All of the certified geniuses I’ve personally met are assholes (like my friend Brett). A good portion of those I’ve seen live footage of are also class-A dicks (like James Woods). Only a very very few are nice sweet people (like Brian Cox).
I grew up next to a national laboratory so I know a lot of really smart people, and I found they tend to be a bit apologetic. Humble about their abilities aside from where they’ve focused their knowledge (where they’ll get as mile-a-minute excited about it as any geek), with a tendency to skip ahead in conversations and then have to wait for others to catch up. The main assholes I’ve encountered are the self-proclaimed geniuses who maybe have one aptitude test from when they were a kid but nothing that can really speak for itself, so they use it as a club. It’s the difference between someone who doesn’t mince words and someone who calls themselves a “straight shooter” and goes out of their way to be rude.
Though with it being a laboratory, most of the folks I knew are *functional* geniuses. You don’t get away with going lone wolf in those kind of settings, you have to learn to work with other people, whether they’re geniuses or not.
It helps a lot to put smart people in a community together. Put them together, and they’ll bludgeon or coax or nourish each other into decent behavior. But leave a smart person out alone in a sea of idiots, and it goes horribly wrong. They get lonely, and they get frustrated that no one can push back as hard, and they get tired of always having to stop and explain and not be understood anyways.
Goblaurence, here, has spent way too long being the hardest hitter in the room for his own good. He’s tired of everyone’s crap, no one puts him in his place when he oversteps, and he has no one to talk to about his ideas. Magda will be really good for him on that front; she may not be technical, but she’s plenty intelligent, and she’ll be willing to call him on his shit.
You only wish it were so.
Growing up next to a building of any sort won’t confer expertise as regards what is or isn’t intelligence. And unfortunately, a lot of people tend to get confused over the matter because at some level they consider it a mere value judgement on par with “niceness”.
Society as a whole is rather anti-intellectualist though. Among other things a side-effect of the general hostility levelled at anyone “different” for any reason. The average person will, at some level, consider acts of higher intelligence than their own to be a challenge to their position… attacks on them, in a sense. This can generally be combined with the underlying distrust of humanity for anything sufficiently unfamiliar. And with large numbers of people doing this in tandem, it makes for an environment that is rather hostile to those of genuinely higher intelligence.
So what do you expect someone brought up in an environment of perpetual distrust and low-level hostility to be like? Especially when it seems that everyone else is trying to hold them back and cripple their potential for the sake of petty egos?
Imagine how different the world would be if the idiots knew and accepted they were idiots, for that matter. Even teaching them what “idiot” means would be a start.
They just need to feel each other out a bit. It’s the a-holes who just get on a job with you and don’t interact with you at all that get you killed. The a-hole who actually takes to the time to hammer out who you are and what you can do saves your life.
That’s actually what I said. (The sour note was Goblaurence being rudely frank in his initial response; the getting along was when Magda ran with Goblaurence’s earnestness and turned it back at him, which he appreciated.)
And I am already shipping Goblaurance and Magda. Dear me, I’ve allowed this…dark comic to twist my mind until now – until now I’ve become the very thing I swore to destroy.
A fanboy!
My father used to say ‘Excuses are like assholes; everybody has one.’ My response was always, ‘And they serve a purpose, otherwise you’re full of shit.’ I typically got grounded for that..
I also really appreciate that, while Goblaurence might be an ass, he also realized it was unnecessary and inefficient to belittle (badum ching?) Magda for asking about his hostility. Frigg might have gone with “your mom,” or something.
“Because that’s me. And I ain’t about to apologize for it. And you need this etc.”
Well, you should. Telling things like they are ? Oh please. That’s just another poor excuse to be rude and wantonly mean. That has nothing, nothing to do with being a genius or the brains : this is just about being a complete ass, which has to be kept clean, even if it’s mission is to deal with shit. Literaly.
Not to mention no one has the need for a class A-ass. It is like saying you need someone to pester you, to annoy you, to be all-around obnoxious with you. What kind of sick weirdo would need that, apart the snotty brats in need of an education ?
Everybody really does need the truth. How a person feels about the truth is irrelevant, it’s still truth. Truth does not need your emotional support to be truth.
“It is error alone which needs government support. Truth can stand by itself.” – Thomas Jefferson
Well, ok. But that is no excuse to be rude and call names. Saying the truth and being a total ass are two independant and different things.
If I fail a math test, telling me “you failed” and “you failed miserably, you godd-for-nothing limped-brain slob” are totally different. The former is the good, real, fact-stating way of saying things. The latter is the one used by asses who need to learn the difference between truth and wanton aggressivity.
it does indeed
Besides, after House and all the Sherlocks, the genius-asshole is a trend.
All of the certified geniuses I’ve personally met are assholes (like my friend Brett). A good portion of those I’ve seen live footage of are also class-A dicks (like James Woods). Only a very very few are nice sweet people (like Brian Cox).
I grew up next to a national laboratory so I know a lot of really smart people, and I found they tend to be a bit apologetic. Humble about their abilities aside from where they’ve focused their knowledge (where they’ll get as mile-a-minute excited about it as any geek), with a tendency to skip ahead in conversations and then have to wait for others to catch up. The main assholes I’ve encountered are the self-proclaimed geniuses who maybe have one aptitude test from when they were a kid but nothing that can really speak for itself, so they use it as a club. It’s the difference between someone who doesn’t mince words and someone who calls themselves a “straight shooter” and goes out of their way to be rude.
Though with it being a laboratory, most of the folks I knew are *functional* geniuses. You don’t get away with going lone wolf in those kind of settings, you have to learn to work with other people, whether they’re geniuses or not.
It helps a lot to put smart people in a community together. Put them together, and they’ll bludgeon or coax or nourish each other into decent behavior. But leave a smart person out alone in a sea of idiots, and it goes horribly wrong. They get lonely, and they get frustrated that no one can push back as hard, and they get tired of always having to stop and explain and not be understood anyways.
Goblaurence, here, has spent way too long being the hardest hitter in the room for his own good. He’s tired of everyone’s crap, no one puts him in his place when he oversteps, and he has no one to talk to about his ideas. Magda will be really good for him on that front; she may not be technical, but she’s plenty intelligent, and she’ll be willing to call him on his shit.
+1
You only wish it were so.
Growing up next to a building of any sort won’t confer expertise as regards what is or isn’t intelligence. And unfortunately, a lot of people tend to get confused over the matter because at some level they consider it a mere value judgement on par with “niceness”.
Society as a whole is rather anti-intellectualist though. Among other things a side-effect of the general hostility levelled at anyone “different” for any reason. The average person will, at some level, consider acts of higher intelligence than their own to be a challenge to their position… attacks on them, in a sense. This can generally be combined with the underlying distrust of humanity for anything sufficiently unfamiliar. And with large numbers of people doing this in tandem, it makes for an environment that is rather hostile to those of genuinely higher intelligence.
So what do you expect someone brought up in an environment of perpetual distrust and low-level hostility to be like? Especially when it seems that everyone else is trying to hold them back and cripple their potential for the sake of petty egos?
Imagine how different the world would be if the idiots knew and accepted they were idiots, for that matter. Even teaching them what “idiot” means would be a start.
I’m an asshole who thinks I’m a genius. That’s gotta count for something.
Glad to see them at least kinda maybe sorta getting along
They just need to feel each other out a bit. It’s the a-holes who just get on a job with you and don’t interact with you at all that get you killed. The a-hole who actually takes to the time to hammer out who you are and what you can do saves your life.
Penk will probably be the mouth. Hehe….mouth.
As long as he brushes his teeth better than Magda.
i think its just the lighting from the torch that makes her teeth look yellow.
side note, the fact that anyone over the age of like, 6 has a full mouth of teeth is kinda impressive.
At this point I thought the team would be composed of more members.
And Auraugu will be the… bones? Sinews?
The funny bone.
He’ll be along to humerus.
Hah, well played, Magda.
Leave it to the priestess of the lava god to bring the best burns.
And appreciate that Goblaurence didn’t get all snippy about it.
When you throw the first punch, it’s bad form to complain when you get hit. Doesn’t stop most people.
There’s two types of people who throw punches: fighters, and cowards.
No one is on fire yet? …Hmmm, this might actually work.
INVISIBLE CIGAR!
If you mean panel 2, it’s not invisible (and it’s also not a cigar)
I’m not sure if HAMMERHEAD’s capable of not-a-death-glare, but I feel I’d be even more terrified if he somehow managed a smile.
I actually think his smile would be better than a death-glare to get his point across…After all, his smile ALONE makes a LOT of points.
Oh snap! They started right off on a sour note yet they’re getting along! :-D
TBH, I was expecting a fight with the newly avatar’ed Penk arriving to break it up. I’m glad to be wrong, to be surprised. :-)
Are you kidding? Look at how Magda and Gobbles are grinning at each other, that’s not a sour note, that’s the beginnings of a real friendship.
That’s actually what I said. (The sour note was Goblaurence being rudely frank in his initial response; the getting along was when Magda ran with Goblaurence’s earnestness and turned it back at him, which he appreciated.)
I was expecting him to show up after the third panel, just to say “You mean someone like me?”
Goblaurence: the ass that blows smoke… not one to blows smoke up the ass.
Now, I may be going crazy, but it appears to me that Hammerhead’s tattoo keeps switching sides.
Might just have one on each shoulder and we’re not getting an angle where we could see both.
He’s got one on each side.
He’s just too wide to see them both at once.
Unless you have eyes on each side of a very wide head…
The one on the right side at least is new since Harky met him.
This ship is sailing time to write some Magda x Goblaurence fanfiction
Will it be illustrated?
Good lord I really hope not *shudder*.
And I am already shipping Goblaurance and Magda. Dear me, I’ve allowed this…dark comic to twist my mind until now – until now I’ve become the very thing I swore to destroy.
A fanboy!
Yep. They are at the dirty talk flirty talk phase already.
I am not looking forward to Goblaurence and Magda dying.
Every party needs an assbrains.
So the next member what will be?, the stomach?, a kidney?,…
Magda used Backtalk. It is very effective. Goblaurence is impressed.
My father used to say ‘Excuses are like assholes; everybody has one.’ My response was always, ‘And they serve a purpose, otherwise you’re full of shit.’ I typically got grounded for that..
Wow, that’s great! Not that you were grounded, I mean, but the response.
ha ha, Heart!
are they trying to call Captain Planet?
—-
Nice to see that Magda can roll with it. She asked, he answered, his answer made sense, return volley.
I also really appreciate that, while Goblaurence might be an ass, he also realized it was unnecessary and inefficient to belittle (badum ching?) Magda for asking about his hostility. Frigg might have gone with “your mom,” or something.
“while Goblaurence might be an ass”
I wonder how he’ll react when force-fed with the same medicine he shoves down the throats of others.
Methink Frigg could have used a more radical way of expression, like a teeth- and/or jaw) breaking mace blow or punch.
“Why do you have to be so hostile ?”
“Because that’s me. And I ain’t about to apologize for it. And you need this etc.”
Well, you should. Telling things like they are ? Oh please. That’s just another poor excuse to be rude and wantonly mean. That has nothing, nothing to do with being a genius or the brains : this is just about being a complete ass, which has to be kept clean, even if it’s mission is to deal with shit. Literaly.
Not to mention no one has the need for a class A-ass. It is like saying you need someone to pester you, to annoy you, to be all-around obnoxious with you. What kind of sick weirdo would need that, apart the snotty brats in need of an education ?
Everybody really does need the truth. How a person feels about the truth is irrelevant, it’s still truth. Truth does not need your emotional support to be truth.
“It is error alone which needs government support. Truth can stand by itself.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Everybody really does need the truth.”
Well, ok. But that is no excuse to be rude and call names. Saying the truth and being a total ass are two independant and different things.
If I fail a math test, telling me “you failed” and “you failed miserably, you godd-for-nothing limped-brain slob” are totally different. The former is the good, real, fact-stating way of saying things. The latter is the one used by asses who need to learn the difference between truth and wanton aggressivity.
Just my two pennies, btw.
I already like the dynamic between these two! :-D
Lets be more non-specific. He’s the cloaca. Just a one-orifice-fits-all kind of guy.
Gahhh…You just gave me a mental image that will require brain bleach to get rid of!
I kinda hope these guys stick around for a while. If the dynamic between Goblawrence and Magda is good now…
And no shipping please :P
Too late. There are at least two shippers who posted before you.
Yeah, I was kinda talking to them :P
Then you should have specified, “no MORE shipping, please.”
Oh, you and your logic!
He already seems to have a better sense of humor than the don…
cute couple, ship it.
I like the fact that he owns it.
likeing laurence more each time…