site banner
ephemera  never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake  1yr ago (ryandv.substack.com)   Edited 20d ago   2340 thread views

Explorations in Identity and Media

ryandv.substack.com
Deleted
3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Conversely, what effect does the absence of adequately many representations of self have on our own self-image & identity? Without a reflection in the black mirror with which to see ourselves or be seen by others, do digital vampires even exist in a world where the Web has supplanted the real?

Sorry to be annoying, but could you just make your point plainly without pretentious metaphors? What do you mean by digital vampires? What is the black mirror? Do you just mean people without a social media presence? If that’s what you mean then why not say it? If that’s not what you mean, then perhaps my confusion is a predictable outcome of this writing style. Does this post say more than just a link to /r/instagramreality? It’s hard to tell if you don’t say it clearly

I think the implication in this entire post is, essentially, "social media has given us the Observer's Paradox From Hell: people practically self-modify themselves in response to the pressures of social media, becoming the mask to a frightening degree." No one can authentically present themselves; in fact, the authentic "self" may actually be suppressed in favor of the public persona. We can never approach the truth of things, especially of people, because everyone's eyes are on everyone else.

This all probably makes more sense if you're a fan of modern-day content creators (YouTube video makers, Twitch livestreamers, and VTubers especially). But all that being said, this is not a new problem at all and social media has simply upped the scale of this issue by one or two orders of magnitude.

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