Unintended Life Lessons Learned

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

This is the thread where everypony can share the strange, weird, unusual and/or all around unintended lessons they learned while watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'll go first!

I used to have a great deal of trouble slicing cheese for lunch. It is something I do every day, and I have little more than a butter knife to do it with. It has always been a struggle in the past to get a slice that is the right size, or isn't lopsided. However...

I watched Winter Wrap Up and I saw Pinkie Pie scoring the lake with her skates. I thought to myself: "maybe this is the solution to my problem too." So I tried scoring the sides of my block of cheese before slicing it and sure enough, the knife stays in the grooves and I get a perfect slice of cheese every time now.

I highly doubt that the writers were intending for this to be a lesson in the show, but it worked none the less.

[DreamcatcherPony]

Oh man. I will have to think about this... however, can I count yours as my lesson learned too? thats awesome! I SUCK at cutting cheese the right way!!

[Motion Paradox]

To actually pay proper attention to how I present

Really, what years of nagging and lectures about how the job I want requires that I look pulled together and like somebody who pays attention to details failed to achieve was managed by a month and a half of watching My Little Pony....somehow this isn't the slightest bit surprising

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Well, I don't know if there is a right way to slice cheese, though this one seems to work pretty well, you're more than welcome to the idea if you like.

Thats really not surprising at all Motion Paradox, people learn much better from example than they do from just being told to do something. There's been a number of studies about it, but the basic conclusion is that people pick up on things a lot easier if they see how it works themselves. (Lots of people seem to tout learning from your mistakes, but thats actually not a very effective way of learning because people often learn the wrong lesson from mistakes -such as learning to not try at all- and learning from example or learning from practice are much better.)

[sarcatsic]

I was hoping someone would do this xD But I REALLY hope they do this for any Abridged Series of the show

The Ticket Master: Dear Princess Celestia, today I've learned that if you can't have something, then no one else can have it either.

Applebuck Season: Dear Princess Celestia, today I've learned that if you think you can handle something on your own, you can't and are completely unreliable.

Griffon the Brush Off: Dear Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash has taught me that none of your old friends are true friends and best to make new ones to replace them.

Boast Busters: Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that a stuck up b*tch will always be a stuck up b*tch, even when everyone has proven to her face that she's wrong.

Look Before You Sleep: Dear Princess Celestia, it's actually safe to live in a tree during a thunderstorm, but only if you're good enough to have a MAGICAL lightning rod.

Bridle Gossip: Dear Princess Celestia, it's important to know that if people are being racist, they probably have a good reason for it, and remember to always guilt trip your children into fixing your problems.

Swarm of the Century: Dear Princess Celestia, when you give your friends opportunity to explain themselves, it's okay to shun them for being vague.

Winter Wrap Up: Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned through personal experience that if you can't do the job, you can always be a manager.

Call of the Cutie: Dear Princess Celestia, only be friends with people you have stuff in common with, and never be friends with anyone who has any slight differences to you.

Fall Weather Friends: Dear Princess Celestia, it's perfectly okay to cheat, it's just ineffective if you get distracted.

Suited for Success: Dear Princess Celestia, you don't have to like the gifts someone gives you, as long as you pretend you like it after they cry about it.

Feeling Pinkie Keen: Dear Princess Celestia, God's messenger is Pinkie Pie.

Sonic Rainboom: Dear Princess Celestia, it doesn't matter how hard you've worked to win a contest, you'll never beat death-defying stunts.

Stare Master: Dear Princess Celestia, Fluttershy's taught me that the only way to get what you want is by threatening others, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders have taught me to be a terrible guest.

Show Stoppers: Dear Princess Celestia, two Cutie Mark Crusader episodes in a row seem like a bad idea, but only because you know at this point they're going to be blank flanks forever.

Dog and Pony Show: Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that when a guy feels the need to be manly, it's best to just let them get it out of their system. They'll learn it was unnecessary later.

Green Isn't Your Color: Dear Princess Celestia, you're only successful not because of your talent, but because of your friend's talent.

Over a Barrel: Dear Princess Celestia, Peter Pan was wrong about the Indians. They do speak in full sentences. I've also learned that the only way to stop a war is if your enemies happen to like your food.

A Bird in the Hoof: Dear Princess Celestia, birds are jerks.

The Cutie Mark Chronicles: Dear Princess Celestia, my friend Rainbow Dash helped me cheat my way into a good school. I hope you don't mind.

Owl's Well that Ends Well: Dear Princess Celestia, if someone's trying to take your job, sabotage them and get them fired for a heinous crime so that it ruins their reputation and all chances at getting another job so that they may support themselves.

Party of One: Dear Princess Celestia, if you're going to lie to your friends about something, be sure that your lie is consistent. It makes it more convincing.

The Best Night Ever: Dear Princess Celestia, the best nights only happen at everyone else's expense.

[Rainbro Dash]

Am I the only one who didnt get the message in "Pinkie Keen"? Is it like a reference to religion or something?

[crumpton]

Am I the only one who didnt get the message in "Pinkie Keen"? Is it like a reference to religion or something?

Preeeetty much. Faith in general really. Just cause you can't prove its existence doesn't mean it's not there. (definition of faith)

[Davroth]

Great, you just ruined that episode for me

[RarityDash]

I really don't see it like that at all.

The important thing to remember is that in the FiM universe, Pinkie Sense is clearly evidenced to be an entirely real, scientifically provable phenomenon. For that reason, I don't think it can symbolize religion itselt.

Twilight sparkle says, "I now realize there are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them, and sometimes it takes a friend to show you the way."

This isn't necessarily about religion (though it could be applied to it, perhaps). It's more about being open to possibilities no matter how far fetched they may seem. It doesn't say firmly to believe in everything. The operative word is "choose". It's about being open to possibilities and ultimately deciding whether or not something is worth believing or not.

If there's a religious message here, it's simply that you should be open to the idea of something like religion and decide for yourself if its right for you. However the same lesson can be applied to scientific theories and other things. As I see it, it's mainly just rallying against being particularly stubborn and close-minded as Twilight was portrayed in the episode (i.e., not believing in Pinkie Sense even after conducting numerous experiments that supported it being real).

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Well those are hardly good lessons at all Sarcatsic.

Also, I'm with Phil on this one: Pinkie Pie's sense cannot be an analogy for faith because it is verifiable. Making predictions about the future is science. No matter how much emphasis the voice actors put on the word "believe," it isn't about blind faith. Neither Twilight Sparkle or Pinkie Pie ever said "Just because you can't prove its existence," in any context. The lesson was about understanding, in a cartesian dualism/doubt kind of way. (Descartes being the father of modern science.) They had proof of its existence right in front of them the whole time.

For a more thorough analysis of that episode's message, I direct you to this topic: feeling pinky keen the debate

[Tenkan]

I learned a lot when watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, that it might be hard for me to list down how many things I picked up!

One thing's for sure, I find the idea of the Cutie Mark brilliant! It's such a simple concept...but something that I felt I was missing out in my life.

(No, I'm not saying I was missing out on having a tattoo on my backside. )

I was missing out on looking at what I really love to do, and defining who I really am through my actions, instead of other's assumptions.

[DaBatGuy]

From "a Dog and Pony Show":

Dear Princess Celestia,

I learned from my good friend Rarity that if I act like a stuck-up, insensitive, narcissistic, irrational, bi-polar ***** I can wrap dimwitted males around my hoof and make them my ***** in return.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

[Starfox64x]

Um, well, lets see... i dont think i've learned much... just what i've already known...

For example, i've always believed that assuming something is specified to only one gender isnt right, a man can like baking and sewing, and a woman can like football and Nascar, nothing wrong with that... although when i heard of MLP, i automatically assumed only little girls would enjoy it... i was wrong.

Also, the Diamond Dog episode, i thought through most of the episode Rarity would need her friends to save her, but it turned out even a prissy fru-fru girl like her can defend herself when she needs to... i knew this, but with her, i didnt think about it...

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

On the topic of Dog and Pony Show, I find it amusing that whenever a guy acts like that, he's being clever or displaying savoir fare, but whenever a gal does it, she's just being manipulative and evil. Ok, so I don't find it that amusing, but it is really noticeable. I made my opinion about this opinion pretty clear when Dog and Pony Show first came out in the official thread. But to summarize:

Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, Andrei Sakharov, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela are widely acclaimed for their nonviolent approaches. When Chris Moon was kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, he manipulated them into letting him go, and he gets praised for using "psychological warfare," on them, using quick thinking, having the ability to quickly analyze the situation and stay cool-headed.

But whenever a female manipulates someone, she's just being a female dog. Lé sigh.

[Davroth]

Honestly though, I don't think that kind of behavior would do you any good in a real kidnapping situation. It's up to now the first time where I disagree with the taught live lesson. In fact, I think it's downright dangerous, regardless of gender.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

The right course of action when dealing with criminals really depends on the situation and the people involved. What their motivations are and stuff like that. I think that, for young children at least, being generally uncooperative with kidnappers is a good idea. Often times they have no intention of ever releasing the child, so really any action taken to get out of the situation is better than nothing.