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naraburns  nihil supernum  5hr ago (text post)   Edited 5hr ago   582 thread views

Quality Contributions Report for August 2026

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.

These are mostly chronologically ordered, but I have in some cases tried to cluster comments by topic so if there is something you are looking for (or trying to avoid), this might be helpful.

Quality Contributions to the Main Motte

@birb_cromble:

@Tanista:

@Muninn:

@self_made_human:

@DiscourseMagnus:

@gattsuru:

Contributions for the week of August 3, 2026

@Shakes:

@FtttG:

@quiet_NaN:

@iprayiam3:

@georgioz:

@birb_cromble:

@Tretiak:

@100ProofTollBooth:

@YoungAchamian:

@Aapje58:

Contributions for the week of August 10, 2026

@gattsuru:

@GBRK:

@Thoroughlygruntled:

@FtttG:

@zoink:

@georgioz:

@JeSuisCharlie:

Contributions for the week of August 17, 2026

@faceh:

@Shakes:

@ratherblather:

@Shirayuki3:

Contributions for the week of August 24, 2026

@hanikrummihundursvin:

@faceh:

@Shakes:

@RandomRanger:

@netstack:

@FtttG:

Contributions for the week of August 31, 2026

@thejdizzler:

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Thank you for the AACQ, everyone!

@Tanista “it doesn’t matter what immigrants think……various pro social things if they are forced to by the populace”

I feel like this is wrong. I guess you can somewhat force them to learn to say American values but it’s probably impossible for them to adopt American culture in the inner monologue.

Most here I think would accept an HBD argument that evolution doesn’t stop at the neck down. And things like ability to do algebra in your head have significant differences. But I also believe evolution doesn’t stop at your ability to be a human calculator in your head but have significant personality trait differences.

For example the Japanese seem to be very pro-social in a lot of ways. And they are largely smart so many would think they would be ideal immigrants. But the Japanese also seem to have a personality trait that is very conformists. When the leader says Japanese now do things “X” way the whole society seems to instantly become super “X”. It’s why they could be a closed society then within a generation open to the world and become a global power quickly. It’s in their long hour work culture. It’s why they could blow the biggest real estate bubble the world has ever seen. It’s why when they did deflation they did it very well after the big inflation bubble. It’s seems like when Japanese society decides to do a thing they do it extremely well.

Supposedly this has something to do with growing rice and rice growing versus European agriculture required a lot more conformity. Hence this personality trait is very strong in Asians. And why many Asian 20 something’s took to woke very quickly when it became the dominant societal power.

Americans are not this. We traditionally have a big contrarian and rebellious streak. Genetically I came across something called the Wanderlust gene and you can find it at high rates in Americans of European descent versus the population groups they came from in Europe. In the past going to America was a big trip. Crazy for true Heritage Americans and basically guaranteed to be a one way trip for the economic means of most of them. For the Ellis Island wave it was still a huge step. For modern immigrants it’s basically trivial and can be reversed with a 1k flight. There would still be some selection for this personality trait but far less.

If culture has a hereditary basis then cultural assimilation isn’t going to happen. I am assuming culture is a combination of innate personality + your art/constutition/great works etc.

The one conclusion I’ve had from this is that some of the early waves of Indians seem to have 100% assimilated and the filters we had on Indian immigration then were perfect. Nikki Haley’s kids are barely distinguishable from an old money Southern Boy. Indians are largely hated today as immigrants and I have no idea on them as the filters and ease to get in were relaxed.

Personality I believe has a genetic component. And if it’s genetic then assimilation isn’t just forcing people to learn your memes and words.

Wow! I didn't expect to make it on the list. After lurking here so long, it's a delight to actually have gotten there. Glad my background could be of some use.

There really is such a diversity of AAQCs. I suppose that is evidence that the actively engaged audience here is less ideologically siloed than I thought based on the upvote/downvote evidence. I used to think this was quite the hallowed award, as it is often used as clemency for more provocative posts receiving warnings not bans. But my repeated inclusion, first for a banal comment on the purpose of liberalism, and now for a rambling diary entry on jury duty is making me reconsider it status. Not as a icon on sanctity but more an appreciation of the functional cogs of the forum, in keeping with its purpose.

Detailed analysis from a nonstandard view providing information not available to someone without your experience is pretty much a central case for an AAQC.

I used to think this was quite the hallowed award, as it is often used as clemency for more provocative posts receiving warnings not bans

I remain baffled by which of my own posts people consider to be "quality". So far the only consistent property that I can find between them is length. It's a little embarrassing for me, because that usually means I haven't taken the time to tighten up the prose.

I think people appreciate experience and expertise in AAQCs. Things that show a new insight or perspective get nominated, in order the whole community can update on them. Also, even if there are only 5 liberals, if they all nominate each other's work, the mods will approve them. AAQC isn't a popularity contest so more diverse thoughts get through.

My first ones was like 9 sentences which isn't that long, but I do see the pattern you do. I'm straight up just a bad writer. I have found that other people can express the same concept more eloquently, more fluidly, and more expressively than I have ever been able to. I sometimes read comments under my post and go "shit why couldn't I say it like that"

I got an notification that said I was mentioned in this post but I wasn't. Is it because I deleted a post that got nominated or just a bug?

Yes, it was a post you deleted. I didn't notice until I was tagging your account for the AAQC. I edited the list afterward, but of course the initial notification remained.

Interesting. I left that post up for like <5 minutes.

Thanks for the last minute nomination! Just beat the bell! Was proud of this one, and seemed like it generated some good discussion!

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