FlailingAce
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User ID: 1084
FlailingAce
2d ago
Gotcha, I see the connection better now.
It seems like a misapplication of the template though. The point of it seems to be to mock someone's enthusiasm for a topic or their willingness to share an opinion that nobody else cares about. Scott is adding in a totally different aspect with his comparison between EA and Christianity. It ends up as a mixed metaphor which I think is why so many are confused by it.
FlailingAce
2d ago
I think I've seen you link this image several places, and every time I don't see any connection. There's no similarity between this 'template' and what Scott says. A copypasta means you copy and paste, maybe with minor alterations.
FlailingAce
2d ago
I don't understand how you read Scott's message and took it as something other than a joke.
The problem is it doesn't read as a joke. There's no wordplay, no clever twist conclusion. It's just a straight-forward comparison that comes off (at least to me) as both direct and fairly aggressive in tone. It's no surprise that people would take it at face value.
If it was meant purely as a joke then it was poorly conceived and poorly executed.
FlailingAce
2d ago
Just like I've understood perfectly the character and substance of atheists if I say they're hedonists who just want to do evil without consequence, or I've understood perfectly the character and substance of socialists if I say they just want free stuff, or I've understood perfectly the character and substance of MAGA Republicans if I say they're just racists in disguise, or etc. etc. It is definitionally straw man nonsense designed to attack the outgroup.
What exactly is the real defense to 'You're an idiot who believes in sky daddy?' The correct response is not a defense at all, but scorn and dismissal.
FlailingAce
3d ago
From what I understand, there's a group of AI safety enthusiasts related to the 'Effective Altruism' movement, but nobody takes them seriously because they're oddballs involved in weird sex stuff. Scott appeared to be defending them by arguing that they are similar to Jesus, which caused a backlash because the comparison is pretty absurd. His defenders say he was just joking. It's very much a storm in a teacup.
FlailingAce
3d ago
Isn't your wife concerned about your salvation? Or is she playing the long game?
FlailingAce
3d ago
The point is trolling (just look at the amount of seething it produces) and highlighting their hypocrisy to third parties.
Yes, this is why those doing 'the meme' are treated with disdain. They are like children whose goal is to annoy by deliberately misunderstanding you. The only response to this is to rebuke and then ignore.
FlailingAce
3d ago
As someone not too familiar with Alexander's writing or X account, the two things you linked sound like humor, while the original that caused the controversy sounds like aggressive rhetoric. There's no wordplay or turn of phrase. If it was meant as humor it falls very short, and people can be forgiven for interpreting it as serious.
FlailingAce
3d ago
This is the definition of uncharitable. Do you really think there aren't any Christians who know the tenets of the religion? What an absurd thing to say.
FlailingAce
5d ago
John the Baptist lived on the edges only in the sense that his lifestyle was untraditional. He had disciples, he engaged frequently with the larger populace, he even involved himself in politics by criticizing Herod. He looks nothing like a monastic.
The idea that isolating yourself will lead you to be 'highly purified and holy' is also not backed up by reality. One example I came across recently is in the journals of St Jerome, who famously shut himself in a tiny cell with only one window to receive his meals and no other contact with the world. Did he become 'highly purified and holy'? To the contrary, he writes in his journals that he was plagued by sinful thoughts and desires just as before.
Sanctification does not and indeed cannot come about by a program of self improvement. It only comes about by the work of the Spirit. That's why monastic practice is inherently wrong-headed, it seeks to use human effort to become holy, when that work can only be accomplished by God.
I'll second both parts of that. I've got about 500 hours in XCOM 2 Long War of the Chosen, culminating in completing an Ironman Legend campaign earlier this year. It is addicting but in a digestible way, because you can play just a little at a time, and can take your time figuring out any situation. It's also by far my favorite game.
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