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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   24716 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 25, 2023

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I think that's a blind spot for The Motte.

Tbf it is a blindspot for everyone; the Motte simply isn't as special in its intellectual virtue as its members might like to think.

We all have behaviors that we instinctively regard as amoral, which is go say we don't think about them at all in a moral sense. To have someone come up and tell us (or even just suggest by their own conduct) that these behaviors are morally bad is highly uncomfortable. Since most people like to think well of themselves, the easiest thing to do is plug your ears and shoot the messenger.

also a generally terrible ability to discuss these things reasonably.

Per the above, I'm not sure that is really true so much as they're starting in a massive hole when it comes to bringing their arguments. They're often criticizing core behaviors. It doesn't matter how dispassionate you are about discussing the costs of cars and the benefits of transit when your audience treats the very idea as a personal attack. (Yes, there are annoying advocates, but that is hardly distinctive).

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(Anecdcote: contra everyone else here, apparently, every vegan I've ever met has been an absolute paragon of health and fitness. Doubtless there are confounding factors, but there are only so many times you can see an obese man warn an ultramarathon runner about the risks of his diet before it loses credibility)

every vegan I've ever met has been an absolute paragon of health and fitness

That's certainly not the case for me. They aren't fat, but I can think of three that all look underfed. Not lean healthy people, but excessively thin.

But maybe I happen to not know vegans who are also into fitness.

I don't personally know any consistent vegans*, but I regularly meet vegans in all manner of shape. Fat, skinnyfat, occasionally some in good shape. All of them seem like they might have some nutrition issues because of eg weird looking eyes.

*I do know one family which is vegan at home but eats what is served to them out and about; their kids are short, but don't seem noticeably dumb or malnourished.

A plurality of the vegans I’ve known were skinny-fat, one who is straight up fat, and the rest were pretty emaciated. In general they seemed malnourished.

I’ve known one vegan in decent shape who was into yoga, she was decently strong and vigorous but she also semi frequently had moderate to severe health issues. I assumed they were related or exasperated by her lifestyle choice as she was generally pretty healthy. She was eating constantly.

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