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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31623 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 9, 2023

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Easy to say that as anonymous troll demons (as Jordan Peterson would call us), but for someone with a public reputation/standing and a lot to lose - not least socially - as Bostrom the choice isn't clear-cut. Of course, his grovelling shows that he prefers the comfort of the establishment to telling hard truths. Which should probably lower his standing as a philosopher. But it also shows he's just a coward like most people.

Nope. It is as clear cut - because this tactic never works. The trolls always want more blood and humiliation.

To take an extreme example: compare and contrast Kanye and Nick Cannon. Both engaged in anti-Semitism but one backed down and the other didn't. Nick Cannon has a thriving career after apologising (repeatedly) and Kanye doesn't. So it is factually incorrect to say that it can never work to back down. Indeed in some cases, such as this example, backing down shouldn't even be seen as a negative.

I don't disagree with your point, but I'm not sure that West is the best example; I'd be very surprised if he was unable to produce extremely popular records or sell out concerts in the future, and so wouldn't say that his career is finished. But West would be a rare exception

Nick Cannon was forgiven via the soft bigotry of low expectations. Bostrom -- a white professor of philosophy at Oxford -- will be afforded no such grace. His email demonstrates that he spoke the Murray Blasphemy with full intent and understanding, and his response so far concedes that the email was his; he will be anathema from this date forth, to a degree that will corrupt even his associates if they do not renounce him.

He is totally screwed. How to manage the wreckage of the remainder of his life is a question of aesthetics and personal values rather than of instrumental advantage. Apologies won't save him, but neither will any other course.

He may or may not be able to retain his tenured position at Oxford. If he does, it will be a lonely one, with students and faculty competing with one another to build credit by performing his anathema.

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