@PutAHelmetOn's banner p

PutAHelmetOn

Recovering Quokka

0 followers   follows 0 users  
joined 2022 September 06 21:20:34 UTC 

				
User ID: 890


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
PutAHelmetOn


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Recovering Quokka

				
				
				

				

					0 followers  

					follows 0 users  

					joined 2022 September 06 21:20:34 UTC
				


				
					

					
No bio...

				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 890


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
‎

			

				
				

					Hour
					Day
					Week
					Month
					Year
					
				

			


			
‎

			

	
	

	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What is the concrete difference between liberalism's emphasis on "individual emancipation" if in fact people delegate "agency and responsibility" to The System? This tension sounds like a contradiction to me, so I must be missing something.


It just sounds like many people in fact do not want committed relationships.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Can you elaborate? Are you saying that the odd thing is the doomer who thinks this is an extinction-level event whereas the more likely outcome is a continued, illiberal humanity? Maybe it's as simple as people saying "extinction-level event" are always exaggerating? See: climate alarmism, AI-doomerism


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
While its true various causes are "contributing factors" to some effect, socially speaking when you say something is a cause, you are implicitly saying it is to blame, or should be changed. Take this report, for example, discussed today on Twitter:




Even though women’s enhanced agency is an important factor in determining
fertility in most developed nations today, its role in altering birth rates has depended on a
related element. That factor is the ability of women to be assured they can reap the
financial and personal rewards from their education while raising their children. The more
that men can credibly signal they will be dependable “dads” and not disappointing “duds,”
the higher will be the birthrate in the face of greater female agency.






Therefore, even though the major factor in the decline of fertility is increased
women’s agency, the real downside or obstacle is the need for husbands and fathers to
reliably demonstrate their commitment. I will provide two related models that make the
point that the real problem is a mismatch between what women need to enjoy the fruits of
their autonomy and what credible commitments men can make.




This excerpt uses a mix of descriptivist language like: "important/major factor", "role", "related element", and carefully phrases the prescriptivist language ("real downside/problem", "obstacle") to prescribe the conventional modern liberal solutions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I guess you have a not-that-attractive face (perhaps the fat?), and come across as kind of awkward and autistic. Reasons for suspecting you're a bit on the spectrum: (1) you post here; (2) you started talking about "theory behind wingmanning" with a girl.


So, the way to get a girl to show up is probably: to lose even more fat and build some muscle to become more attractive; and to maybe learn what to talk about and what not to talk about, so that you don't come across as awkward and unattractive.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are lots of (right wing) people who would agree this youtuber is unhealthy. The reason mainstream left-wingers don't is just because of politics. The only asymmetry is that more people attack Clav. Part of this is that he is far more popular (than this youtuber I hadn't heard of before). The other part is that there is no high-status anti-feminist messaging in culture.


A lot of feminism's revealed core (that men are fundamentally bad/dangerous, sex is harmful and degrading to women, anti-man family courts, etc.) is not disputed by the conservative Right. It would take hard reactionary anti-feminism politization -- trans insanity but reversed -- to get sizable support for Clav's looksmaxxing (and the worldview that he signal-boosts).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for July 8, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


If you're actually worried about scurvy and the like, invest in a multivitamin. Like 5-10 cents per pill depending on what brand.




I think just vitamin C tablets from the drugstore are enough to fight scurvy in particular. A random product at pharmacies near me was 18 cents per 1000mg serving.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for July 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


and those are actually load-bearing on the immersion




(Disclaimer: I've never played the tabletop game nor do I know anything about 40k.)


When I did background research on Rogue Trader, I wanted to learn about mechanics and gameplay, but (I guess because its a TTRPG) all the answers online are explaining the 40k lore or what a Rogue Trader is. I don't care! I had the same problem when trying to google "Difference between Warlock and Wizard 5e" -- I guess these games are for theatre kids instead of mechanic enjoyers.


It took me awhile to adjust to the shop system and the cargo system, because the game explains them in in-universe immersion terms. It took me too long to realize cargo was your cash and the items themselves are free (its mostly about the reputation, I think?). If you want tedium, I hear min/maxing cargo turn-ins requires you to micromanage to avoid overfilling units.


There's also the space combat minigame (I think it's quite complex for a minigame), that is prohibitively difficult compared to the rest of the game. I really like that it has it though, because I think it is immersive! I feel like the gameplay is reflecting (what little I've read) about the Rogue Trader fantasy.


The only immersion-breaking thing is that I am swinging a sword at all. That is Abelard's job, hello?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for July 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You are probably autistic (because you post here) and are probably a locationcel (as the incels say). Have you heard the term locationcel? Did you know location was considered important enough to make that category?


This is the Friday Fun thread, but this is not a Fun topic. I also notice there's no question so its not a good fit for the Small Question thread either. Perhaps Wellness Wednesday is the best fit.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
On the meta subject of skin in the game:


    

  • the phrase "skin in the game" is about the feedback loop between choices and consequences -- and not being isolated from them (e.g. policymakers)
    • 

  • the phrase "conflict of interest" is about how someone might make a "wrong choice" because of bias or wanting a particular outcome
    • 

  • for a funny example, consider who should make abortion policy. Arguably men have no skin in the game, arguably women would be biased.
    • 



In terms of the object level of transgender, I think it comes down to how skeptical you are that gender identity and their definitions describe a real thing that exists; or if they are just mouth noises to obtain a particular outcome. For example, if trans agenda is just a "give into my desire" policy, it's not coherent to talk about correctness.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm guessing...


    

  1. normal and sane people on the left will celebrate assassinations of right-wingers, and are mainly just too cowardly to do it themselves
    2. 

  2. normal and sane people (like Robinson) can sometimes assassinate right-wingers
    3. 



There might be some arguments about #2 but I imagine they come down to question-begging: defining assassination as abnormal and insane.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, programmers would briefly describe this theory as "statelessness and idempotency is easy" or put more commonly, "math is hard."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I haven't grown up speaking only Spanish my whole life, but I expect those who have would apply Spanish-intuition to English.


I think "I could care less" is like "could of" -- people say it because it sounds right and they don't think about the logic. People do not say "I could care less" because the logic checks out. So in that sense it is unrelated to (double) negatives.


The funnest fact I know: Famously, "Si" is "yes" in Spanish and "Oui" is "yes" in French. But "Si" also means "yes" in French: "yes, in a no kind of way."




Alice: "You didn't get a TV, right?"


Bob: "Yes."




Confusing, right? As a stupid autistic person, I got used to replying "Correct" or "Wrong" to these kinds of questions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If you are an artist, then putting minorities in your work is something you can do. But, ending legislation that contributes to systemic oppression is something you can't do. So the progressive sees representation as a casual force, not merely a signal. Probably the social status caused by representation (or lack thereof) is a contributing factor for what is meant by "oppression." I'm not sure if this answers what you mean by "primary" or "secondary." It's more about levels of abstraction: oppression is fought by ways of representation (among other ways).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 29, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You do not help yourself by exaggerating. 18 and 17 is fine, and everyone thinks so except for mentally ill people. 24+ and 17 is about where the controversy battle lines are set.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 28, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It could be a difference of male/female communication norms. The purpose of Orgasm Gap Discourse is to receive sympathy, not solutions to problems. This gynecologist is not "reading the room" as they say.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think there is an empathy gap where you don't know what woke people think. they would consider you, not the "pedophile," to be the bad guy in this scenario, if your enhancements made the girl look like an adult.


(obviously, some consider any 30 year straight guy wrong for liking girls 18, for reasons unrelated to trans issues, which muddies the waters, but...)


To turn it around on you, suppose you took an adult woman and did something to her to make her look 12 or whatever. Turns out woke people think its pedophilic to be attracted to that!


So, hopefully I am getting across the point that to woke people, "attracted to" really means that initial gut feeling about the outside characteristics, it doesn't refer to preferences and important dealbreakers.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, trans people have a lot of trouble dating and are the left-coded version of incels. For transwomen, most are disgusted by them and society sees them as stealing valor. For transmen, they have the typical difficulties. I think the quagmire of being unwanted nicely explains the resentment that incels and (some) trans people feel about all this. This is opposed to the other, Just World narrative where (e.g. Incel's) moral failings cause dating problems.


What is interesting to me, and I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, is that so many trans women start off looking like nerdy and loser guys -- these guys seem like they would be vulnerable to becoming incel in the first place. Likewise, a lot of nonbinary girls start off with an unattractive face shape and are probably fat.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If genitals were the actual thing that "attractive" meant, then this thought experiment would be incoherent. If genitals were the actual thing you meant by "attractive," then "imagine a very attractive young woman" would cause you to visualize a scene where the woman has taken off her clothes for you to inspect her.


My thought experiment is perfectly coherent to you, because you intuitively treat "attractive" as what the woke call gender expression: makeup, face shape, personality, stuff like that.


Of course, realizing that you can be attracted to trans people is alarming and offensive, which is I guess what causes all this kind of reaction.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Ok, and who gets to decide what is on the allowed list?




Oh, woke people do of course.




Sure, if "attracted to trans people" includes "unknowingly attracted to trans people." But so what? What's your point here?




The point is an illustration of what the words "attracted to" and "preference" actually mean in practice.


    

  1. We don't make sexual orientations out of preferences (or woke people don't)
    2. 

  2. We are attracted to gender expression
    3. 

  3. Genitals are like college degrees, not gender expression.
    4. 





By "sexual attraction," I am not including unknowing sexual attraction.




Hopefully you're starting to understand the woke argument? If you have to say "By X I am not including certain kinds of X" then there's a problem here.




I suspect that because of this, many Leftists would label me a "transphobe" and imply (or state) that there is something wrong with me.




I think they would say you are not actually attracted to femininity at all! The core gender-ideologist claim is that Caitlyn Jenner is in the same bucket as Angelina Jolie, and they call that bucket femininity. They wouldn't quite say "you are attracted to genitals" because genitals are not a kind of gender expression. (I want to re-iterate that 'attracted to college degrees' is incoherent, but 'preference for college degrees' is not.)


Finally, they'll darkly hint that you seem to view women as bodies attached to a hole, or something.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The believer in woke gender ideology would just tell you that the sting of your analogy is precisely that robots and apes are not people. Which by the way, makes your analogy dehumanizing and problematic, etc.


Furthermore, my guess is you are being "sex-essentialist" and focusing on the person's genitals. As I explained, having a genital preference is fine, but is not a sexual orientation. This means the analogy's conclusion should not be "you are robosexual" but rather "you can be attracted to a robot." A nitpick, I know.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If I understand, you are saying the raw social power that caused wokeness (it certainly wasn't any mechanisms to detect or restrain bad ideas) is anti-TERF because the powers that be personally gain somehow? Are the trans sex pests running the universities?


I definitely agree the TERF intersex intersect squabble is a fight between women, and I certainly think its a little funny (because I hate women). Your last comment -- you're saying TERF gynosupremists wouldn't even let transphobic men come to their aid? It seems unlikely to me. What does this look like, all the NYT columnists and writers being women nowadays, or something else...?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't personally know any TERFs. All my woke friends, all their woke friends, all say bad things about TERFs. I don't think my woke friends (who are male and female, of course) are betraying the revolution for personal gain? It's just the oppression totem pole.


"Women at fault" is called "internalized patriarchy" or something, right?


I don't get the sense at all that trans activism is a frustrated men's rights movement. Maybe I'm just in a bubble with all my woke friends?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
"Gay ideology" isn't the best name for it, since Feminist values are also anti-natal. Yours is a standard reply, that wokeness will fail because it is low fertility. It isn't so. It doesn't need to breed adherents, it can just convert them. This is trivial if you control education and state. Even if wokeness manages to marginalize high-fertility sub-groups (Amish, Mormons, etc.), they can still import infinite migrants.


Whether you expand the definition of "religion" or discard the word altogether for the more neutral-sounding "ideology" is inconsequential. The "harmful meme" is the distinction, that isolated demand that treats paranormal entities differently than run-of-the-mill moral instruction.


Your "problem" with Yarvin doesn't make sense to me. Are you saying if the elite do have defined morals, then they won't rule like an oligarchy? what does it mean to "rule like an oligarchy?" Your distinction between state and society also doesn't make sense to me -- can you clarify more?


In any case, the rest of Yarvin's ideas (Formalism) are not relevant. That "Belief in Religion" post is more of a companion essay to his longer stuff, just focusing on the theocratic aspects of wokeness under a different name -- we call it something different 20 years ago.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for June 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm looking forward to Star Wars Zero Company, which should come out later this year. People are thinking its like XCOM. Some in the know have compared it to Mass Effect, which would also please me, since I like RPGs too. Still, what I want the most is tactical complexity and turn-based squad combat. Unfortunately like most modern star wars games, I predict it will be trivially easy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 22, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is overly-wordy ("concrete example, carefully") for a simple topic that has been discussed to death in the Culture War Threads. Here is some additional reading for you, in case you are new to these parts:



There are probably others too, but these are the first that came to mind.