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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   27507 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 27, 2023

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I'd like to push this place from "where things get talked about" to "where things get done".

Ahem:

…We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War: Shaming. Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity. Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike. Recruiting for a cause.

I have argued against this in the past and, to be honest, still think the whole idea futile. Of course I will still shame, build consensus, enforce conformity, make generalizations, vilify and recruit and worse, so long as my words are compelling, cast ideas and actors in any coherent value-laden light at all, and stochastically increase the likelihood of people coming to predictable conclusions. Such is my nature… but it's the same with anyone. So to get anywhere with this doctrine, you'd need to replace mottizens with lobotomized mealy-mouthed GPTs who will go on and on about subjectivity of everything under the Sun, or to proscribe talking of culture war.

But in light of this place outlasting other attempts, I concede the legitimacy of incumbent mods and therefore the word of their law. This place will never be more than a place for talking (and casual socialization), and if they remain successful in enforcing their vision, neither will it become something less.

That probably just means 'annoyingly recruiting for a pointless, antagonism-causing culture-war cause', as opposed to a more general meaning. I half-remember there being posts with calls to action to write to your representative about stuff like YIMBYism that weren't taken down because nobody cared.

Of course I will still shame,

Have you ever successfully shamed someone in this forum into changing their position?

I think I did get a few to move off it.

I am honestly surprised (and was honestly curious).

I agree on "recruiting for a cause", there are plenty of spaces online that want you to sign up for X and send this formletter to your congresscritter and donate to this fundraiser for cause Y here and so forth.

So I don't need or want to see "come sign up to my religion/political movement/cake baking start-up" activism on here.

But I do think people should be allowed to make arguments for "this is why I think my religion/political movement/cake baking start-up is good" and if others find those arguments persuasive, then it's up to them as to what the next step they take is.

Yeah, I know... still, maybe there's a compromise that can be made in what we mean by "Culture War"? I agree that people fundraising for GOP / Democrats, and coordinating their campaign efforts is a bad idea, and would ruin this place. OTOH, would the same apply to AI activism? You say this is the Culture War to come, but we don't hate each others' guts over disagreeing about it yet, I feel like we could pull off allowing various groups to organize around it here, without blowing the place up.

Possibly famous last words, I know, but worth a try?

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