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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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"death con 3" seems more the latter than kevin macdonald or ron unz

I do not like this argument, it seems to be a middle class view of the world which insists verbal or written errors like death con 3 demonstrate flawed thinking - except when they happen to a middle class person, then they are usually just brushed off as an amusing mistake. "Reverend blue jeans", "curve your enthusiasm" "all intensive purposes" - are these signs of a troubled mind?

Edit: Def con 1 through 5 in common parlance means a full mobilisation of the government's forces, usually against a threat, possibly even resulting in nuclear war. It is a five alarm fire, the rhetorical equivalent of this. In the world of rapping, def means cool, fly, streets ahead. Why would a rapper think the US government is using the word def to refer to a potential nuclear threat and not death, the likely result of a potential nuclear threat?

Sort of true, but not making verbal or textual errors, whether spelling, grammar, or just strangely constructed sentences, are very correlated with being at least moderately intelligent. But yes, good points can be made with poor spelling, and one should still pay attention to those when they exist.

I was just using 'death con 3' as a somewhat funny stand-in for the general incoherence of kanye's statement.

verbal or textual errors, whether spelling, grammar, or just strangely constructed sentences, are very correlated with being at least moderately intelligent.

People make those errors because they are smart?

To me the way some people - especially on social media - tend to focus on screwed up words celebrities have uttered strikes me as similar to someone on reddit dismissing an argument because the arguer spelled a word incorrectly. A way to avoid dealing with the substance of the argument. You didn't mean it that way, and I'm sorry I implied you did, but you have to admit the way you worded it looks similar to "lol he said death con 3, he is as crazy as someone who thinks the cia is bugging their bagel".

I made an edit and fucked it up, I meant people who are smart make fewer errors.

When focused on celebrities it's dumb yeah, but anything focused on celebrities is dumb. But if you're talking to someone in the SSC comments vs someone who's a normal person on facebook, the former makes many, many fewer errors in spelling or sentence construction than the latter.

I'm sorry I implied you did,

oh it doesn't matter at all in that sense, please do imply anything disparaging or demeaning so long as it's correct!

Yeah it is correlated with intelligence - and sanity - but I think the correlation is centred on repeated errors. How many albums has Kanye written now? Albums jam packed with some of the best wordplay this side of the 20th century no less. I know I am predisposed to think well of him, but I think it's more likely this was one of those situations where someone uses a term they have heard but not used before, and fucks it up because they misunderstood some part of it.

Outstanding response to my apology btw, high fives all round.

but I think the correlation is centred on repeated errors

Yeah, everyone makes mistakes on occasion, and more intelligent people also correct them more.

I think the argument would more be Kanye is going through a bipolar episode, rather than is always dumb.