Grant_us_eyes
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User ID: 1156
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
I have to confess, a general philosophy of 'If the world is not fair and just, we can at least make it beautiful' is one that has a good amount of appeal.
Grant_us_eyes
8mo ago
Counterpoint: Political groups have had no issue taking the supposed insults from their opposition and turning it into a badge of pride, regardless of the format.
'Yankee Doodle' was supposed to be an insult. For a more recent occurrence, 'Keep your Rifle By Your Side' was supposed to be atleast slightly satire, until people listened to it, went 'Holy shit, this song slaps' and started using it unironically.
It's a phenomena that's not really new by any stretch.
Grant_us_eyes
10mo ago
Getting punched does not entitle you to shoot.
Uh, no, that's exactly the point when you should start shooting(if capable) or running away(if not).
Punching someone has too much potential for a lethal outcome to be anything but attempted murder/manslaughter, which is why most people experienced with fighting, when questioned what you should do in a fight, typically reply with some varient of 'Run the fuck away'.
Conversely, this is why any serious martial art instructor is going to advise you to never get into a fight, because if you're seriously fighting someone, you best options for dealing with them are all potentially lethal.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
I'll be the one to ask the stupid question; For those of us whom haven't been exhaustively following software development, what does 'LLaMa{-7B,-13B,-30B,-65B}' actually mean?
Grant_us_eyes
4mo ago
No possible war between the US and China could ever be beneficial for either country.
"The Chinese people are not to be cowed by U.S. atomic blackmail. Our country has a population of 600 million and an area of 9,600,000 square kilometers. The United States cannot annihilate the Chinese nation with its small stack of atom bombs. Even if the U.S. atom bombs were so powerful that, when dropped on China, they would make a hole right through the earth, or even blow it up, that would hardly mean anything to the universe as a whole, though it might be a major event for the solar system."
"If the worst came to the worst and half of mankind died, the other half would remain while imperialism would be razed to the ground and the whole world would become socialist; in a number of years there would be 2,700 million people again and definitely more."
Both of those quotes are attributed to Mao Zedong. Yes, I firmly believe nuclear war was a tactic Mao would have implemented; this was a man whom had experienced WW2 through China's eyes, with all it's horrific casualties on the Chinese people.
There's a reason Nixon and Mao coming together to hash stuff out face to face was a huge deal. Don't fall into the historian trap of thinking that 'Great Men of History don't matter, greater factors come into play that determine how history plays out.'
Grant_us_eyes
10mo ago
Cause men tend to be more insane than women.
I can't really find a better word to describe it. It's something I've seen in people whom are really focused on sports, from running to martial arts. The ones whom been invested in such things - for years upon years - tend to be just a little bit, uh, off.
After all, you're basically torturing yourself regularly, week after week, for seemingly no purpose whatsoever other than to, well, keep doing it?
So it seems from the outside. Mind, there's a plethora of benefits that come with said exercise and whatnot, but that doesn't get much focus, as said benefits typically come after those years of practice.
And, yes, your observations tend to run similar to mine. In martial arts, men typically outnumber the women to a vast degree.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
I feel the need to point out something in regards to RPG.net for those not in the know; RPG.net is a big deal. (Atleast, it used to be when I still browsed it). It's the forum where active professionals(writers, publishers, artists, ect, ect) go to post and discuss matters. It's some place where you could feasibly post and gain the notice of professionals in the publishing industry, a way to get your foot in the door.
So when you see a place like this being overwhelmingly blue tribe-aligned, it creates a severe gate-keeping effect as a byproduct.
I've seen some editors remark on the political alignment of their internal studio staff, with a surprisingly broad selection... from over twenty years ago. I doubt it's that way now.
Grant_us_eyes
23d ago
The odd spread of opinion on the motte in either incarnation has been a puzzlement for both posters and mods alike for years, to the point where, imho, the mods give far too much leniency toward left-aligned posters in an attempt to foster a more 'even' debate forum. A laudable goal, I suppose, but not without it's unintended consequences.
Again, imho.
How the motte as a whole has developed hasn't been a surprise to me. At all.
Please allow me to explain my point of view.
Also, please excuse my generalizations, as I'm going for brevity, and relying primarily on my personal experiences.
I've been around a time or two. Long enough to see how forums develop, primarily in the fandom arena. Fandoms as a whole tend to lean left. Often, most fandom forums will also include 'off topic' areas that allow for political discussion.
While you could likely quibble with the ratio, I think it's fair to say that the most vociferous voices in these off-topic forums are going to lean heavily left. This creates a board culture that slowly dominates more and more, accelerating depending on how the spread of moderators and their personal opinions go.
This creates a specific argument culture - the majority of posters are left aligned, posting frequently, and have a plethora of free time to do so. If any right-aligned posters decide to wade into that pool, they're going to be faced with large opposition - gish galloping, low-level harassment in the form of having to deal with multiple posters attacking their view without pause, and so on. This creates stress, which can result in bad behavior(despite their opposition never being called out on it), often resulting in mod action, which creates a feed-back loop of self-satisfaction for the left-aligned posters and mods. This creates a perceived trend - right-aligned posters cannot debate or argue their points, hence their ideas are not good, and so on. A chilling effect occurs, as right-aligned posters realize the juice isn't worth the squeeze, the environment is hostile, and the mods - supposedly neutral arbitrators - will not be on their side.
So. This reinforces a perceived board culture, and what few right-aligned posters that debate such things will typical be extreme outliers, as they've been hardened by experience and can handle operating in a hostile environment.
However, a curious thing can occur. Off-shoot forums can develop, much smaller, taking population from the larger as a whole yet not having the numbers or involvement. Off-topic forums are put in place, including, yes, politics.
And a different environment emerges. When the playing ground is made even, suddenly it's the left-aligned posters acting badly because they're no longer operating in an environment they're familiar with. One on one, they can no longer rely on gish-galloping or numbers, and their opponents are well-experienced handling rapid-paced one-on-one debates(they have to be, to survive this long). Suddenly, the shoe is on the other foot - and the resultant behavior is so explicitly bad, even if the mods would normally be left-aligned, the size of the forum can't hide the behavior. It's clear, explicit, gains attention, and the mods have to play by the stated rules whether they want to or not.
Such off-topic areas are often shut down in quick order, likely due to all the mod-actions that result from it. I suspect this is due to all the left-aligned posters constantly abusing reports in the background, resulting in an over-sized headache the mods don't want to have to deal with, but this is pure suspicion on my part, lacking in any explicit evidence.
The motte exists in it's current forum because it's a level playing field, rigorously enforced. When their is conflict with the mod's decisions as a whole, it's often in the form of special treatment toward the left-aligned posters as a whole, but the mods have limited choices. The wider internet as a whole has inculcated a specific attitude in most left-aligned posters that does not lend itself toward even debate. They exist in an environment that encourages gish-galloping, low-level harassment, and confidence that the mods will take their side in most matters. They're used to low-level chilling effects and love-bombing in the form of most posters taking their side.
You say the motte is more 'right-aligned'. It is, likely. From the perspective of most left-aligned posters that wander in, because they're used to a radically different debate environment, populated by posters with similar opinions, where their perspective is rarely challenged, and where ideas in opposition to their own are rarely presented in a cogent fashion(and when they are, there's no guarantee it will remain).
The motte as it stands is the result of evolutionary pressure focused on political debate exerted on the wider internet as a whole and this forum in specific. Factors elsewhere do not exist here. This is a strange country, with different rules and pressures.
If you want a more neutral forum, find better left-aligned posters that can operate with those rules and pressures. Otherwise, don't be surprised when they decide to instead debate and argue in places where they can flourish.
Grant_us_eyes
7mo ago
storming the capitol building
Why should storming the capital building be any different than when rioters stormed the White House?
People constantly try to paint the Jan 6 protest as something extraordinary, when it was just the right wing seeing what the left had been doing for the past four years and deciding to use a tool that apparently works.
Don't blame the protestors for assuming good faith and not realizing that left-wing protests were being sponsored and applauded by the various institutions kicking around.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
You have an interesting circle of friends.
The question of where to find single, available women IRL is something I see repeated alot on men-focused forums, reddit included. The conversation tends to devolve down in the same way;
-
'Where do I find women to interact with and touch grass?'
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insert list of women-focused activities and hobbies
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'I'm not interested in any of those; should I pretend to be invested in them just to find a girlfriend?'
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Cue a mixed response of 'Just give it a shot, you might like it!' and the inevitable chorus from online women of 'Ew, you shouldn't join a hobby just to meet women, that's disgusting and women can always tell!'
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Cue frustrated response from several men about how they've been told they shouldn't talk to women in a variety of social spaces, so what exactly are they supposed to do?
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No response.
itsallsotiresome.jpg
So, yeah. This is something that's I feel has been happening alot as of late, and has been exacerbated by covid. Whether this is all antecedent data or indications of a larger social trendline with ominous implications for the future has yet to be determined.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
On other occasions, I've had female friends claim that they could beat me in a fight, because I'm skinny. Which... well, I am skinny. But at 5'8", 140, fairly lean, and lifting a couple times a week, this really isn't going to be close.
People who beleive this have never been in a fight.
I don't have the url on hand(and I'm not sure how we want to be linking to reddit anyways), but I recall a long thread on a female-centric reddit forum that discussed the moment when they realized just how much stronger men were naturally than women.
I distinctly remember a fair number of those moments could basically be summed up as 'I kept pushing my brother/SO/friend to treat me seriously when playing/wrestling/competing and when he did he promptly shut me down cold without even trying'.
I wonder how many women whom claim 'They could win in a fight' are going off of faulty information, because every man in thier life have been playing with them and/or treating them gently, while the woman in question thinks they've been treated seriously.
Grant_us_eyes
11mo ago
It's pretty much a stereotype for me by this point; whenever a vegen comes down from the mount for a sermon to try and convert the unbelievers, they start with a similar spiel and then immediately go into a long diatribe about all the various hoops they have to jump through to get their various dietary necessities.
None of which are easily accessible, and tend to only be accessible in their locale due to the world-wide shipping network we currently possess that makes shipping exotic food about fairly easy.
Nah. You do you, boss, but I'll stick with my meat, veggies, and dairy diet, thanks.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
The only thing I take away from that essay is the overwhelming desire to do bodily harm on the person whom wrote it.
Why I would take anything in good faith from someone whom hates me and mine and gleefully spends hours of his time writing about how much he hates me and mine is baffling to consider. This doesn't belong in the friday fun thread - this is pure rage bait and culture warring.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
There is... I don't have the number, but I keep seeing them pop up in forums all over the place(and for several years), so there's at least an amount of left-aligned individuals whom are absolutely convinced that America is only One Bad Day away from getting turned into a Christian Theocracy.
AOC is presumably one of those people.
Grant_us_eyes
1mo ago
For one, if Sweet Baby had no issue with what they're doing, the curator page would be free advertising, and they'd have no reason to try and censor it.
As their first response was to go on the attack, it implies that Sweet Baby wants to keep exposure of thier involvement to a minimum.
Upper Echelon did a well-researched video on the entire matter. It's fairly indepth, and goes over a few highlights, such as;
Despite claims to the contrary, the most recent example of a woke flop, the whole Suicide Squad mess, several writers(and lead script writer) work for Sweet Baby.
He also shows videos of Kim Balair, the CEO of Sweet Baby, subtly threatening triple AAA studios in a sense of 'Nice game you've got, would be a shame if a twitter lynch mob came for it'.
There's probably more, but you're free to watch the video.
There's a term called 'Mediocrity Principle', roughly paraphrased to mean 'if an item is drawn at random from one of several sets or categories, it's more likely to come from the most numerous category than from any one of the less numerous categories.' I find Sweet Baby to be the tip of the iceberg, the random sample that blew up in everyone's face, and I find it difficult to beleive the idea that they're the only organization with this prevalent attitude.
For added fun, you also have a government-backed NGO running defense and organization for Sweet Baby in the news media, calling to 'denounce gamergate'.
I know what I take away from all this. You can make your own decision.
Grant_us_eyes
4mo ago
If there is one thing about online rhetoric regarding the Civil War and the South has taught me, is that the South should have simply emulated the Arabic slave trade, or the Central American slave trade, as that would have solved alot of problems.
Sadly, here we are.
Grant_us_eyes
5mo ago
What confuses me though is his unashamed hamas-freedom fighter sentiment and Jews-are-the-villains narrative
I don't see any of that. I see satire pointing out how America has a tendency to fall all over itself in supporting Israel without question, and that some people are just a little bit tired of that.
Your take on the matter kind of proves his point; Israel seems above criticism, and any negative word in their direction is taken as support for their enemies.
Grant_us_eyes
6mo ago
I would suggest 2016 was less the cause and more the 'masks off' moment.
Hanging around various fan forums in the early 2000s, one common thread I saw pop up time and time again was the typical 'Whatif' of 'What would you have done differently in the treatment of the South post civil-war' and the thread wouldn't even get past the first page before the notion of 'Kill them all' would get thrown out.
Ground-level liberal/progressives have had a common genocidal fantasy toward Southerners for a very long time, with very little if no pushback against it.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
Speaking in the late thirties, here, and yes, single. Among my close friends group, only one of them is married - and he still had to swim against a heavy current to find someone. The other two that could be married aren't for other reasons - one just doesn't want to get married after watching bad experiences with divorce, another isn't for... reasons? Despite looking. (If I had to guess, it's due to his work schedule.) My brother, younger than me, isn't married and hasn't been looking for years. (When the topic got brought up, he implied heavily that the juice isn't worth the squeeze and they'd bring little to the table, so why bother?)
This is pretty universal from where I'm sitting. The only guy I work with(older than me) isn't married and never has been - my boss is divorced. I can't do a full poll of all of my co-workers, but I know of at least one other guy around my age that's looking and can't find anyone. And one woman who's painfully good looking IMO, who's also single and has no plans to get married.
People seemingly keep trying to fall into a just-world fallacy as to why this is happening, mostly centered around male responsibility and fault. Not just here, but elsewhere. 'Just take a shower, just be well-dressed, just be well-mannered'. I doubt that'll change any time soon.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
I know atleast one person in his seventies that's having to grapple with the idea that someone he grew up with is in a nursing home, while he's still up, spry, active and working.
'Use it or loose it' seems to be a good rule of thumb from what I've seen in old people and who retains their capabilities as they age.
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
You are very much undervaluing the importance of social skills.
People tend to ignore or gloss over that there's a horrendous amount of skills and capabilities that contributes toward being dateable. And if you're skilled enough in one area(say, social skills) this can make up for alot of deficiencies.
For example, if you're skilled in the social sciences, you can get a girlfriend while looking like a small mountain(and not in a good way). Or living with your girlfriends family while not having a home of your own, and somehow this is perfectly fine(wtf?). Or, or, or...
Yeah, no. Not everyone has this skill set. Either through lack of chance to naturally develop such a thing, or simply not gifted with the intrinsic capability. Half the time when people bring up 'I'm socially retarded yet I got a girlfriend' and when they describe their circumstance as to how that occurred, it comes across as pure, blind luck.
Still, you're correct. Social skill is very much a skill that can be learned and developed. The trick, however, is finding a safe space that they can learn these skills, with strict rule sets(because if you know the rules ahead of time, it gives you confidence of how to act within the confines of those rules). And, the arena has to atleast allow for a little forgiveness for when you inevitable screw up.
Nowadays, that's a very tall order. Moreso if you live in an area that doesn't have alot of social arenas to break into in a natural, organic fashion.
I know, I'm speaking from experience. Not that there aren't options, mind, but when alot of these options start costing money, that brings up a whole other set of issues...
Grant_us_eyes
1yr ago
If you've never had the 'well, he's a sex offender, but...' conversation when out with women, consider yourself lucky.
I have, and it's about as depressing as it sounds.
Grant_us_eyes
7mo ago
Which is a third-party prosumer item that not everyone has.
That's the point. You shouldn't need a third-party item to understand where the fuck-up is. Even if it's a hidden option in the background, cars come natively with enough computers that you should be able to pull up an error-code read-out without spending additional money.
Instead, we get new cars and trucks with 18 different cameras built in so the software can construct a to-down view when backing up and then wonder why everything is so expensive nowadays.
Grant_us_eyes
9mo ago
getting outcompeted in a capitalist world
Are they getting outcompeted, or are they simply not giving people what they really want?
One of these days, I'm going to finish that essay in my head regarding the character of Joshua Graham and how he relates to modern religion.
Seventy percent of military recruits have a family member in the United States armed forces.
Seventy fucking percent. I admittedly wasn't expecting that high a number. I still marvel at it, at times.
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