Firefly/Serenity: Dino-Therapy

[Michael]

Here is a piece of trivia I have never seen written about Firefly/Serenity.   I was at a conference last week and some psychologists were joking about fad therapies of the past.  One of my friends commented:  I, for one, am awaiting the return of "Dino-Therapy".  What is that, I asked?  Evidently, in the 70's there was a school of psychotherapy in which the patient got two model dinosaurs and used them to act out their feelings--Dino-Therapy.  I had never heard of it, but instantly flashed to Wash's pet dinosaurs, and that was entirely what he was doing--1970's pop psychotherapy with toy dinosaurs.  This is so obscure you can't even Google it, but there it is.  Now you know.

 

[SFEley]

See?  This is why I love this community.  >8->  Thanks, Michael!

(Update: Not only that, but I just noticed this is the 1,000th thread.  Perfect.)

[Leon Kensington]

Congrats EP.

Well, if you have listened to Old Wounds you may notice it delves into the life of Wash and it seems in it that he has/had some emotional problems.  But being as that it isn't canon, we may never know.

[Etherius]

That is at least six kinds of awesome, Michael.  I wonder if Joss had heard of that particular idea, or if he re-invented it.

[Planish]

Oh, I think it's always been a popular coping mechanism.



If that didn't load, here are some other "Calvin and Hobbes" images as backups:


I'm pretty sure there were a few where Calvin is a T-Rex stomping through the school, eating bullies and teachers.
One of my favourites has him imagining an jet fighter piloted by a T-Rex.

Uh, What?  This came up in google image search:

[Chodon]

This is so obscure you can't even Google it, but there it is.  Now you know.

It's pretty rare for me to learn something not available on the internets, but here it is!  Bravo!

Uh, What?  This came up in google image search:

This isn't exactly on topic, but I would love to see a caption contest for that photo.  My entry is "Jesus Christ: Dinosaur Cowboy"

[Leon Kensington]

This is so obscure you can't even Google it, but there it is.  Now you know.

It's pretty rare for me to learn something not available on the internets, but here it is!  Bravo!

Uh, What?  This came up in google image search:

This isn't exactly on topic, but I would love to see a caption contest for that photo.  My entry is "Jesus Christ: Dinosaur Cowboy"

Or, God Loves Dinos Too!

[Michael]

God Loves Dinos Too!

Let's hope God love humans more than he loved the extinct, presently non-existant victims of a cataclymic event... 

[SFEley]

(From this guy on MySpace.)

[Lambda]

This isn't exactly on topic, but I would love to see a caption contest for that photo.  My entry is "Jesus Christ: Dinosaur Cowboy"

Ok, I edited it a bit, and I have a caption.

"Giant Jesus and Timmy the prehistoric alligator boy go 'dino-ropin'."

[Leon Kensington]

Nice, we need more stuff like that pic.

[Zathras]

Lambda's cartoon reminds me of the SNL joke where the creationists were trying to change the name "dinosaur" in science textbooks to "Jesus horses".

[Mr. Tweedy]

Wait, if that's supposed to be Jesus, then the picture must be set in Israel about 2000 years ago.  If the Jews had dinosaurs, then why did they have such a hard time getting rid of the Romans?

"I defy you, Caesar!  Feel the wrath of my triceratops!"

He he.  Yeah, anyway...

[SFEley]

Wait, if that's supposed to be Jesus, then the picture must be set in Israel about 2000 years ago.  If the Jews had dinosaurs, then why did they have such a hard time getting rid of the Romans?

Because the Romans had ninjas.

That's why the conflict continued until the time of Constantine, when the Romans were finally forced to surrender to the early Christians and their giant Chi Rhobots.

(ducking, running)

[Mr. Tweedy]

If anybody has a picture of that, I'll print it out and hang it above my desk next to my "Cthulhu 2008" campaign sticker and my wall-crawling Bionicle.

[Leon Kensington]

I think Steve just inspired a story in me.  Don't fail me now Word!

[Jim]

"Ha ha, mine is an evil laugh! Now die!"

[Tango Alpha Delta]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

I only wish he had lived to see this:

www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/
...He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage.

Imagine the joy he would have felt of having his story backed up with scientific fact!

[Thaurismunths]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

I only wish he had lived to see this:

www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/
...He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage.

Imagine the joy he would have felt of having his story backed up with scientific fact!

*wipes away a tear*
I love this website.

[CammoBlammo]

Wow. I love that picture. When I get tired of sitting on my ass I stand up. Look what Jesus does!

Actually, I've been sitting for a while now. According to the WWJD Razor, I'd better go find myself a diplodocus.

[Darwinist]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

I only wish he had lived to see this:

I attended a Catholic school as a lad and had that same explanation dumped on me. While I was hearing stuff like that my contemporaries in the public schools were learning biology and human origins.   Bah! 

[CammoBlammo]

I attended a Catholic school as a lad and had that same explanation dumped on me. While I was hearing stuff like that my contemporaries in the public schools were learning biology and human origins.   Bah! 

Wow. How times have changed! These days Catholics seem to be a whole lot more on the level, at least when it comes to science (as opposed to what we do with it). After all, they produced Teilhard de Chardin, and (in the US, anyway, from what I can see) it seems getting harder to find a public school that will teach evolution as though it might be, you know, a fact of life.

[Darwinist]

I attended a Catholic school as a lad and had that same explanation dumped on me. While I was hearing stuff like that my contemporaries in the public schools were learning biology and human origins.   Bah! 

Wow. How times have changed! These days Catholics seem to be a whole lot more on the level, at least when it comes to science (as opposed to what we do with it). After all, they produced Teilhard de Chardin, and (in the US, anyway, from what I can see) it seems getting harder to find a public school that will teach evolution as though it might be, you know, a fact of life.

The wikipedia link was an interesting read.   I was not aware of that work.   I was in Catholic Schools during the 70's and fled the church, so I'm glad to hear that things have changed in 30 years. 

My wife is a public middle school science/biology teacher who teaches evolution.  She gets several calls every year from upset parents who either don't want their kids taught evolution or want creation taught also.   This year when she was teaching geology a boy came up to her after class and asked her when she was going to teach about the magic powers of crystals.   

Sorry to stray from the thread.  I know boards already had a spirited evolution v. creation debate (although it was completely wiped out with with the November server issues).    Back to the regularly scheduled discussion.

[Radagast97]

...My wife is a public middle school science/biology teacher who teaches evolution.  She gets several calls every year from upset parents who either don't want their kids taught evolution or want creation taught also.   This year when she was teaching geology a boy came up to her after class and asked her when she was going to teach about the magic powers of crystals.
...

Hey, hey, hey! Starting bad-mouthing crystals and I'll have to send my unicorn after you.

Pardon me, but I have to go adjust my room's Feng Shui.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

I've been amazed over the years at the lengths people will go to to make the schools adapt to their personal quirks... and yet they won't volunteer to help, or sit down and make sure homework is done.

I come from a family full of school teachers, and would-be school teachers, and most of my college friends were education majors.  The overwhelming anecdotal evidence is disgusting.  Ask for help cleaning up after class parties, ask for volunteers to help grading papers, or try to get the parents of the one third grader who still craps his pants every day (true story) to seek medical attention... no response.  Have a parent send in "Halloween Cupcakes", though, and there are letters to the school board and angry phone calls from "concerned" parents.

(Full disclosure:  My wife is the volunteer/helper in our home.  I stay away from the schools because I can't stand other people's children.  Trust me, it's in everyone's best interest.  And she brings in completely non-celebratory muffins out of respect for the Jehovah's Witness... who turned out to be allergic to wheat gluten.  *sigh*)