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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   24598 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 8, 2024

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Obviously there's no way to know for sure, even if you were this man and/or his health professionals, but I interpreted BurdensomeCount's comment as saying that this man genuinely having this rare psychological disorder is his attempt at becoming weaker to gain status within a culture that values weakness above strength. Very few people are going to consciously think to themselves, "My culture values weakness above strength, and so I will cynically weaken myself in order to gain status above others." Rather, their unconscious attempts to gain status within a culture that they unconsciously understand as valuing weakness above strength will manifest themselves as a rare psychological disorder that drives them to take action that weakens themselves.

To be more explicit, I do not think his voluntarily removing multiple fingers, or refusing to use those fingers and keeping them flexed pre-amputation, brought him any social status in our current culture. He'd just seem very strange. I don't see any reason for him to guess, even unconsciously, that his actions would bring him status. It makes much more sense for this to happen for other reasons.

He'd just seem very strange.

pre op. Post Op he would have a clear and visible signifier of his weakness(Virtue), easier to grind with costly signals than with just bend fingers and a grumpy disposition.

I think the weirdness factor and that it was self-imposed will heavily outweigh that tbh

Aren't there quite a few more steps than required by Occam's razor in your theory?

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