party at the host stand."

They got completely wasted and basically kept tripping as they led guests to their seats, even as they told the guests to watch their step. When one of the girls accidentally poured a milkshake over one guest and had to call a manager to smooth things over, they were caught and fired on the spot. I was cringing at their stupidity!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has had to deal with co-workers doing something utterly stupid while they were on the job. Redditors have borne witness to this and are eager to share their stories.

It all started when Redditor Adrian0091 asked:

"What‘s the dumbest thing you‘ve seen a coworker do on the job?"

Such A Pretty Display

"I asked one of the new kids to stack the shoe department."

"Easy if but a bit boring. I showed her, stack by brand then size, big at the bottom, small top yeah?"

"She decided to organise it by the color of the boxes instead because it looked prettier."

"Took me hours to fix that mess."

– Lizzy_Of_Galtar

Oooh, Burn! (Quite Literally)

"In high school, working at a Chinese restaurant, was there basically to take orders and bus tables. Another dude I vaguely knew from high school got hired there. Nice, popular dude, but not much common sense. Within his first two weeks, he went to make himself some food (we were allowed to do that to a certain extent), and he dropped some wontons into the deep fryer. When he decided they were done, and as we were having a conversation, he just REACHED HIS HAND into the oil to retrieve it. I don’t think I even reacted for a moment or two, and then rushed forward. He somehow ALSO didn’t react for a moment or two before pulling his hand out and yelling out a cartoon-style “YEEOUCH!”"

"He went to the hospital, and quit the job."

– CwAbandon

Umm...Huh?

"One dude once photocopied a slice of pizza. We found cheese and stuff inside the machine for weeks. Was pretty funny though."

– LinusMeindl

"Inside? Did the idiot put the pizza into the document feeder or something?"

– MechanicalHorse

"How else would you feed the machine pizza."

– andtheIToldYouSos

Spelling

"I saw a tattooist I worked with tattoo "Laugh now cry Ladder" across a guy's chest..."

"He was let go, and a few years later, a guy came in with "Warior" across his upper back in bold letters, wanting it fixed. Same tattooist lol."

– hurrythisup

"Cry me a ladder."

– Deleted User

"Cry me a liver."

– iqtrm

"Crimea river."

– MagicSPA

Yikes!

"Telling the manager on duty, “I’m not the one eating it, so why should I care?” when the manager was trying to explain to her how to correctly prepare a customer’s food."

– 2gecko1983

"Watched a coworker of mine at a Pizza Hut (1976) clean off the food prep counter with a gross floor broom. The kitchen was open, so people at the tables could see the food being made, and someone saw him and yelled out to the other customers, and people started walking out."

"Cleared it out."

"Once the manager figured out what happened, he fired the guy on the spot."

– big_d_usernametaken

Misstep After Misstep

"Admitted to not having spoken to any of the business stakeholders, but instead "made up their own story.""

"This was at the end of what was supposed to have been a four-week information-gathering phase of the project."

"That afternoon, when one of the managers went to escort her from the premises, they found her by the printer with a stack of confidential documents."

– WitShortage

No Cell Phones At Work

"Worked with a lot of hazardous chemicals. Had a coworker who was notorious for being on his phone. We had to use a pump to put a hazardous chemical into a tank. Problem was you couldn’t look at the destination and pump the pump at the same time. Someone had to pump and someone had to watch. So I specifically asked said coworker to not look at his phone this one time. Tank overflowed and spilt the chemical everywhere because he was staring at his phone. Took hours to clean up."

– BigTiddyOstrogothGF

"A coworker of mine was fired for using his cellphone in an electrically classified area, cell phone wasn't explosion proof, not to mention the fact no cell phones on the floor, they gave him a warning, second time they walked him out."

"Bad part for him was that his wife found out he was talking to his girlfriend."

"Twenty years down the tubes."

"As we liked to say, "He fired himself.""

– big_d_usernametaken

Ewww!

"A guy I worked with sent a spreadsheet round with all the women in the office ranked in a spreadsheet and graded overall based on 1-5."

"He was somehow shocked he didn’t pass his probation."

– downfallndirtydeeds

Thank God He Was Fired

"My best friend, he took his mop bucket and poured it down a water fountain instead of using the closet with a sink that was literally right next to the water fountain. He got fired the next day."

"He told me he was in “f**k it” mode with the job and he didn’t care. We worked at a hospital."

– MrFavorable

""Who cares if sick people get exposed to a little bit of antibiotic-resistant flesh-eating bacteria.""

– Brett42

Get Right Back Up

"There were 2 of us installing an air conditioner. He had a bit of work outside that required him going up a ladder about 3 or 4 feet, not high. I was inside doing wiring."

"I heard a loud thud and scream, so I ran out to see what happened. He fell off the ladder. I've seen gruesome injuries from stupid thing like this before, so I ran outside to help him out. No injuries, he picked himself up and got back at it, I went back inside."

"Five minutes later, same thing. I walked out to check on him again after a small fall. He was ok again, but I told him to chill out and watch what he's doing. I went back inside."

"Heard another thud from outside. He fell again. I just looked out the window the third time and went about my business."

– DrVanNostrand6

*Cringing*

"He opened a Skype window (yes, this was ~10 years ago) and started messaging me to sh*t-talk a person who was in the same call as us."

"Except, he forgot he was sharing his screen."

– zyygh

R.I.P. Press

"After checking the correct lock-out tag-out procedure was followed, I assured an employee that it was safe to change dies on a horizontal press. But he was skeptical so unbeknownst to anyone he put a piece of tooling steel about the size of a coffee can under the die base. Some of you know where this is going. He made the tooling change, forgot his “safety measure”, and cycled the press. We all heard a $400k press eat itself in a fantastic swan-song of a noise that would take Stephen King four pages to describe."

– Idontfeelold-much

The Stupidity Of The Human Race

"Late 90’s, I was a custodian in a NYC public school to pay for college. One of my coworkers accidentally spilled about 15 gallons of gasoline in the school parking lot. He didn’t want to get in trouble for spilling that much gas so he thought the best course of action was to burn off the gasoline. Of course gasoline burns with huge billows of black smoke so he panics and tries to put out the fire BY DRIVING HIS CAR OVER THE GIANT PUDDLE OF BURNING GASOLINE. Fire department shows up within minutes and sees him doing donuts in the giant fire and they spend a whole hour screaming at my coworker about how f**king stupid he was."

"Edit: and in 1997 when this happened, gas was 97¢ a gallon. He could have replaced all the gas for less than $15."

– -Words-Words-Words-

"I'm a veteran of the Internet, and enjoy reading accounts like this. I must have read thousands."

"This is, hats off, quite literally one of the most stupid decisions I ever heard anyone make."

– MagicSPA

I really don't want to believe that last one really happened!

Do you have any great stories? Let us know in the comments below.

Caution Tape at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti

There are certain theories most deem to be "crackpot."

But, there are some conspiracy theories that have a surprising amount of evidence behind them.

Enough that those conspiracies almost seem to hold water as it were.

If only we could all get a little truth from the higher-ups.

A little truth goes a long way, but they insist on holding onto secrets and lies.

I have a laundry list of questions.

And I'm not the only one.

Redditor CommonBeginning3132 wanted to hear about everyone's theories on what we're NOT being told by our elected officials, so they asked:

"What is something that you’re for sure the US government is hiding from us?"

I want to know about the money they "burn."

I refuse to believe it's all trashed.

The Harvest

artificial intelligence no GIF by ADWEEKGiphy

"That comment sections are just one large data harvest of random human thoughts and that data is used to fine-tune AI."

SLObro152

"Well, time to break out the REAL gibberish then."

nogtank

Past Due Date

"How many members of Congress are taking medications that would early retire anyone in the private sector."

TheBubbaDave"

There are likely several members of Congress taking Aricept or Namenda for dementia. Typically once someone needs to start taking those kinds of meds, they're no longer capable of working in an office job (or any job, to be honest)."

BananaPants430

"I wonder at what moment aging politicians realize they're no longer considered a leader in their party and from now on they'll just be occupying a seat for that party for the rest of their lives."

Stumpfinger1

Live Missiles

"I'm convinced that our ICBM protection system is far more accurate than the Pentagon is willing to admit."

KCalifornia19

"The problem with a system protecting the US from nuclear attack is that such a system, no matter how well designed, would be hugely complex, can never be fully tested, and must be close to 100% effective on its first use to have any value."

Renaissance_Slacker

"I was in the navy and my ship was the designated ICBM test ship for the new AEGIS system, we shot down decoy missiles all the time and were 100% effective."

"The missiles are live, there are just no active warheads on them."

iSniffMyPooper

Locations

"The location of nuclear submarines."

Pennsyltuckey54

"The only people who know exactly where the subs are are the navigational and commanding officers on the sub. Even the intelligence and commanding officers that assign the zones for the subs don’t know exactly where they are at any given point. Only the general area they are designated."

TheEveryEmpireFalls

Look Up

Hover Area 51 GIF by GashhudsGiphy

"UFOs and not the alien kind. I'm talking about super high-end secret stuff the military has and is still testing out."

DiamondOrBust

Are they out there?

Will we ever truly know?

They keep a tight lid on that one.

Follow the Money

Bugs Bunny Money GIF by Looney TunesGiphy

"How many politicians have secret offshore bank accounts full of embezzled taxpayer dollars."

Firetaymer70

Money Talks

"The impact wealthy individuals with personal interests have in politics, inside and abroad."

contessamiau

"Just remember when they talk about American interests abroad they aren't talking about the normal citizen's interests. Realistically what happens in some far away land is going to have little impact on my daily life. What they are really talking about is corporate interests every single time. Smedley Butler tried to warn us almost 100 years ago but we just brushed him off."

Slumminwhitey

Budgets

"Good Lord. Clearly, no one commenting here has ever known anyone working for the federal government. The biggest secret they’re keeping from you is that every government agency spends money like a coke addict in the month of September so that their budgets won’t get slashed in the next fiscal year."

tonovay

"Every single bureaucratic organization in the world does this. It’s not a secret at all."

sdreal

What Did They Find?

"I have a very personal reason for wanting to know what they found at Roswell. My grandfather was in the Air Force and was present at the site. All he ever said about it was, 'It wasn’t a damn weather balloon,' then shut down. He was low-ranking, basically just there to drive the higher-ranking personnel, but he saw something, and I wanted to know what it was! He also firmly believed in aliens, so that just adds to my curiosity, especially given how Southern Baptist he was."

GloInTheDarkUnicorn

Happenstance

Always Sunny Reaction GIFGiphy

"Used to believe in this stuff until I started working in government. I’m now convinced that most conspiracy theories can be explained by pure incompetence."

Puzzleheaded_Ice_233

Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.

College classroom
Dom Fou/Unsplash

Many high school graduates face the conundrum of what to major in when they go on to pursue higher education.

Teens who haven't already sparked an interest in a particular field by the time they graduate wind up buying more time waiting for enlightenment by electing "undecided."

But to avoid any stigma of being an idle scholar, some students settle on majors they thought never existed.

"Fun with pasta," anyone?

While such a major might not exist, I wouldn't put it past some academia for coming up with it.

Curious to hear what those unheard-of specialized fields of study are out there, Redditor GazelleHistorical705 asked:

"What is the most ridiculous college major you’ve ever heard of?"

Majors with one word, please.

Sounds Like A Hard Major

"PENIS. My school offered a major in Political Economy of Newly Industrialized Societies, but eventually realized the acronym and changed the name. Pity. I hope some were able to get their degrees with a concentration in PENIS."

– OhMaiMai

Hidden Objective

"Golf."

"It was made so the Vice Chancellor could buy a private golf course for the university, so he could play on it. I believe it had 5 enrollments ever, and one was a joke that didnt show up or pay. It got cancelled the first year, but he got to enjoy his own personal golf course for some years after."

jadelink88

Just Throwing Ideas

"Frisbee. A friends roommate at Amherst was in some kind of 'create your own major' thing and chose frisbee. His family had momey and college was just a formality."

– hightower65

Certain concepts as a major were hard to grasp.

Seed Of Despotism

"IIRC, like 20 years ago some college in Indiana offered a major in World Domination."

– Rev_Christopheles

"You can only get a job as a henchman with a BS."

"You need a full PhD to be an evil mastermind."

– JimBean823

A Vague Focus

"PhD in general studies."

– dravik

"Tf do you even write your dissertation about."

– Fragile_Line

"Everything."

– ProsciuttoPizza

"Generally."

– cropguru357

Let's Take It Outside

"An old friend has a Bachelor's degree in Outdoor Activities. He was never able to explain exactly what that meant, though."

– EnlargedBit371

"A guy I know majored in Recreation."

– kmsc87

"When I was there, my college had one of the top Parks Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) programs in the country."

"It had the nickname 'Party Right Through May.'”

"It was extremely popular with student athletes, especially football players."

"There’s always a demand for graduates too. It seems like one of those fields where you shouldn’t need a college degree to do the work, but you need one to get in the door."

– JimBeam823

Going At Your Own Pace

"When I was in uni my friend dated a guy who was majoring in leisure studies. I used to joke that leisure studies is a 4 year program, but if you’re good enough at it you can do it in 6."

– Mtldoggogogo

Things went up a notch.

Arghhh Ya Kiddin' Me?

"At MIT you can be certified in being a pirate if you complete the courses of pistol, archery, sailing, and fencing."

– yhdreytaweatrst

"It’s not a major, it’s a certificate. But if I ever get my own office it’s going in a very nice diploma frame and I’m gonna see who notices."

– PoorCorrelation

Veritable Hodgepodge

"My university had an Interdisciplinary Studies department that served mainly to get super duper seniors graduated. They would cobble together the random credits people got because they changed majors every semester into a 'degree.' You get some wild majors like a BA in Culinary Traditions and Music in the Former British Empire."

– pinelands1901

Sapphic Education

"My college briefly had a major in Nordic Lesbianism."

– WhizzleTeabags

"I've read many of the responses on here where most of them weren't ridiculous imo but you gave the best one!"

– 90DayTroll

"HUH."

– OP

Make It Up

"At a graduation at the University of Redlands. They have a degree whereby you basically take the classes you want and call it what you want."

"The degree conferred was, I kid you not: 'Still trying to figure out who I am.'”

– dmur726

Clearly there's a major for all occasions.

But at the end of the day, does it really matter as long as you have a BA in something to show you were academically tenacious?

Now go out there and carve out your own path, young scholars!

Just make sure you can pay off those student loans.

Maybe there should be a major on how to avoid debt.

human robot illustration

Possessed Photography on Unsplash

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as:

"the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making and translation between languages."

AI is broken down into four types—from most basic to most advanced:

  1. Reactive machines
  2. Limited memory
  3. Theory of mind
  4. Self-awareness

The first two—reactive machines and limited memory—currently exist.

Reactive machines AI have no memory—it responds directly to current information. An example is a recommendation based on your streaming activity.

Limited memory looks into the past and monitors specific objects or situations over time, and adds the information to adapt responses. Self-driving cars are a good example of limited memory AI.

The other types—theory of mind and self-awareness—don't exist yet.

Theory of mind AI would be able to understand intentions and predict behavior while adjusting its own responses, simulating human interpersonal relationships.

The final step in AI is self-awareness. These would be systems that have a sense of self, a conscious understanding of their existence.

As AI advances, some human work functions will be done cheaper or more efficiently by AI.

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