Tag Archives: society

Politically educational Google searches

I was skeptical after reading in Douglas Murray’s book about the political educational prejudices of Google image search. He claimed that searches for black couple gave you black couples, searches for gay couples gave you gave couples, searches for white couples gave you almost entirely mixed race or non-white couples, and searches for straight couplesContinue reading “Politically educational Google searches”

Leaving space for others to stand and oppose us

If you make white supremacy the only place white people (or cops) feelsl safe and understood, the only beneficiary will be white supremacists. Forcing people into ideological extremes with our rhetoric only erodes the great bulk of ordinary people caught in the middle and feeds the fires of the extremists at both ends. When enoughContinue reading “Leaving space for others to stand and oppose us”

The importance of resisting all political extremes

I feel the same obligation to fight extreme leftist woke culture as I do to fight extreme right Trumpist culture. They’re similar extremes of differing strategies. I see value in both conservative and liberal approaches, and I think what they really are is approaches or attitudes or instinctive value structures more than they are aContinue reading “The importance of resisting all political extremes”

Why words like “mansplaining” only make things worse

I have to question the value and effects of terms such as “mansplaining”, that reduce the moral and cognitive value of someone’s words, actions, and motivations to merely a function of their class belonging. Such terms were developed as a type of intellectual weapon, in principle to address a perceived power imbalance. Unfortunately, they doContinue reading “Why words like “mansplaining” only make things worse”

Strategies for unity 

Unity and peace among people won’t be found by focusing on our differences but by embracing our commonalities. Representation is an incoherent concept for fixing human society and eliminating injustice because there is no limit to how you can divide people by their differences. If we can’t find the commonality within one another and setContinue reading “Strategies for unity “

Incitement to violence and Christianity

Kill the white devils! Viva la revolution! The key difference between King and many other revolutionaries who have preached similar ethics about the need to directly overturn systems of order for the sake of justice is that King was deeply committed to the doctrine of Christian love as the guiding and restraining principle that tamedContinue reading “Incitement to violence and Christianity”

What makes sexual alternatives attractive?

I’ve been rolling a lot of ideas around in my head for a long time, trying to figure out what it is that’s attractive about numerous aspects of sexuality. Specifically, pornography, prostitutes, and certain aspects of other alternative sexual cultures. One huge problem with almost everything everyone has to say about sex is that theyContinue reading “What makes sexual alternatives attractive?”

The value of discrimination 

Discrimination is the foundation of morality. All moralities. All ethics. Business, scientific, sexual, economic. It is the key to survival and to success, to health and sanity. The question to be asked about value hierarchies and discrimination isn’t, do they exist (because they are default bad for us, they’re the foundation of the definitions of,Continue reading “The value of discrimination “

Where things are going

It’s very hard not to see our country as being in a slow process of gradual collapse. We have an enormous amount of inherited cultural capital. We have so much infrastructure and so much law, so many systems and institutions that have enormous power and value and utility. We have traditions and attitudes and conventionsContinue reading “Where things are going”

Why should I care about charity during the lockdown? 

Let’s be honest, I’m in danger myself, I’m stressed, I’m dealing with employees who are stressed. I’m in need of charity myself right now. I’ve got people to take care of who whose livelihoods are threatened. I had to accept some charity myself recently and figure out how I felt about it. I wasn’t goingContinue reading “Why should I care about charity during the lockdown? “

Facts vs narratives of blame

Facts of blame are useful. They help us identify problems and where things went wrong, and solve them. Narratives of blame organize all facts according to an explanation and an enemy that has already been identified. They do not help you soberly identify or correct real problems. They help assuage your instinct to scapegoat andContinue reading “Facts vs narratives of blame”

Politicization, polarization, and extremity

I have a philosophy degree; we’re used to exploring different ideas and hearing different viewpoints, in fact we demand it. We demand testing and argumentation. We demand refinement and consistency. So I’ve been listening to the views of many opposing sides. I’ve been immersing myself into the arguments of the ideological right and the ideologicalContinue reading “Politicization, polarization, and extremity”

On the appeal of video games 

Partly it’s the challenge Partly it’s the fun of exploring fictional world and taking part in them. Partly it’s just the illusion of a productive distraction. When people have leisure they tend to go to exploratory behaviors, testing out new skills and possibilities. Part of it is the illusion of winning and dominance, of beingContinue reading “On the appeal of video games “

On misogyny and child marriage

That was a great article bringing attention to the work of that doctor. It sounds like she did a lot of great at work helping women. And this is purely a comment about what’s most helpful in diagnosing and fixing problems. I’m not sure it’s enough to label child marriage as misogyny. The cause ofContinue reading “On misogyny and child marriage”