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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 28, 2026

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Taken to the extreme, your criticism can extend to playing IRL and soon you’ll sound like a medieval Hand of Meditation: wealth shall vanish; what thou hast here another shall have…

Yes. I would have a similar reaction to someone making a similar statement about ragequitting rock climbing or BJJ or golf, if they were obsessed to the point of sinking second-job hours into it one week and the next week quit saying it was pointless. If it's not getting you laid or paid, then you should be doing it for some reason that is largely intrinsic to your own sense of values and not be vulnerable to the whims of fortune. It points to some pre-existing emotional imbalance in how they were relating to the activity if outside actions can impact you to that extent emotionally.

It’s interesting that there seems to be a “biological minimum” of socialization that is simply required to enjoy an activity.

I always remember the Christopher Moore line that people are happiest when they have someone to look up to, and someone to look down on. In most male hobby spaces, the guys in the middle are happiest (in terms of the hobby). They have people better than they are to aspire to reach, and they have people worse than they are to bully or to help.