There are two types of people in this world.
February 15, 2024 6:24 AM   Subscribe

Tell me some more about two types of people.

Today I found out the existance of peach versus coconut places and people.

And Ask versus Guess culture has sorted out a lot of interpersonal questions for me (and family, and friends, with whom I've discussed the whole thing) over the years.

(You can see some overlap between the two).

What other other metaphors roughly divide ways of engaging in the world in interesting ways?

I am not talking about cliches like 'those who can, do' or more simplistic categories we have all heard before, but the thrill of waking up this morning and seeing my home town and my current state summed up in fruit form.
posted by A Terrible Llama to Human Relations (110 answers total) 42 users marked this as a favorite
 


I think of everything as continuums, but to reduce them to binaries there are:

(Sorry these aren’t fruit flavored)

A) Moaners and Troopers (also known as whingers and troopers), which divides the would into people who spend their time complaining vs. those who spend their time getting the job done.

and related:

B) Part of the Yes or Part of the No. The people who’s default is to engage with new things and the people who’s default is to either stop or tear down everything they see.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:45 AM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


Best answer: First seen on the blue: Are you a Round or a Pointy?
posted by fountainofdoubt at 6:45 AM on February 15, 2024 [12 favorites]


Best answer: First seen on the blue: Are you a Round or a Pointy?

Presumably related to the bouba/kiki effect
posted by pullayup at 6:47 AM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]




Best answer: Owl or Lark?
Maximizer or Satisficer

Gretchen Rubin Binary Taxonomies:
Abstainer or Moderator
Underbuyer or Overbuyer?
posted by BrashTech at 6:50 AM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]


Best answer: Chaos Muppets vs Order Muppets. Sadly that piece, written approximately a billion years ago in 2012 by the amazing Dahlia Lithwick, is now almost unreadable because of how completely the Chaos Muppets have taken over the Court and American jurisprudence in general. It's like an artifact from a lost and lovely alien civilization, dug up and held up for ridicule by uncomprehending space colonists.
posted by The Bellman at 6:56 AM on February 15, 2024 [15 favorites]


I used to be as a personal assistant for a very famous self help guru. He had an entire organization that ran his publishing, seminars, consultations, etc. In speaking to me about hiring people he said "there are two types of employees, those that blame themselves and those that blame others. Always hire the ones that blame themselves." It is not the worst idea I have heard.
posted by jcworth at 6:57 AM on February 15, 2024 [13 favorites]


There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don’t.
posted by falsedmitri at 7:00 AM on February 15, 2024 [41 favorites]


Best answer: This isn't necessarily a nice one but I saw it in an Instagram comment the other day and it amused me. In reference to working class people who own trucks versus people who own "pavement princess" type trucks:

"There's two types of truck owners. Either the truck is a tool or the owner is."
posted by Teadog at 7:00 AM on February 15, 2024 [46 favorites]


Particularly for language but also elsewhere are Prescriptionists vs. Descriptionists. The first are people who firmly believe that a language is defined by a set of rules ("no prepositions at the end of sentences “) and the second are people who firmly believe that a language is defined by how it is actually used.

More broadly people who want to define how things should be versus people who just take it as it comes.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:18 AM on February 15, 2024 [9 favorites]


Don't forget the silly army metaphor - the wolves, the sheep, and the sheepdogs. I guess that's three if you believe that silliness.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:35 AM on February 15, 2024


CP Snow famously described two cultures: science and the humanities.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:40 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


Role models and Cautionary models: People who set an example, and people who are an example (of how not to be)
posted by olopua at 7:43 AM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


'Yes and...' people vs. 'No but.' people.

Those that seek collaboration vs. seek conflict.

When you make a broad statement, 'No but.' people start with disagreement, often because you are correct in spirit but are wrong on some technicalities. Then you go back and forth to clarify the technicalities and come to agreement.

In discussions with 'Yes and...' people you, end up in the same place, but they agree you are correct in spirit to start, you have a pleasant conversation, a few technical exceptions are addressed and resolved.

In every day life, being around 'Yes and...' people is more enjoyable in my opinion. But to each their own. 'No but.' types are probably good to have around in engineering and legal.
posted by glenngulia at 7:51 AM on February 15, 2024 [6 favorites]


Best answer: Are you a Sweaterboy or an Absolute Nightmare?
posted by nonane at 7:52 AM on February 15, 2024 [6 favorites]


Steve Martin: "Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way."
posted by daisystomper at 7:54 AM on February 15, 2024 [19 favorites]


Toilet paper over vs under

Satisficers and Maximizers
posted by Lyn Never at 7:55 AM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]


Best answer: Hedgehog vs Fox ("a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing")
posted by Bron at 7:56 AM on February 15, 2024 [9 favorites]


For office work: filers vs. pilers. Is a person's desk mostly neat and clear (i.e. they tend to file things away), or is their desk covered in stacks of papers and books?
posted by cyclopticgaze at 7:59 AM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


There was a post here somewhere...

Shower back or front
Dishwasher utensils up or down
Dog or cat (or both)
Socks or pants first

People who can find old posts or can't...
posted by BlueHorse at 7:59 AM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


Sesame seed bagels vs poppy seed bagels

Whipped cream vs custard in pastries

On a larger scale, sweet vs salty snacks?
posted by zadcat at 8:06 AM on February 15, 2024


Best answer: Interestingly akin to Satisficers vs. Maximizers, you can get Engineers vs. Scientists.

Engineers want *a* solution that works (e.g. meets the benchmark), regardless of how you got there.

Scientists want *the* solution that arises from the most accurate ground truth of how to achieve the benchmark.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 8:09 AM on February 15, 2024 [11 favorites]


I was eating lunch with one of my college professors. He dropped some food on his shirt, sighed and said, "There are two kinds of people. Those who get spots on their clothes and those who don't."
posted by BibiRose at 8:11 AM on February 15, 2024 [6 favorites]


A little archaic in British culture but still there: U and Non-U.
posted by rongorongo at 8:12 AM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]


Those who can draw conclusions and...
posted by Enid Lareg at 8:15 AM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


sitters vs. standers; the FPP & -talk
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:20 AM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


I have a pet theory about people whose information-seeking strategy is to ask somebody vs. people whose information-seeking strategy is to look it up. "Ask the Bus Driver" vs. "Check the Bus Schedule."
posted by Jeanne at 8:26 AM on February 15, 2024 [36 favorites]


mountain vs. beach vacations
pie vs. cake for dessert
posted by momus_window at 8:27 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


"You're either part of the solution or you're part of the precipitate."
posted by The Bellman at 8:27 AM on February 15, 2024 [16 favorites]


Best answer: I've long searched for the grand unifying "there are two kinds of people" theory. A few I think about: are you a "look at me" or an "I see you"? In any given situation, are you brining heat or light? Are you an Ernie or a Bert?
posted by ersatzkat at 8:27 AM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Years ago I heard about a Zen idea that everyone has a "worry basket." Some people will do anything to keep their worry basket empty—resolve a problem, delegate a task, decide that there's no use worrying about something you can't control, etc. Others always make sure there's something in their worry basket—that is, it seems like they're always looking for something new to worry about.
posted by wisekaren at 8:32 AM on February 15, 2024 [22 favorites]


Satisficing vs optimizing.
posted by entropone at 8:35 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


In my family, we long ago designated various members as "Putters" or "Throwers" which referred to the method in which they placed tinsel on the Christmas tree. (The Throwers in the family were definitely more relaxed than the Putters, who could get a little compulsive.)

And I don't know how to label them, but I've found there are two kinds of Know It Alls. There's the KIA who rolls their eyes & goes, "You're an idiot that you didn't know that." Then there's the KIA who goes, "I know this cool, weird thing about this subject we're talking about! You are so gonna want to know about this too 'cause it'll blow your mind!"
posted by Wylie Kyoto at 8:36 AM on February 15, 2024 [8 favorites]


Overhead light people vs. lamp people. (I am lamp people.)
posted by sucre at 8:36 AM on February 15, 2024 [13 favorites]


There was a post here somewhere...

Shower back or front
Dishwasher utensils up or down
Dog or cat (or both)
Socks or pants first


These and similar threads that have exposed the shocking practices of our fellow Metafilterians are catalogued on the Mefi Wiki.

You WHAT?
posted by zamboni at 8:39 AM on February 15, 2024 [6 favorites]


There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don’t
... and those who think in base 3.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:50 AM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


There's the KIA who rolls their eyes & goes, "You're an idiot that you didn't know that." Then there's the KIA who goes, "I know this cool, weird thing about this subject we're talking about! You are so gonna want to know about this too 'cause it'll blow your mind!"

The other half of this equation is whether someone is in Today's Lucky 10,000.
posted by zamboni at 8:55 AM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can fill in the blanks on their own and...
posted by slidell at 8:58 AM on February 15, 2024


Those who can draw conclusions and...

those who can fill in the blanks on their own and...

Those that belong to the emperor?
posted by zamboni at 9:01 AM on February 15, 2024 [7 favorites]


As lawyer and disability-rights advocate David Lepofsky says, "There are two types of people in the world, those who are disabled, and those who are not disabled... yet."
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:01 AM on February 15, 2024 [23 favorites]


Best answer: There was a thread on the blue several years ago where someone talked about going into a knife store that took itself too seriously; and after answering some basic questions from the commenter, the shop steward derisively suggested that perhaps they were (shudder) serrated knife people.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:05 AM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Endogamous and Exogamous. The exogamous people are open to new experiences and handle change well. The endogamous ones don't like strangers and don't like new experiences and don't want their culture to change.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:06 AM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


Jeanne, this reminds me of a time when I was announcing an event, and I gave directions to the venue including very complete public transport instructions.

My friend said "You're like me: you like directions. But you probably need to include a map for the people who don't think the way we do."
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:07 AM on February 15, 2024 [6 favorites]


Ah, it seems that the Serrated Knife People anecdote was a FPP!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:10 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Be-er vs. do-er vacationers. I come from a family of be-er vacationers; we go to the beach and read, go for walks, have long meals, stand in the water a lot. My poor sister-in-law is a do-er; we get to the house and she has plans to go to museums, to mini golf, to one place or another. She’s faintly horrified by how we’ll spend the whole day just hanging out, and her vacations seem so hectic to me.
posted by punchtothehead at 9:14 AM on February 15, 2024 [19 favorites]


Best answer: There are people who I would be happy to be stuck in a lift with, and others who I would not.

People who go 'Ooooooo big stretch!' when a dog does a big stretch, and people who have no soul.
posted by dowcrag at 9:20 AM on February 15, 2024 [18 favorites]


the one that affects me most is calendar people and… non-calendar (spontaneous?) people.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 9:40 AM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


Actually, there are three types of people in this world. Those who are good with numbers and those who aren't.
posted by dobbs at 10:06 AM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]




Best answer: In conversation- the Church of Interruptus and the Doctrine of Strong Civility. My husband and I are both strong COI and have bosses that are strong DSC. Communication is always a tricky thing, but understanding why there is a gap helps bridge the gap.
posted by susiswimmer at 10:16 AM on February 15, 2024 [7 favorites]


Personally I think there are those people who consider others when they park, and there are those who do not even both to ask whether their bullshit efforts remove a whole-ass second parking space from the street or parking lot.
posted by kensington314 at 10:17 AM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


There are Adventurers and Homebodies.

And Hot Weather and Cold Weather people.

Hermits and Butterflies

Greater Good vs Selfish Gain

Designers (visionary) and Engineers (practical)

People who do 90% of projects, and people who finish them.



(Another division would be people who pay attention to the statement "Wisecracks don't help people find answers" and those who don't.)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:31 AM on February 15, 2024


rock climbing: gates in vs. gates out

#gatesoutforharambe
posted by Joeruckus at 10:41 AM on February 15, 2024


there's an old French proverb: "In love there is the one who kisses, and the one who offers the cheek"

and from my household: "There's the one who farts, and the dog Who Actually Farted Why Are You Looking At Me"
posted by elkevelvet at 10:43 AM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


There are two types of people in this world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:01 AM on February 15, 2024 [15 favorites]


there are two kinds of people: ones who shower before work and ones who shower after work

Dr Bucato, clinical psychologist, says there are three kinds of people
those who have loved and it lasted
those who loved and lost
those who were never loved
(sorry that was dark but I just heard it this week, so it is fresh)

I've always thought there are two kinds of people:
do you buy chocolate or licorice at the movie theatre?
posted by cda at 11:03 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance puts the case for people having either a Classical or Romantic orientation, where the Classical attitude is defined by caring much more about what things are and what they do than how they look or what they mean, and the Romantic attitude is the other way.

Pirsig gives the example of a Romantic motorcycle owner who is just horrified by his Classical travelling partner's suggestion that he pack the worn-loose handlebar mounts on his expensive BMW bike with shims cut from a discarded beer can. On the Classical view those shims are soft, thin, instantly available metal that will do a perfect job of firming up the mounts and stopping the handlebars from shifting under load; on the Romantic view they're pieces of literal garbage with which no sane person could possibly bear to soil a precision-engineered German machine, and although he's dismayed by the way the handlebars are drooping (because they shouldn't be! This is a BMW!) he's resigned to just living with it until he can find a qualified mechanic to fix them "properly".

The Romantic also has no idea what's actually involved in fixing the handlebars "properly" but is convinced that it's obviously a job that should only ever be done by a BMW-certified mechanic, while the Classical rider knows full well that the beer can strips are identical to the factory shims that the BMW mechanic would use apart from label paint remnants on one and BMW prices on the other.
posted by flabdablet at 11:31 AM on February 15, 2024 [7 favorites]




Best answer: Carnal lovers of books, vs platonic lovers of books.

Carnal book lovers eat while they read, read in the bath, write in books.

Platonic book lovers don't.
posted by Zumbador at 11:38 AM on February 15, 2024 [9 favorites]


Those who think he is guilty and those who know he is guilty
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:42 AM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


A comment on Metafilter a few years back made me think hard about teasing. I came to the conclusion that there are two kinds of people - those who feel teasing is always malicious to some extent and those who feel teasing can be a way to bond and show affection or respect.

Think about who you don't tease. You don't tease people you're afraid of. So teasing can be a sign of scorn, a way of saying, "I'm the one with the power here." But it can also be a way to say, "I trust you. I know you like me. I feel safe with you." By taking the teasing good-naturedly, the other person can confirm that they do like you and they can be trusted. Or they can take offense because they assume the teasing is a sign of contempt and then both people end up feeling sad and hurt.

If you're a decent person, you don't tease people who might be afraid of you. That's just mean, because they're at your mercy. If you're the boss and you're a good person, you might tease a confident long-time employee who has no problem speaking her mind, but not a timid 20-something new hire. Teasing can be a sign that you're not actually a decent person, that you're taking advantage of your power to make someone feel bad. But it can also be a way to say that you see the other person as something of an equal or as part of the inner circle. If that new hire sees it that way, she may feel great the first time the boss teases her at a staff meeting. If she doesn't, she may feel like her boss is a nasty bully.
posted by Redstart at 11:51 AM on February 15, 2024 [24 favorites]


the wolves, the sheep, and the sheepdogs

I think this must be a modern expansion of the Sheep and Goats Jesus was talking about in the Book of Mathew.

Interestingly akin to Satisficers vs. Maximizers, you can get Engineers vs. Scientists.

Yeah but the latter pair are a subset of everybody else, and your definition uses too many words. My father (the Engineer) would define the two like Scientists prove the Theory; but Engineers make it work, commercially.
posted by Rash at 12:00 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


Somebody finally came clean in the sitters vs. standers -talk linked to upthread, confirming my suspicion held since this silly notion entered our discourse: they're just squatting, and declaring otherwise for the lulz.
While it's true it's not a full-on, straight-up 90-degrees-from-the-floor stand it's much closer to standing than sitting.
posted by Rash at 12:09 PM on February 15, 2024


Kurt Vonnegut was once asked ‘[if] the world was divided into only two kinds of people, not counting the sexes, what would they be?’ His reply: ‘Roundheads and Cavaliers.’
posted by misteraitch at 12:31 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


There is the Roger Hargreaves book (and others in the series), Are You a Roundy or a Squary?.
posted by paduasoy at 12:53 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


Nice vs. kind, although many people are unfortunately neither.
posted by jabes at 1:32 PM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


The ones who need to be loved and the ones who need someone to love.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:35 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


are you a Goofus or a Gallant

Know Your Meme

Previous AskMe
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:58 PM on February 15, 2024 [3 favorites]


Schlemiel vs. schlimazel

A friend makes a distinction between "candy shop" and "speakeasy" cities: places where the fun parts are on the surface (San Francisco) versus cities where the fun parts are mostly available to those in-the-know (Boston).
posted by jshttnbm at 2:06 PM on February 15, 2024 [7 favorites]


Best answer: Sympathetic vs Empathetic, which is the difference between intellectually knowing that someone else is feeling a certain way vs viscerally feeling it yourself.

Professionals who deal with people in crisis (counselors, nurses, priests, etc.) tend to be sympathetic, as being empathetic in that situation will wipe you out in a hurry.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:18 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


People who wear trousers until it gets too hot vs people who wear shorts until it gets too cold.
posted by dudekiller at 2:53 PM on February 15, 2024 [5 favorites]


people who use the word 'plethora' correctly and the plethora of others who don't
posted by elkevelvet at 3:08 PM on February 15, 2024


Those who will and those who won't, eat pigs.
posted by hortense at 3:32 PM on February 15, 2024


I'm leery of "eastern" vs "western" binaries, but...

collectivist vs individualistic.

Here is just a teeny example. Job applications must have changed considerably in the last 20 years, but back in the day in South Korea there was usually a spot to put down your grandparents' names and hometown on the application form. Even today, people still explain their family background in terms of hometown, not necessarily where they grew up, but the home village for their family clan, especially if they have a fancy, aristocratic/scholarly lineage to boast of.
posted by spamandkimchi at 3:37 PM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]


"I could potentially use this/this object could be useful to someone/I will keep it (somewhere)" vs "I don't need or want this/throw it away/recycle."

Or, a specific case example: does the sight of the heaps of small kitchen appliances and IKEA furniture outside university dormitories elicit profound anguish or not.

When I lived in Honolulu in a large apartment building, bulky item pick up day was a designated day, so people brought their unwanted items out the night before. I was the person (along with many of my neighbors) casually looking over what other people had brought down, and often brought more items back to the apartment than I had managed to get out the door. Slightly janky looking rotating fan? Mmm, let's see if we can fix that. Bookcase missing a shelf? Ooh, that's perfect for the hallway.

I think the weirdest think I picked up was something I thought was a small folding futon in a convenient plastic case and turned out to be sex furniture. (I brought it back out the next bulky item pick up day)
posted by spamandkimchi at 3:47 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


People who can find old posts or can't...

What did I tell you?

Both zamboni and Iris Gambol have proven my point.

Then there are those who will let you know that their point has been proven, and those who don't...
posted by BlueHorse at 4:25 PM on February 15, 2024


With regard to men and their anatomy, there are growers and showers. Also helmets and anteaters.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:36 PM on February 15, 2024 [1 favorite]




There was a tumblr blog, but it is inactive now. There is a related book.
posted by soelo at 6:06 PM on February 15, 2024


Those who can extrapolate based on incomplete data and those who
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:39 PM on February 15, 2024 [4 favorites]


Those who can draw conclusions and...

those who can fill in the blanks on their own and...

There are two types of people in this world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

Those who can extrapolate based on incomplete data and those who


And those belonging to the emperor. We’ve covered this already.
posted by zamboni at 7:30 PM on February 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


Mountain People and Beach People.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 7:41 PM on February 15, 2024


Hopefully not breaking the cliché rule, but

"There's two kinds of music: the good kind, and the other kind."
--Duke Ellington
posted by rhizome at 9:51 PM on February 15, 2024


People who cover their windows with curtains, shades, or whatever, even when there's no way anyone could see into their rooms; and people who don't cover their windows, whose eyes crave distant horizons or the night sky. I wonder if this has to do with eyesight, like people who are nearsighted want curtains and people who are farsighted don't.
Another one: people who look up to leaders and people who don't follow leaders.
posted by mareli at 10:05 PM on February 15, 2024


Are you a big-endian or a little-endian?
posted by abraxasaxarba at 12:04 AM on February 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


I think I just heard this in a Cinderella movie...

There are two types of people in the world:

Those who see the world as it is. And those who see the world as it could be.
posted by fourpotatoes at 6:31 AM on February 16, 2024


Or as Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars."
posted by Rash at 7:45 AM on February 16, 2024 [3 favorites]


From the satirical(?) Church of the Subgenius and its cult leader, J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs: 'There are two kinds of people in the world: those who say, "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who say there are two kinds of people in the world, and the other kind," and there's who don't say. Well, and then there's me.'
posted by troywestfield at 8:41 AM on February 16, 2024 [1 favorite]


Oppressed or Oppressors
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:45 AM on February 16, 2024


In politics we tend to divide politicians into "signposts" (showing the path through political leadership and policy ideals) and "weathervanes" (shifting with the winds, and campaigning through polling).
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 10:01 AM on February 16, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I have a pet theory about people whose information-seeking strategy is to ask somebody vs. people whose information-seeking strategy is to look it up.

I call this "askers vs searchers" and it is the explanation for 90% of the complaint posts on forums. (Why do 10 people a day ask this? Why can't they just search?")
posted by mmoncur at 4:39 PM on February 16, 2024


The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator is based on 4 continua, a couple of which have shown up here already. In case anyone needs reminding, the continua are introversion and extraversion; intuition and sensation; thinking and feeling; and perceiving and judging. People who use the MBTI often forget that these are continua and that people rarely score at either end. Therefore they define themselves and others along these supposedly dichotomous characteristics.

Of course, that also suggests there is a larger divide between those who find the MBTI useful and those who do not, and each group feels itself correct and the other misguided.

Most of the examples in this Ask are amusing, if nothing else, but I don't think anyone has mentioned the Ur-Divide: Us and Them.
posted by angiep at 5:21 PM on February 16, 2024 [1 favorite]


Mod note: [btw, this has been added to the sidebar and the Best Of blog!]
posted by taz (staff) at 12:55 AM on February 17, 2024 [3 favorites]


Lilliput vs. Blefuscu
posted by bonefish at 2:07 AM on February 17, 2024


NeuroTypical vs NeuroSpicy.
posted by Faintdreams at 2:21 AM on February 17, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: For me, as a person who really does not like to be Surprised by Raisins, the only binary that matters is : Are You The Sort of Sociopath Who Will Try To Sneak Raisins into a Dish Where They Do Not Belong? or Are You, At Base, a Decent Person Who Knows Better?
posted by thivaia at 6:29 AM on February 17, 2024 [7 favorites]


LOL my mind immediately went to the The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. "Two types" come up quite a few times:

"There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door; those that come in by the window."

"There are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: Those with a rope around the neck, and the people who have the job of doing the cutting."

"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."

It's my dad's favourite movie and I probably watched it a lot more than the average child :-D.
posted by Calzephyr at 7:59 AM on February 17, 2024 [2 favorites]


There are people who believe that if something is legal it is perfectly okay, and people who believe the law is the least common denominator of human behavior.

The latter is theistically but potently stated as: "Man’s law is not God’s law."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:31 AM on February 17, 2024 [1 favorite]


I've seen lots of variations on "there are 2 types of people: people who X and fucking liars." Usually in reference to something embarrassing:

There are 2 types of people: people who pick their nose and fucking liars.

There are 2 types of people: people who masturbate and fucking liars.

There are 2 types of people: people who sniff their own farts and fucking liars.

The accuracy of these statements are dubious.
posted by Tehhund at 3:04 PM on February 17, 2024 [1 favorite]


Yeah but the latter pair are a subset of everybody else, and your definition uses too many words. My father (the Engineer) would define the two like Scientists prove the Theory; but Engineers make it work, commercially.


Rash - thanks to you and your dad for proving my point.

I'm a scientist.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 5:23 PM on February 18, 2024


Response by poster: Thank you so much everyone.

This was as much fun as I hoped!

Going to best answer a couple that spoke to me personally just so I can find them easier but they were all a blast.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:35 PM on February 23, 2024 [3 favorites]


“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
― Albert Einstein
posted by brent at 12:38 PM on February 29, 2024


There are only two ways to comment on the internet: One is to enjoy the generous thoughts shared by others, and the other is to nitpick errors and point out that Einstein didn't say that.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:30 PM on February 29, 2024 [2 favorites]


So you should definitely reach out to the seller and quote reference and clean up the attribution.
posted by brent at 7:47 AM on March 1, 2024 [1 favorite]


"The source has been tracked down to a Narcotics Anonymous text."
Psychology Today
posted by flabdablet at 6:04 AM on March 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


Alan Lightman: "A Brief Version of Time"
Suppose that people live forever.

Strangely, the population of each city splits in two: the Laters and the Nows.

The Laters reason that there is no hurry to begin their classes at the university, to learn a second language, to read Voltaire or Newton, to seek promotion in their jobs, to fall in love, to raise a family. In endless time, all things can be accomplished. Thus all things can wait. Indeed, hasty actions breed mistakes. And who can argue with their logic? The Laters can be recognized in any shop or promenade. They walk an easy gait and wear loose-fitting clothes. They take pleasure in reading whatever magazines are open or rearranging furniture in their homes, or slipping into conversation the way a leaf falls from a tree. The Laters sit in cafes sipping coffee and discussing the possibilities of life.

The Nows note that with infinite lives, they can do all they can imagine. They will have an infinite number of careers, they will marry an infinite number of times, they will change their politics infinitely. Each person will be a lawyer, a bricklayer, a writer, an accountant, a painter, a physician, a farmer. The Nows are constantly reading new books, studying new trades, new languages. In order to taste the infinities of life, they begin early and never go slowly. And who can question their logic? The Nows are easily spotted. They are the owners of the cafes, the college professors, the doctors and nurses, the politicians, the people who rock their legs constantly whenever they sit down. They move through a succession of lives, eager to miss nothing. When two Nows chance to meet at the hexagonal pilaster of the Zahringer Fountain, they compare the lives they have mastered, exchange information, and glance at their watches. When two Laters meet at the same location, they ponder the future and follow the parabola of the water with their eyes.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:08 PM on March 15, 2024 [2 favorites]


There are people that think cilantro tastes like soap and those that don’t.
posted by jasondigitized at 6:40 AM on May 11, 2024 [2 favorites]


Saw a new one on Instagram, those who make playlists in (Spotify/Apple/wherever) and those who like a song then listen to their liked songs lists.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:35 AM on May 14, 2024


Best answer: Two days ago, ellieBOA posted an FPP, the existential divide between Rememberers and Forgetters, linking to an article about them in The Cut. I am a Rememberer, and I see my life as a graduated cylinder growing ever taller; while my perception of the world of Forgetters is theirs are like the cursor on a slide rule, retaining only nearby memories on their timeline, as they slide along; whereas I can see almost all the way back down to the beginning of mine.
posted by Rash at 7:52 AM on June 21, 2024 [1 favorite]


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