site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   4515 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 16, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Scott's sort-of obituary for Scott Adams is one of the best things he's written in ages.

He makes a few references to Adams' potentially getting too mentally calcified with age to maintain his contradictory ideals and personas and just lost self-awareness of what parts of the joke he was supposed to be 'in' on, and who was laughing with him vs. at him.

I now do wonder how Scott expects to avoid this particular outcome or if he's accepting it as probably baked in and just wants to make sure he leaves the greatest possible legacy he can, on top of his kids.

Great stuff though. One thing that deflated Adams' image in my mind was when the gorgeous Instagram model he married in 2020 divorced him about two years later. Like, if you're going to advertise as this professional persuasive hypnotist guru... and you can't 'persuade' the young hottie to stick around in your life for more than a couple years, I suggest that your skills are overstated. Indeed, this sure reads like he got hypnotized into a situation by some of the oldest persuasive tools in human history: a woman with an hourglass figure and decent makeup skills.

Think its fair to say that his overall impact has been positive by any utilitarian calculation.

if you're going to advertise as this professional persuasive hypnotist guru

I don't think he ever advertised himself as professional hypnotist. He did advertise himself as trained hypnotist, but that only requires one to pay for a training course and successfully sit through it. And I don't think he ever claimed he uses his training to convince women to sleep with him?

Indeed, this sure reads like he got hypnotized into a situation by some of the oldest persuasive tools in human history: a woman with an hourglass figure and decent makeup skills.

You are saying it like there's anything bad in it. I am a happily married man, but if I weren't, and I were 63, and a hot young lady, which I liked, were willing to live with me, I'd take any time I can get, be it two weeks, two months or two years.

just going to drop into this to note that hypnotism is a real thing with an actual evidence base, at the same time it doesn't really work like people think it does.

Right, but "take what you can get" is not the ethos he was trying to embody, I think.

"Follow all this advice and read my books and you too might be able to marry a hot single mother for a couple years" is not a massive selling point on its own.

I'm being a tad uncharitable, but I just find it interesting how Adams was able to maintain an image of his prowess that seemingly exceeded the reality of his capabilities.

I just have a larger amount of respect for Bill Watterson, who ALSO published a beloved, wildly popular comic strip. But he ended it while he was on top, disappeared from public life, does whatever it is he enjoys doing, and has eschewed any and all attempts to merchandise or monetize his characters (this appears wiser and wiser every year).

This gets towards Scott's other aside about various intellectuals who he seems to think have beclowned themselves in moving beyond the areas that they achieved their original insights and following.

Knowing when to exit before you crumble your own legacy is a talent very, very few exceptional people have achieved. Scott would like to be one of them, I'm sure.

"Follow all this advice and read my books and you too might be able to marry a hot single mother for a couple years" is not a massive selling point on its own.

I don't think he ever used his marriage as a selling point for his books, did he? That said, how many of the 63-year-old geeks who aren't billionaires actually get hot smart model pilot wife, even just for 2 years?

This gets towards Scott's other aside about various intellectuals who he seems to think have beclowned themselves in moving beyond the areas that they achieved their original insights and following.

I actually see no problem in that. Nobody owes anybody to be anybody's role model. If a person X is successful at something, and then they want to try something else, and fail miserably, they don't owe Scott or anything to live their lives in a way that would not diminish former success in Scott's or anybody's eyes. If he didn't want to live his "legacy" for the rest of his life, he has full right not to. He was his own man, and did not let anybody else - neither his "legacy", nor anybody else's needs - define what he's doing next. I find that laudable, even if he did not always succeed and sometimes looked ridiculous. That's the price one pays for trying things. It's not for everybody, but I can find no fault in Adams being one of the men who wanted to do that.

I don't think he ever used his marriage as a selling point for his books, did he?

In the way that any dude having a hot girl on his arm is using her as a 'selling point' just by showing her off, I'd argue.

I just recall a period of time where she was showing up in his posts with semi-regularity in a kind of "Look at what I got fuckers" context. Can only find this one piece of evidence left, though. Wait, here's another.

Nobody owes anybody to be anybody's role model.

Slight disagree, only insofar as someone who actively chooses to convey advice and represent themselves as a person worth emulating... you kind of do owe it to your audience to be very open about failures as well as successes.

Or if you don't care to advertise failure, don't seek the audience.

But that much I will 100% say: he never, ever did grift off his audience. No crypto schemes, no scammy seminars or conferences, no shilling for sketchy brands or gambling sites (that I recall).

(I'm not counting his failed entrepreneurship attempts as scams because part of the reason they failed is he plugged them earnestly.)

What Scott's obituary does seem to acknowledge is that Scott WAS living life on his terms, and there's beauty in that, but he argues he kind of let that get swept away when he got a taste of true 'influence.'

In the way that any dude having a hot girl on his arm is using her as a 'selling point' just by showing her off, I'd argue.

That's a very cynical point of view, but you can not really fault him for your perception. I mean, what, is he supposed to lock his wife up at home so you don't suspect him in "showing off"? I think this is going way too far.

you kind of do owe it to your audience to be very open about failures as well as successes.

I am not sure the guy who literally talks about "failing at almost everything" in a very title of his book is a good target to accuse of hiding his failures.

he kind of let that get swept away when he got a taste of true 'influence.'

I think there's a difference between a person who is willing to share his opinions - and let people be influenced by them, which is kind of the point of sharing them anyway, not? - and a person who must subject his whole life to forming some kind of heroic example for the followers. I don't think it is fair to demand from everybody who shared one's opinion publicly to become full-time role model.

That's a very cynical point of view,

My cynical point of view has an extremely good track record of predictions, sad to say.

I mean, what, is he supposed to lock his wife up at home so you don't suspect him in "showing off"?

Should he have? She ended up leaving him. His extant strategy clearly didn't work.

I don't think it is fair to demand from everybody who shared one's opinion publicly to become full-time role model.

For better or worse, he adopted that approach, near daily streaming and constant commentary on daily events

You could definitely pick WORSE role models, but I think he was happily putting himself out there in that regard.

My cynical point of view has an extremely good track record of predictions, sad to say.

Predictions of what? You can't know what Adams was actually thinking, so what exactly are you predicting and how would you verify this prediction?

For better or worse, he adopted that approach, near daily streaming and constant commentary on daily events

Anyone can do that. I have a blog. I put my opinions there (no, I won't link it here). People read it. If anybody would demand of me to do something to their liking because I owe them for being their role model, I will tell that person to stuff it. And also probably find a responsible adult to run their other life decisions by, because it's clearly not within their competencies.

There are literally millions of people putting shit on the internet all the time. So yes, Adams was one of them. So what?

You are saying it like there's anything bad in it.

I presume Adams had to pay her a significant settlement after the divorce. Perhaps the juice was worth the squeeze, but perhaps it wasn't.

Not for us to decide, for sure.

I now do wonder how Scott expects to avoid this particular outcome or if he's accepting it as probably baked in and just wants to make sure he leaves the greatest possible legacy he can, on top of his kids.

I don't know if you saw everyone on Twitter clowning on Scott's post about how he's lost complete control of his kids. I'm pretty sure Scott already fell into... whatever you call that outcome.

Scott used to write posts about how to positively manage the seething jealousy one feels while one's poly partner is out on a date. He's post-shame on personal topics.

Oh I saw it, I'm just not convinced it was a clear L for him.

There was some back-and-forth (particularly from Jeremy Kauffman) regarding how much actual discipline you can and should impose on your toddlers.

I doubt kids that have his genes will turn into uncontrollable feral monsters.

I doubt kids that have his genes will turn into uncontrollable feral monsters.

As someone who has to constantly push back on my wife's inability to have boundaries with our 6 year old, and all the attendant issues it causes, no amount of "genes" makes up for allowing your child to never be forced to respect boundaries. These are choices, and the wrong ones make your life infinitely worse.

Eh I don't know, his kids are what, 2? 6 and 2 are very different ages.

It got me thinking if I'll be able to. The number of highly respected boomers I loved who have calcified is high. It's difficult to think of those who stayed flexible, and the number can be displayed on a single hand.

Maybe the lesson is to line yourself up before 50, to make the glide onto the landing strip as graceful as possible.

The number of highly respected boomers I loved who have calcified is high.

It's not even boomers. I'm seeing people in their mid 40s that are gaining the befuddled NPC look that I usually associate with boomers. Take note incels, that's the real wall, and the men are in danger of smashing into it too.

As middle age is encroaching upon my never-escaped-the-90s flesh, this scares me so very much. I already have lots of stupid brain malfunction moments, with increasing frequency. Not sure if age, medical side-effect, chronic health condition, or lifestyle-related ... but the next time I try to use my work badge to unlock my house, and my house key to pay for lunch, I can only really hope it's not in the same day, at this point. I know that's not precisely what you're talking about, but it's closely enough related that I am reminded of one by the other.

Your working memory might be full of befuddling gunk under the surface. Start meditating every day.

Oh, you're just getting started on the fun, sonny. You've got so much to look forward to! Before you know it, your nose will run for no reason when you're eating, your grip will fail you every once in a while, you'll get sore so much more quickly when exerting yourself physically, your muscles and bones will creak and pop in new and freaky ways... it just keeps getting more interesting! Yes, you'll keep mixing things up, probably ever-more frequently, but it's when you stop noticing the mix-up that shit's getting real...

Yeah I'm seeing at least as much of this in the millenials I know -- at this point I think @beej67 is onto something with the egregores and feel compelled to treat some form of unconventional zombie apocalypse as a real possibility. There are pod-people all over the place.

My man, the oldest millennials are mid 40s.

I am aware -- the ones I know well are quite a lot younger though, being the [early] kids of my GenX friends.

One guy who just turned 30 is kind of pressuring me to start a compound and supply weapons in case Trump invades [somewhere pretty near to the butthole of] Canada -- it's strikingly similar to the Facebook-addled Boomers in my life, except he's actually got a lot to live for (decent job, good girlfriend, etc) and no excuse around senility.

The brainrot is real. I don't know how much of it is phones, short form content, people not reading anymore, microplastics clogging up our brains, metabolic dysfunction from shitty diets, or what.

I will say, reading more, eating better, exercising regularly and fasting has helped my mental clarity enormously.

I will say, reading more, eating better, exercising regularly and fasting has helped my mental clarity enormously.

IME, same. Doing any of these intentionally under normal conditions is really difficult. Luckily, AI makes researching options easier... something about what I said feels contradictory in context.

Maybe the lesson is to line yourself up before 50, to make the glide onto the landing strip as graceful as possible.

I think that's all you can do under current tech constraints.

lol now I'm wondering whether kids in the future will be dealing with a 120-year-old Bryan Johnson who can't accept future social rules b/c he's 'stuck' in the 2030s mentally, despite having the body of a 30-year-old.

For my case, I'm just trying to create habits now that seem to correlate with decent neuroplasticity later. Martial arts and hard exercise, learning languages, good quality sleep, and playing with kids and friends all seem to help.

If Bryan isn't a drooling senile mess at 120, then he's probably benefited from some kind of drug that rejuvenates the brain and restores neuroplasticity too. Taking LSD or shrooms helps with that today, even if it's not going to cure dementia.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats