Worst Tattoo in the NBA belongs to our very own...

[SSFan V]

I think the discussion of tattoos should be banned to those who are middle-aged or older, and extremely nerdy. Because we all know they hate tattoos, and have no real grasp on what is "in" and what isn't.

And the argument of "do they realize they will have this tattoo when they are old?" is seriously weak. Believe it or not, not everyone lives their life planning up to when they are old and decrepit. Some people like to live in the now.  I for example, ride motorcycles, base jump, and skydive. I could honestly care less how anything I do today, is going to affect me when I am 70. I would actually prefer not to reach that age.

I am pretty sure your comments reflect IQ more than age.

 

That's one way to admit you are old .

Empirical studies seem to show that 'living in the now' corresponds to higher levels of happiness, but I haven't seen longitudinal studies on this, particularly dealing with risk junkies.

I can show you the results. Come with me to one of the many bars in small towns across the country. You will see countless unhappy middle-aged men who spent their life making the safe choices.

Also, I am fully aware of the dynamic of having children. I am only 23 but I have several friends with 1-3 children. While maybe then it is best to lower your involvement in activities that have actual harmful effects to your body.

as one who's done the long hair, the earrings, the colored hair and many of the other requisite "cool" trends (we are talking late 80's goth so use your imagination) - tats just ain't my thing. 

It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with preference.  When I was 5 I thought the tats my uncle had looked stupid and now that I am 40 I still think they are stupid looking.  Hair styles change, piercings grow out, make up and hair color wash away, tats stay forever and don't age gracefully.

[mgent]

I love tattoos, they make it easier to spot the idiots and malefactors of the world.  

The next cool tattoo that I see will be the first.

Another good way to spot idiots, is to look for people who automatically assume someone who has a tattoo, has it because they think it is "cool."

Clearly that is why Kobe got the queen crown tattoo after he cheated on his wife right? He knew it would look super cool.

I in and of itself don't have issues with tatoos. They definitely have a place in the world, but I have to ask if the following people had tatoos

Ghandi
MLK
Macolm X
Obama
JFK
RFK
Churchill
Jesus
Moses
Bill Gates
Henry Ford
Doug Flutie
George Washington
Patton
Bhudda
etc

I'm sure there are tons of good counterexamples, but I don't see the need for it.

And I'm also getting annoyed with these hot chicks that do the whole tatoo thing.

As soon as I see a Natlie Portman go all Dennis Rodman on me I am writing my political representatives and trying to find a way that the reps can profit off passing a law restricting tatoos in such a situation

Jesus.
hahaha
Why's obama up there?

[guava_wrench]

I think the discussion of tattoos should be banned to those who are middle-aged or older, and extremely nerdy. Because we all know they hate tattoos, and have no real grasp on what is "in" and what isn't.

And the argument of "do they realize they will have this tattoo when they are old?" is seriously weak. Believe it or not, not everyone lives their life planning up to when they are old and decrepit. Some people like to live in the now.  I for example, ride motorcycles, base jump, and skydive. I could honestly care less how anything I do today, is going to affect me when I am 70. I would actually prefer not to reach that age.

I am pretty sure your comments reflect IQ more than age.

 

That's one way to admit you are old .

Empirical studies seem to show that 'living in the now' corresponds to higher levels of happiness, but I haven't seen longitudinal studies on this, particularly dealing with risk junkies.

I can show you the results. Come with me to one of the many bars in small towns across the country. You will see countless unhappy middle-aged men who spent their life making the safe choices.

Come with me to a cemetary or an intense care unit and I'll show you old and young men who made very stupid short sighted choices when they were young.

Well then I am willing to bet that they don't regret their choices .

Actually, I have to agree with that.

I would visit the paralyzed individuals.

These last few comments though are off base. People are different. Extreme sports are appropriate for some people and not for others. There is no need to force everyone to be the same. Someone who gets panic attacks from heights isn't going to enjoy diving off of a cliff.

I don't want to get into the whole issue of hedonic adaptation, but there is an application here once we become accustom to certain levels of stimulus.

In the end, whatever floats your boat. Each of us will face the consequences of our own actions and inactions, so it isn't really anyone else's place to judge if no one else is being harmed by our actions. Some people get a thrill from skydiving. Some people get a thrill from reading about String Theory.

The kids argument is out of place because it is irrelevant if someone doesn't have kids yet. At that point, overly risky behavior becomes irresponsible (though I question how risky sky diving actually is if you know what you are doing).

[Reyquila]

I grew up under the general impression that tattoos were inducive to skin cancer. I dont know if that was proven to be true or not. Apparently, they are not harmful to your skin cause it has been "in" among basketball players for a long time now and it seems its even more popular now than ever. I am also under the impression that tattoos are forever.
In not going to start putting tattoos on now, but I would like to know if the skin cancer probability was ever based on true facts or just a belief not based on facts. Im one of those that will tell a friend; "whatever makes you happy"

[dark_lord]

Any player (like Camby I think) that has an asian tatoo they can't read, which is pretty much any NBA player, except possibly Yi, and Yao.

I am telling you every single one of those tatoos say "ignorance"

Do you think kids in China go out and get tatoos written in English like "love" or "joy"?  Do you think they are misspelled?

i disagree wholeheartedly.  for starters there are a ton of resources to validate what the symbol's translation is so that you get the appropriate tattoo.  having an asian character representing a word, meaning, or phrase important in one's life can be a beautiful work of art.  asian characters have a beauty about them to alot of people.

This is the difference. Yesterday I saw a tatoo of a female samurai on an arm. Cool tatoo.

An asian symbol can be translated for you, but unless you read Chinese you are not really reading it at all. You have a tatoo in a language you are illiterate in. You don't really know why the symbol means what it means or why it makes the symbol different from any other symbol, and for all you know it has multiple meanings. It is essentially the equivalent of tatooing a complicated calculus equation on your back, where someone told you the answer, but you have no idea how it arrived at that answer. It's a fraud and fundamentally dishonest amounting to plaigerism.
I agree you can't own language, but the owner is trying to take something that people spend a long time trying to learn and then tatooing it on themselves for their life in 35 minutes.
I disagree with your point that people do it because it is an asthetic or beautiful symbol, because nobody ever uses the symbol for "crud" or "puke" even though they may be the most asthetic of all.
And lastly I doubt the wearer has looked at all the symbols of the world for that word. Arabic and Hindi symbols are very asthetic but you don't see those. Australian aborigine symbols never get used. Asian symbols get used because of stereotypical (positive) associations with Asia as a wise culture. If a person wants to learn to read, write, and speak an Asian language, and then goes there and truely understands and respects the culture then that's one thing, but just paying $49.95 for one thier words that you can't read is rather shallow.
Another thing about Asian cultures is that they have a reputation for ethnocentrism, making it even more odd to want an Asian tatoo.  That makes it the eqivalent of Custer's kid trying to get a Native American tatoo.
American kids with Asian symbol tatoos is no different than Mike Tyson getting a Maori warrior tatoo on his face. He's not Maori. He's not a warrior. Although he is intimidating, so it's actually more appropriate.

I'd rather tatoo a Jackson Pollack on my back.

i disagree again. a calculus equation, even if you know the answer, wouldnt have significant meaning to the individual (unless they're are mathematicians or something that has meaning to the individual). language is universal, regardless of what language it is.  therefore it is possible to have a word, such as love or family, that has a great meaning to a person.  rather than write it in english, whynot have is in another language which the individual thinks it looks beautiful.  some people love love asian culture because there is a lot of beauty in it.  just bc u dont speak a language does not mean u cant embrace, appreciate, or pay homage to it thru tattooing.  again, it is up to the individual....just bc you dont like it, the person should not be looked down upon, chastised, or stereotyped.

with regards to tattooing within the asian culture, for the most part it is a generational thing.  using samoa as an example to dispute it is generational, tattooing is very much part of their culture, regardless of age or generation.  full body suits are very symbolic, religious, and a right of passage in their culture.

again, i cant say this enough......tattooing is all about the individual.  most people get something with meaning behind it....although there are plenty of people who get things bc they think it is "cool".  even those who think it looks cool, should not be looked upon negatively.  getting tattooed is a strong commitment for the individual and in the end, if they like it, thats all that matters.  people looking down upon, teasing, stereotyping, etc...at an individual bc of their appearance is ignorant and rude in my book. 

like i said to guava.....i respect and appreciate your stance, and hope you can do the same towards me, but i think we just have to agree to disagree.

I definitely think we'll have to agree to disagree. That's probably why we start every post with "I disagree.", which I kinda think is funny

Math is in a lot of ways as universal as language and could have meaning such as the guy thinks he's a good dunker so he has the equation of gravity, or he thinks he's warrior so he puts the orbit of Mars (God of war) on his back.

Tatooing in a private place is about the individual, but when you clearly want people to see it, it's not.

You seem to be taking the attitude that there's no such thing as a bad, thoughtless, or inappropriate tatoo and I have to disagree. Asian symbols aren't evil or anything, unless maybe you use an evil word, but people could definitely pick a threatening tatoo or something.

I could see a lot of your arguments about someone thinking something has meaning or something being very symbolic, but I think you are seriously overrating most Asian symbol tatoos. I think for the average individual an Asian symbol tatoo is about the equivalent of "Spring Break: Cancun '95" only possibly prettier. Possibly

tp for the good debate.  we can agree to disagree, which is nice on these boards, since too many people attempt to change the other persons mind or stance.

[Greenbean]

Any player (like Camby I think) that has an asian tatoo they can't read, which is pretty much any NBA player, except possibly Yi, and Yao.

I am telling you every single one of those tatoos say "ignorance"

Do you think kids in China go out and get tatoos written in English like "love" or "joy"?  Do you think they are misspelled?

i disagree wholeheartedly.  for starters there are a ton of resources to validate what the symbol's translation is so that you get the appropriate tattoo.  having an asian character representing a word, meaning, or phrase important in one's life can be a beautiful work of art.  asian characters have a beauty about them to alot of people.

This is the difference. Yesterday I saw a tatoo of a female samurai on an arm. Cool tatoo.

An asian symbol can be translated for you, but unless you read Chinese you are not really reading it at all. You have a tatoo in a language you are illiterate in. You don't really know why the symbol means what it means or why it makes the symbol different from any other symbol, and for all you know it has multiple meanings. It is essentially the equivalent of tatooing a complicated calculus equation on your back, where someone told you the answer, but you have no idea how it arrived at that answer. It's a fraud and fundamentally dishonest amounting to plaigerism.
I agree you can't own language, but the owner is trying to take something that people spend a long time trying to learn and then tatooing it on themselves for their life in 35 minutes.
I disagree with your point that people do it because it is an asthetic or beautiful symbol, because nobody ever uses the symbol for "crud" or "puke" even though they may be the most asthetic of all.
And lastly I doubt the wearer has looked at all the symbols of the world for that word. Arabic and Hindi symbols are very asthetic but you don't see those. Australian aborigine symbols never get used. Asian symbols get used because of stereotypical (positive) associations with Asia as a wise culture. If a person wants to learn to read, write, and speak an Asian language, and then goes there and truely understands and respects the culture then that's one thing, but just paying $49.95 for one thier words that you can't read is rather shallow.
Another thing about Asian cultures is that they have a reputation for ethnocentrism, making it even more odd to want an Asian tatoo.  That makes it the eqivalent of Custer's kid trying to get a Native American tatoo.
American kids with Asian symbol tatoos is no different than Mike Tyson getting a Maori warrior tatoo on his face. He's not Maori. He's not a warrior. Although he is intimidating, so it's actually more appropriate.

I'd rather tatoo a Jackson Pollack on my back.

i disagree again. a calculus equation, even if you know the answer, wouldnt have significant meaning to the individual (unless they're are mathematicians or something that has meaning to the individual). language is universal, regardless of what language it is.  therefore it is possible to have a word, such as love or family, that has a great meaning to a person.  rather than write it in english, whynot have is in another language which the individual thinks it looks beautiful.  some people love love asian culture because there is a lot of beauty in it.  just bc u dont speak a language does not mean u cant embrace, appreciate, or pay homage to it thru tattooing.  again, it is up to the individual....just bc you dont like it, the person should not be looked down upon, chastised, or stereotyped.

with regards to tattooing within the asian culture, for the most part it is a generational thing.  using samoa as an example to dispute it is generational, tattooing is very much part of their culture, regardless of age or generation.  full body suits are very symbolic, religious, and a right of passage in their culture.

again, i cant say this enough......tattooing is all about the individual.  most people get something with meaning behind it....although there are plenty of people who get things bc they think it is "cool".  even those who think it looks cool, should not be looked upon negatively.  getting tattooed is a strong commitment for the individual and in the end, if they like it, thats all that matters.  people looking down upon, teasing, stereotyping, etc...at an individual bc of their appearance is ignorant and rude in my book. 

like i said to guava.....i respect and appreciate your stance, and hope you can do the same towards me, but i think we just have to agree to disagree.

Im sorry but I have to chime in about using calculus as a reasonable comparison to the debate of language and what it means to the individual. Calculus, one of the more advanced forms of representing reality with numbers, is much different than languages...which are products of imagination and assigning meanings to sounds. Calculus "equations" do not have answers, they are simply numeric representations of real live physical phenomena. Math which is based in numbers and countless proofs to prove each point is far from throwing a meaning to a word which is how language is formed.

Otherwise, tatooing is definitely a form of expression through which all people have the chance to be creative and decorate his or her body with whatever they choose  to bring forth. Personally, I keep everything to myself and do not feel the need to advertise my inner thoughts but I can certainly see why people do.