This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I will say that there is such a thing as a 'good teacher', it's just that it is determined per student and not per teacher.
For me, an autistic type 1 nerd that hates sitting still for more than 15 min, I need a teacher that goes lighting fast and makes as many jokes per minute as possible, then spends the back 3/4's of the class doing examples and taking questions so the loose information settles into the correct pattern. I actually REALLY benefited from zoom classes when I did my emergency covid degree; cause if the lecture was too slow I could play video games and keep my brain in the peak power zone RPMs wise, instead of falling asleep/into a fugue.
Someone else who takes careful notes and thinks things through might want very slow, thorough lecture to construct the pattern in their brain and then just moves to the next one.
A third person might not benefit from lecture at all; they need to read and reread the text until their brain synthesizes a world model out of it.
It's the full flower of human individuality, what a fucking pain!
I don't think that's autism.
Playing video games is not keeping your brain up, it's relying on ingrained muscle memory and habit. I see too many streamers of games who are just grinding with a maxed build and they are steamrolling their way through maps, while playing music, chatting online, and responding to questions. That's not concentrating on the game, the game itself occupies as much intellectual endeavour as scrubbing the bathroom would.
That is what I jus said.
Just distracting enough to keep me focused.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link