Tacherus
7mo ago
Thanks for the contribution. I think you hit on something important, which is the rationalization aspect of it.
It does seem like it comes back to using concepts of evil vs evil influence to justify what I already want to think.
What’s striking to me is even in your Harry Potter example it seems like we could make it go any direction we want. Maybe we want to redeem Voldemort because of absolutely-not-sex-related reasons.
Wouldn’t I be on equally firm ground (which is to say, not that firm) saying “yeah the little scamp got carried away but it was the bad influences! And now he’s terrified of these Death Eaters who know where his horcruxes are and are Evil!”
As I type this I think it’s basically scapegoating. That’s all it is. There’s something bad I need to account for so I pin it on someone I don’t like in order to absolve someone I do.
Tacherus
7mo ago
I can confirm both being asked by women (at work!) and being shocked because I thought it was low status.
My theory is that it’s not so much a “god-shaped hole” as an “identity-shaped hole.”
The other day, I forget where, I saw an ad to find out my “work personality type.” Astrology, Myers-Briggs, various personality quizzes do a couple things I think
- they let you out yourself and others in a box
- they seemingly outsource introspection—why “know thyself” when you can read it in a book?
- they give you a narrative for yourself
It’s not completely unrelated to god I think, but more about missing meaning, purpose, and something to tell you who you are.
Tacherus
7mo ago
To me what was striking was not the counter examples or the rightful heir trope, it was the explicit invoking of varying degrees of mind control to account for the baseline behavior.
Maybe I’m just reading overly into it but it felt conspicuous not that there was a random mindflayer, but that the reason he was good seemed to be he’d broken free of mind control, implying others might be too.
While I agree that there’s some justification in each case, if you couple that with the recent push to for instance remove alignment associations in DnD, it seems to me a pattern starts to emerge.
Tacherus
7mo ago
For sure. I get paid mostly in shares of stock and it blows my mind that my colleagues will keep theirs instead of selling and diversifying.
Tacherus
7mo ago
That’s a bit of a bummer to hear. My wife and I were thinking about buying guns like 2 months before Covid hit. My main concern now is the time commitment to stay fresh on maintenance, training and skill.
When you say your friends “cannot” do the tactical courses, what do you mean?
Tacherus
7mo ago
Sure but where does the difference in politics come from? Why would Trump appeal less to a union boss than a union worker and vice versa with Harris?
Tacherus
7mo ago
That’s what I thought at first but it seems like they’ve got the same background as the members. How do you account for the split between leadership and members?
Tacherus
7mo ago
Lying about “prospects” seems pretty hard to prove because they’re predictions. And founders definitely tend to be a little crazy.
Tacherus
7mo ago
Wouldn’t the same be true of a worker’s coop? This seems more like an example of markets providing the right incentives than capitalism. Many group the two together; not trying to nitpick, it’s fine if you want to group them together, just want to make sure I’m clear.
Tacherus
7mo ago
I don't follow the question really as I don’t see bureaucracy or democracy as the same type of thing as capitalism.
All I’m saying is whatever its virtues I don’t see how capitalism somehow leads to more decision makers having skin in the game. Would you be willing to flesh out an argument?
Tacherus
7mo ago
What is your evidence of the general rule?
To make sure I understand, you’re saying “in general, capitalism leads to decisions made by people with skin in the game,” right? Would you be willing to flesh out an argument a little more? I just don’t see why that’s true.
Tacherus
7mo ago
The beauty of capitalism is that it usually (though not always) aligns incentives in a positive way because the people making decisions have skin in the game.
Doesn’t the whole concept of externalized costs undermine this claim?
I’m don’t think it’s a specific failing of capitalism but the insulation of decision-makers in business from consequences seems alive and well to me.
Tacherus
7mo ago
Appreciate the suggestions. I’m not sure what it was but today I feel fine. I’ve gotten pains before at the top of my tibia near my knee but that’s been ok. This was weird in that it was soreness lower down by my ankle. I ran 4 miles last night though and today it’s perfectly fine.
Tacherus
7mo ago
My 10k training is getting pretty tough, and I might need to skip a run or two from some lower shin pain. I think I’m improving but still have a ways to go to get my pace to 9-minute miles for the race.
Japanese is a blast but very challenging as well. I’m wrapping some of the major grammar points for my proficiency test in December. The main focus now is “elevating others” and “lowering yourself” correctly.
What’s fascinating to me about this is to do it correctly you have to know who the subject is. And since subjects are often implied by context in Japanese, you have to be correctly tracking quite a bit more than simpler “change I ate an apple to I didn’t eat an apple.”
I’m still playing piano but have decided between the race and the test I have to dial music theory back a bit until December. Still enjoying playing songs though.
Tacherus
7mo ago
That’s wild. So they’re not fans of criticizing sitting presidents or something? I guess I did have an ex-air force friend at one time who wouldn’t criticize the sitting president, but didn’t mind if I did.
Tacherus
7mo ago
Surely you agree though that bringing it up only after the decision is made is worse than before or both though right?
Tacherus
7mo ago
For the first problem, various interest and political groups usually put out voting guides. You could delegate the decision to a group whose priorities you generally agree with (assuming there is one) and use their voting guide.
If forming any of those opinions seems so odious that you’re willing to claim you don’t care, why put up a fight? Concede you couldn’t be bothered to form an opinion in advance so complaining afterwards is unearned.
Is aimlessly complaining about whatever while making no effort to help or improve things or even understand what’s happening so important to you?
These problems and sub problems were invented by you, they aren’t requirements by any stretch of the imagination.
Tacherus
7mo ago
That makes it sound a bit like you’re not simply not voting, you’re not really “participating” at all.
I’m also grappling with whether or not to vote at all, so I’m asking myself as I’m asking you—are you actually doing anything other than complaining? And complaining in the most ineffective way to the least degree possible?
To the second question you asked, an attempt at a steelman would be to imagine you’re in a room with a bunch of people and dinner plans come up and you say nothing. The choice is narrowed to two restaurants and you say nothing. A vote is taken and you think it’s pointless so you leave during the vote and come back.
It seems to me even if you’re the only one who wants Mediterranean and there’s no hope of swaying enough to your side, you still come off badly if you can’t even be bothered to say that.
Like I said though….grappling with it myself. Not sure what I’ll do.
Tacherus
7mo ago
I’m not sure if you think my answers qualify, but I think at least part of what you’re observing is due to the nature of the question.
“I thought X and now I don’t” would seem to warrant a bit of a follow up as to why you did and why now you don’t.
Most things people think, especially early on, are from being told, not experience. Told by whom? Well….
Tacherus
7mo ago
I’m not saying it’s not rational, just that I’d mainly encountered descriptions of getting a wage or salary as exploitative because of profits etc. etc.
The idea that you’re getting something (stability) in exchange for lower upside had never occurred to me.
I don’t think it’s a bad trade at all. My main point is it was an unquestioned assumption I’d held and it led to me rethinking a lot of things.
This was interesting to read. I’m learning Japanese right now and recently have been practicing kenjougo and sonkeigo (forms for extra politeness).
One of the exercises was an extended dialogue of an employee and his boss talking and I had to convert the normal forms to the honorific ones.
It really surprised me when I was done how much of an asshole the boss seemed to me. My tutor had to repeatedly reassure me that he’s not being an asshole; its ok because he’s the boss.
I accepted it more or less but now what you’ve said has made me reconsider a bit if maybe there’s something to it.
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