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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   5675 thread views

Quality Contributions Report for December 2022

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).

As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /r/theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.

A few comments from the editor: first, sorry this is a little late, but you know--holidays and all. Furthermore, the number of quality contribution nominations seems to have grown a fair bit since moving to the new site. In fact, as I write this on January 5, there are already 37 distinct nominations in the hopper for January 2023. While we do occasionally get obviously insincere or "super upvote" nominations, the clear majority of these are all plausible AAQCs, and often quite a lot of text to sift through.

Second, this month we have special AAQC recognition for @drmanhattan16. This readthrough of Paul Gottfried’s Fascism: Career of a Concept began in the Old Country, and has continued to garner AAQC nominations here. It is a great example of the kind of effort and thoughtfulness we like to see. Also judging by reports and upvotes, a great many of us are junkies for good book reviews. The final analysis was actually posted in January, but it contains links to all the previous entries as well, so that's what I'll put here:

Now: on with the show!

Quality Contributions Outside the CW Thread

@Tollund_Man4:

@naraburns:

@Bernd:

@FiveHourMarathon:

@RandomRanger:

@Iconochasm:

Contributions for the week of December 5, 2022

@zeke5123:

@ymeskhout:

@FiveHourMarathon:

@gattsuru:

@Southkraut:

@Bernd:

@problem_redditor:

@FCfromSSC:

@urquan:

@gemmaem:

Sexulation

@RococoBasilica:

@problem_redditor:

Holocaustianity

@johnfabian:

@DaseindustriesLtd:

@SecureSignals:

Coloniazism

@gaygroyper100pct:

@screye:

@urquan:

@georgioz:

Contributions for the week of December 12, 2022

@SecureSignals:

@Titus_1_16:

@Dean:

@cjet79:

@JarJarJedi:

@gattsuru:

@YE_GUILTY:

@aqouta:

@HlynkaCG:

Contributions for the week of December 19, 2022

@MathiasTRex:

@To_Mandalay:

Robophobia

@gattsuru:

@IGI-111:

@NexusGlow:

Contributions for the week of December 26, 2022

@FCfromSSC:

@gattsuru:

@LacklustreFriend:

@DaseindustriesLtd:

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If there aren’t enough people who can’t discuss an event 80 years ago without flaming out, it doesn’t say good things about the degree of mythological significance that event has gained. Makes it a more interesting topic to argue about.

it doesn’t say good things about the degree of mythological significance that event has gained

Why? Societies need some things with mythological significance to be cohesive. Arguing against such a tendency is arguing against something at the very root of human nature. Arguing against this specific narrative.. Well, that just puts you in the same camp as all the other holocaust deniers.

Why?

Just because all societies have mythologies, it doesn't mean all mythologies are equally true or even good at sustaining cohesion at a given moment. The Holocaust mythology has become extremely intertwined with certain authoritarian tendencies of the neoliberal elite and it is in danger of signifying nothing else than a lesson of "this is why you ignore plebs in politics". Not being able to discuss it at such a basic level means a myth will lose its nuances and eventually adaptiveness to the changing of society.

Modifying your arguments to be in the "same camp" with the right people isn't exactly the sign of an intellectually honest thinker. It makes sense if one is earning a living or fame from their thinking, but this is a discussion forum of a couple hundred internet autists. Can we stop with acting as if anyone's "position" on anything here actually matters?

I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't try to psychoanalyse and bulverise me. This:

Modifying your arguments to be in the "same camp" with the right people isn't exactly the sign of an intellectually honest thinker.

Ain't it. Anyway.

I can scarce think of a societal myth that'd lead to less ruin than the way we treat the holocaust. 'Hitler and co. tried eradicating a continent's innocent minorities, and this is bad' is an uncontroversially true statement. I'd much prefer it stay uncontroversial, because it's just as factually true. It is easy enough to look at nations that care less about the Holocaust, and more about other foundational myths. They look worse to me, and I'd much prefer we stick to the above 'Hitler and co. tried eradicating a continent's innocent minorities, and this is bad'. I'll take people wrangling that into authoritarianism over other ways to do so in a heartbeat.

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