AnarchistArtificer @ AnarchistArtificer @slrpnk.net

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2 yr. ago

I also read a paper (or maybe a book chapter?) a while back that discussed the fact that the way we teach engineering actively encourages people to become less socially conscious and more conservative. I can't remember the name of the author, but I remember I found the paper/chapter from this video(total video is 33:52 in length and is a great watch if you're a video person. However, the link is timestamped to the engineering bit that cites the paper/book I referenced)

Your comment reminded me of Innuendo Studios' video series "The Alt-Right Playbook" — in particular, "There's Always a Bigger Fish". I feel like this really made something click for me about how conservatives think.

I think that conservatives often recognise the injustice they face, and I agree that many of them identify themselves as rightfully belonging to the tribe that's at the top of the pyramid — the "temporarily embarrassed millionaires". What I find more interesting though are the ones who seem like they'd be content to be exploited by the ultra-rich, as long as they can believe that it's a righteous kind of oppression, in which everyone is in their right place within the system. They seem like they'd be happy being trampled on by the people above them, as long as they can feel like they're fulfilling their purpose, and that their suffering is as a result of some natural order.

Of course, even though they may welcome being crushed by the ones above them, implicit within the sense of order they crave is the fact that they would not be on the bottom level of the pyramid. That is, they believe that in return for their suffering, they feel they are entitled to power over the people who they consider to be "rightfully" beneath them. Their anger at people who resist oppression often seems to be like "hey, I'm doing my part in being subservient to the people above me, but this only works if the people at the bottom get in their place". They seem to believe that letting oneself be crushed by those above you in the order of things is a noble fate — a stance that's easier to take if you're not on the very bottom of this order.

The core of this seems to be a deep, desperate belief that there is some intrinsic order to things, some arrangement of society that would make everything make sense. I can't say I don't sympathise with this; the world is complex and overwhelming, and things change so fast that I can't hope to keep up. It reminds me of some advice I read about how to write good characters in fiction — "what lie does your character tell themselves?". I think that this is their lie. It's what they feel they need to believe to make sense of their own suffering. I agree that in-group mentality is a huge part of how they respond to the world, but I think that the out-group is more than just people they perceive to be beneath them, but more like the people who challenge the lie that they tell themselves to cope.

Perhaps they have moments where they recognise the injustice of their own suffering, and then they look at how the systems that produce that are so much larger than they are, which makes them feel small and scared. I sympathise with this too, because I also think that the power that I have as an individual is laughably trivial. For me, that's why I find solace in solidarity, and in striving for intersectional progressiveness within my communities.

I wish that they could work with us to build something better. It is scary, but it's easier when you're not alone. It seems pretty lonely to be a conservative. Sometimes it feels like I care more for their own suffering than they do, because they either refuse to recognise the way the system is grinding them up, or they argue that actually it's a good thing. Conservatives can seem like they're driven by selfishness, but then they continually do things that directly harm themselves and people they care about. That propensity made a lot more sense when I understood the weird martyr complex they tend to build.

That's an incredible description, and I'm feeling a deeper empathy for Conservatives than I had before. It's fucking tragic what they do to themselves; it seems a sad life to lead.

Sometimes when I find myself struggling to grasp something that's beyond me, I recognise an instinct within myself that wants to become hostile and belligerent at the text, as you describe — to do whatever is necessary to reorient myself such that I am smart and capable, instead of being thoroughly humbled by the uncomfortable experience of personal growth. I've become pretty skilled at recognising that instinct, and running in the opposite direction (that is, into the things that challenge me), but I can imagine what kind of person I'd become if I indulged it.

"That sounds WAY more interesting than what we got"

Though I'm not keen on the concrete stuff I've seen from EA Wyll, I agree that it seems like a more interesting direction for him. I'm not averse to them changing direction for his character, but I wish they'd give the new Wyll something more to his character — some more internal conflict to make him feel deeper.

I was pretty disappointed by how little there was to Halsin. I kept checking in with him at camp, and coming away disappointed. I get that he was a late addition as the character he is, but it's still disappointing

I love it when I stumble across incredibly human moments like this in textbooks in the wild. It really brightens my day because it reminds me that a person (or more usually, people) wrote this hefty tome.

Shirts are one of those things that tend to look bad if they're not well fitted. I don't have much experience tailoring for people who are binding, but my experience making and modifying clothing for myself and others has led me to be one of those people who evangelise the benefits of getting high quality staple clothing tailored (though finding a good, reliable local tailor can be difficult for some).

The standard advice for shirts is to buy shirts that fit the shoulders, and then get them tailored. I don't know if that advice would still apply for people who are binding (I know that people with breasts often need to size up to allow enough space in the chest, and that may remain true when binding), but I would assume this would still apply.

You also mention fit issues around the butt. A transmasc friend reported that he had best success finding women's trousers that were in a more masculine style. He reported that although he struggled with gender dysphoria due to knowing they were women's trousers, how the clothing made him look caused to feel gender euphoria.

I imagine that if you hear the joke enough, it would end up having a meta-level of humour, similar to how cashiers joke about the silly people who say "does that mean it's free?" when something doesn't scan. In that case though, the jokes are at those customers who think they're funny, whereas in this case, the humour would partly come from being happy for the patients who are so tremendously psyched to get top surgery.

People like you are why I finally got round to playing the original Hollow Knight (Thank you; I've been having a lot of fun)

Archive link: https://archive.ph/Hge9G

I'm not on Bluesky, so I'm not going to follow this person. However, I really appreciate how considerate it is to leave this link for people who would like to. Thank you; this is the kind of action that communities are built on.

That seems like a reasonable requirement that helps to justify the necessity of the CBC

I really like the world exploration. The world is pretty big, and it's common to come across an obstacle that you can't get past. I like the feeling of spending a few minutes trying to assess whether there's a way past, and then going off adventuring elsewhere, eventually finding something that makes you go "ooooh, that's how I'm meant to get past that earlier place". I like that it really rewards exploration. There's a lot of hidden stuff, but it's not overly opaque — there are usually lots of clues that help you to find secrets.

The open world also makes bosses easier. I'm not great at bosses, so quite often I will get bored of trying against a difficult boss and go elsewhere. There's nearly always more places to explore, and possibly find things that will make things easier.

I also love how well tutorialized the game is. When you get a new ability, the level design in the section after that helps you to learn first hand how that ability works, so even though the literal tutorial bit is little more than "Press [button] to [use ability], you come away with a good understanding of what that new ability will allow you to do.

I'm also typically not keen on platformers, but this game scratches a different itch for me

I'm also glad you didn't fall down the incel hole, because then it's likely that we wouldn't have you here with us

Thanks so much for adding all this detail <3

Also wow, that's so heavy; it must feel like armour. Recently I was learning that apparently modern corsets are typically far heavier than historic ones were, and that this contributes to the popular idea of corsets as being uncomfortable cages. I've been meaning to buy some synthetic whalebone, because I've never used it before, and I am curious about the prospect of making a corset that has more boning and structure in it than other corsets I've made, but is also lighter (though perhaps a better way to experiment with lighter corsets would be to try some corded designs that wouldn't require me buying more things to add to my stash).

I thank you for sharing this; I am feeling wistful towards my past time as a hobbyist corsetière, and inspired to get back into it. There's a decent likelihood that I'll burn out before I actually get round to making something, but regardless, it's nice to revel in this atmosphere of creativity.

This confused me too, but I recently there's a thing called the European broadcasting area. There are quite a few non-European countries that are eligible, but choose not to compete (such as many of the countries neighbouring Israel)

We shouldn't conflate the Jewish people and the Israeli state/Zionists. That benefits Israel

I agree that cultural hegemony plays a huge role in how studies consider concepts like democracy, and that this can lead to problems in the analysis — it sounds like we're on the same page about that. What I'm struggling with is what you would consider to be a neutral, scientific study? Because even if we agree that this study sets out its baseline poorly enough that we should take it's findings with plenty of salt, I am unclear on how one could set a baseline in a manner that's objective.

Your point comparing Switzerland and Cuba is a good example here. You highlight that ideological values reveal themselves in which statistics are chosen to include, and which are ignored. My question is whether it's possible to do objective research in these areas at all; if one were to take into account the pressure of cultural hegemony in defining democracy, and instead included commonly ignored statistics in one's analyses as part of an effort to produce counter hegemonic research, isn't that just as politically biased as the study in the OP?

Zooming out a bit, my wider question is not just about whether we can analyse things like democracy in an objective, scientific manner, but also whether we should. Science is often rhetorically leveraged to "objectivity launder" issues, which is especially problematic because that involves ignoring how Western science itself is borne of imperialist and classist systems, and often perpetuates elements of these (especially when people buy into the idea that "objective science" is a thing that exists, which I don't).

Why not both? Political pillow talk time

How does one scientifically define a democracy?