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professorgerm

a weird little beardo trying to understand what it's all about

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joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC 

				
User ID: 1157


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
professorgerm


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
a weird little beardo trying to understand what it's all about

				
				
				

				

					3 followers  

					follows 1 user  

					joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 1157


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
i think they are, like most people, constitutionally incapable of seeing the logs in their own eyes, and see no possible downsides to what they see as progress.


if such a downside becomes apparent (like BLM's reversal on bodycams), suddenly they've always been at war with Eastasia.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


there is no logical way to allocate limited national campaign funds to candidates, and funds would be wasted on helping someone win who didn't need any extra advertising.




This ignores that parties aren't perfectly logical and the Iron Law of Bureaucracies.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
the whole 2020/21 debacle driving every left-of-center into completely batshit racism means that anyone to the right of AOC quite reasonably distrusts the "but we were all crazy, shouldn't you just forget?" bullshit that they all try to pull.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


is a mindset that modern western nations have no desire to go back to.




and that's why they won't survive the next 50 years.


i'm still relatively optimistic about the US but Europe as Europe has existed for 1000 or 1500 years has been dying for 80 years now, and has seemingly no interest in recovering.


fascinating lesson for future civilizations. tl;dw "don't half-ass dominance."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 2, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


My guess is he’s that type that still has a big chip on his shoulder




He's 5'6 and did research about Arab women will have lower birthweight babies with non-Arab fathers.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I got what you meant, I probably didn't make that clear enough, sorry. Like a siloed thread and an observer's thread.


The catch is the rest of the time! Like- at the risk of consensus building, take blank slate ideology as quite unpopular here.


The kind of person that earnestly believes and wants to defend that is unlikely to participate long enough to even be asked to do a debate thread. They're not going to want to stick around long enough to be treated like regular people, because they'll get dogpiled when they bring up the topic of disagreement. Blank slate people have historically showed up briefly and either nope out because they dislike too many people and don't want to deal, or they flame out and get banned because they start insulting everyone.


I can imagine a more complex system where people could submit their controversial positions privately, and rarely talk about them (avoiding dogpiles), and occasionally one of the mods picks a pair of controversies to do the 1v1?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Moderation that would ban Darwin is also going to ban the sleazy tacticians, bad faith propositions, and devil's advocates for your side.




Yes.Chad.


But I understand why the mods don't want to take on that responsibility and annoyance.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
yeah pretty much.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


he played devil's advocate




sure jan. he was just a devil.


A policy that ultimately made all these forums worse for anyone vaguely on his side, because they were outnumbered and the perception that Darwin got extreme leeway poisoned the well against them; it generated so much guilt-by-association because he was prolific and hated. "Being a baity piece of shit but technically if you squint it's not personal insults" wins the Battle For Free Speech but loses the War For An Interesting Community. "Be creative with your insults" is a bad compromise but maybe an inevitable one given the higher-priority principles at play.


I don't have a solution here, and the hour is too late anyways. So it goes. Sic transit gloria interrete.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Efforts that look like affirmative action probably won't be popular with existing users, and probably won't be popular with the mods since it would create more work and they've been accused of AA for protected posters well before we moved here (perhaps most infamously, Darwin).


Speaking of, contrarians in these spaces tend to be... abrasive. Forcing people to not respond to them does not a good situation make.


For those that aren't abrasive, what's the point? Would it be fun to be a polite token advocate, where people are restricted in replying to you, where you know they can't reply because your position is unpopular? Or would you rather go spend time where everyone likes you and agrees with you?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Random Musings on the State of TheMotte
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
community has completely changed too.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
that only applies to one particularly limited subset of the population. virtually meaningless to women directly, at least in Western countries.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


(1) are generally pursued by the Republicans; and (2) are detrimental to Non-European immigrants?




given the Count, restricting H1Bs?


basically irrelevant to latinos though.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


let teachers and social workers anonymously blacklist specific children they think shouldn't be trusted with a gun when they grow up.




this would put an interesting twist on Oregon's equity problem.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


So do the people of Ohio




not, infamously, the people of virginia


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
it wasn't reclaimed to nearly the same extent as slut, i agree, but there are some subcultures where it's more acceptable, like Aella et al or The Misbehavin' Maidens using it in lyrics where it's at most playfully offensive (since they're singing about each other or at least each other's personas).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


"This would be counterproductive" is often the most prestigious available way to avoid saying something costly.




What about "that would be an ecumenical matter"?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
danke!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


No, no one is in favor of broad spectrum debanking




do we forget 2020 so quickly, of what the teeming masses will suddenly support under the right conditions




The first amendment still rules in this land and enjoys broad support




lol sure sure tell that to cloudflare and mastercard.




even they are trying to create separation from the more embarrassing leftwing wing media figures.




since when? isn't piker still getting fawning puff coverage?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


A citizen who has voted for decades may suddenly need to produce paperwork simply because they moved, changed names, or updated their registration.




isn't this already supposed to be true, it's just that many states have completely given up elections actually being run properly?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


slur




one of those situational slurs that the ingroup is allowed to use and the outgroup is not.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


"Anytime anyone I agree with idealogically does something bad, it's just because they're acting like The Enemy"




I don't agree with the conservatives here, it was stupid. I'm poking fun at #believewomen. Conservatives are believing women! Shouldn't liberals be happy? Ah, maybe the real rule is more subtle, but no one wants to define it.




Jesse Singal (who has taken plenty of heat for his sticking to his views instead of playing tribal politics)




Jesse takes heat on trans issues specifically. Since we've departed from peak "mostly peaceful arson" insanity, on everything else he is extremely predictable and entirely tribal.


As a barpod listener it's hard to say if his braindead take on Rotherham (terrible topic to do with a comedian) or the Citibike nonsense was worse.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


A huge number of prominent conservative influencers took this disturbed woman's claims at face value




My god, those conservatives acted like liberals! How dare they behave the way the other side demands they behave!


I mean yeah they did it for braindead tribal reasons but come on Jesse. What an obnoxious way to phrase it.




another red flag is when claims are made by objectively bad people.




hmm see above. Funny how this kind of thing only matters when they're bad people on the other side.


If they might vote Dem, who cares if they assaulted 500 grannies on the subway, right?




There is a demand for bad news and conspiracies about Talarico, but there just isn't enough supply to match so sloppy and unethical influencers see financial incentives to find something.




The Cornell 7, Jussie Smollett, Duke Lacrosse, UVA, Colorado burning cross, Covington Catholic, that Nascar driver and the garage door pull, etc etc.


Alas! Forshame! Right-wingers as a class are merely human. How dare they not universally be saintly and above temptation towards base and tribal incentives.




To reiterate the most important part he said IMO, It's good for business. There is a market demand for this sort of slop, but not enough actual verifiable high standards of evidence supply




Also come the fuck on Hasan exists and he's worse than any of these idiots.


But yeah they suck, the lie was stupid, it shouldn't have spread, Talarico's a weird little wilting daisy, blah blah.


Boo Outgroup.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
thank you!




https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/why-i-am-not-as-much-of-a-doomer




ehh still in the x-risk end of things. what i mean is- i guess if you're sold on fast takeoff the brief window where AI can be disastrous but not existential is so narrow as to be moot. but i'm not sold on that!


what i'm looking for is who's writing about, like, the French supermarket fridge hack or Stuxnet level of AI-powered disaster, or just one or two steps up from those. It's unknown who did the fridge hack (yet) but given the relatively low security levels of the equipment, it seems well within the capability range of near-frontier AI. Maybe Claude is 'aligned' enough that no one can jailbreak it into assisting, but open models are only ~6 months behind. Could one of them have been used?


Who's writing about the disasters possible now, or in six months, and how to take those seriously? The "big names"- at least the people I think of as the big names- all seem focused on existential risk, in part because of seriousness of infinite ethics, though I think in part because, frankly, writing sci-fi is way more fun. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places and I need to find some dry corporate report on network security.


How much of a food supply line shock could someone generate by getting their open-weight model on a Mac Mini to find a vulnerability in, say, Kroger's refrigeration management and crank the defrosters in 2700 stores? One of my pet fears is the physical vulnerability of electrical substations. How hard would it be to feed some map data to an AI and estimate a route to generate a cascading failure? I can't imagine the IT departments at water treatment plants are exactly robust, what kind of fresh hell could someone wreck with those?


I am worried about existential risk. But I'm much more worried about nearer-term non-existential risks like these.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I do not have an eidetic memory with a perfect mental map of the exact relationships. I think someone in the Bay should put together such a map, but anyone with the access to do so is likely strategic enough to either not do so or not release it.


Roughly, sure, Yud, MIRI, METR, OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenPhil, various other EA-flavored orgs, have an unusually high level of various forms of interconnections. To an approximation "people you've heard of if you're a Scott reader."


Google and X, less so, probably, and they have fewer (in)famous workers, as well. AISI definitely doesn't count.




But AI safety organisations are now so widespread that it surely isn't true for the majority of them.




somewhere in the replies to that tweet of Scott's you linked, he mentions the value in seeing a grant funder's slush pile for just how many little organizations are out there you've never heard of.