domain:gurwinder.substack.com
hydroacetylene
16m ago
I don't claim that my co-religionists are perfect- and it's worth noting our actual religious elders don't either, undue pressure on your children to have a religious vocation is explicitly a sin.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
20m ago
Why not?
Authors include non-terminal values all the time. The most popular reason has to be giving the good guys something to punch. The second is probably verisimilitude. How do you know these elements are indispensable, terminal, rather than artistic decisions?
anon_
26m ago
Sure. Some people get away with getting into a shootout with the police. But very few do, and the kind of people that think they will win in a shootout with the cops are the last people that you should encourage to do so.
The stories of people that successfully jump the border with their kids are like man bites dog.
anon_
27m ago
Even responsible adults can panic! That doesn't mean they aren't generally sufficiently responsible to care for a child.
It doesn't mean that in the sense of being sufficient, but surely it's at least a few bits of information in that direction.
Again: only if it doesn't work out for you. Which it often won't! But there are literally times when your choice is "break the law now, and it will be bad, or don't break the law now, and it will be worse."
Well, if it often won't work out then, on the balance we ought to advise people against it.
The police are not invincible
Sure, but I still wouldn't advise anyone about to be caught with a few grams of drugs to escalate it into a shootout with the police. Sure, some fraction of people that do so get away with it (that is, agreeing the police are not invincible) but on the median
- The odds are extremely bad
- The kind of person at the time is going to severely misapply the odds
- Unless you're already about to charged with murder, you're gonna make it much worse than just eating the drug charge
the courts are not infallible, the law is not incontestable
Of course not. But the fallible courts have fairly-reliable armed men that, if you decide to contest their possible-mistakes via physical force, will enforce them against you.
This isn't a normative statement.
I see ranting all over the Internet that "No one is writing books (men) want to read" when there is in fact an entire ecosystem of indie-published authors doing just that.
The indie part is key. The complaint is not that nobody is writing books for men; the complain is that none of the mainstream publishers are publishing books for men, nor are any of the established awards recognizing them. Hence Sad/Rabid Puppies and "I just hope you like Amazon Exclusives".
And, of course, this has broader consequences. Bookstores can't stock copies of web novels. Since weeding manuals explicitly call for the removal of old books, libraries are increasingly populated by texts no man wants to read.
JarJarJedi
1hr ago
I watched it a long time ago when it came out. Pretty decent TV as I remember.
whatihear
1hr ago
There are some cases where someone can violate a custody agreement in such a way that the courts have very little chance of reversing matters. In particular, people often get away with kidnapping their own children to a different country that either holds a different view of who ought to have custody or refuses to extradite as a general principle. In fact, this even happens between US states (I know of some cases where California has refused to uphold Texas custody agreements related to trans healthcare for the kids for example).
In that kind of circumstance, and if the ex is horrifically abusing the child, it may in fact be reasonable to pull the trigger on violating the order. Your argument is that people don’t get away with kidnapping, so they shouldn’t do it even in extreme outlier cases, but people do in fact get away with kidnapping pretty commonly when borders get in the way.
MaiqTheTrue
Renrijra Krin
1hr ago
I mostly watch Chinese period dramas, and frankly I like the “everyone is an asshole” thing, mostly because it’s not out of step with an actual medieval society. Read about War of the Roses, read about any medieval period. They acted that way because they were basically very polite warlords and understood that everything they did would either expose them as weak or show them strong.
Once this is rejected, the position of preferring hot and exciting, even if short-term, partnerships to a long-term investment with a lukewarm partner at best, from which the women does not derive any pleasure - seems only obvious.
Well, some fraction of men also would make this choice, and many do. It’s just that fewer have the opportunity.
And really, it feels like the hypothetical is missing the middle ground: the options aren’t “temporary fleshlight” or “permanent sex slave.” That’s already an extreme catastrophization of the options, done presumably for dramatic effect, but also demonstrates a wildly unhealthy view of what relationships with men are like.
The thing that’s missing isn’t women’s desire to be a tradwife, or even traditional family roles. What’s missing from this minority of women is the idea that pair-bonding with men is even possible at all. Most women still love a man, even if they don’t love you or me, personally. The only thing to do with attention-seekers like the X poster is to laugh at their inanity.
MaiqTheTrue
Renrijra Krin
1hr ago
Probably not. Most modern fantasy authors have good imagination except that they never really deep dive into other cultures or time periods and I think it’s a huge blind spot. Someone living in 16th century France would find just about everything about the modern European mindset weird. We’d find them strange as well. And honestly im not even sure that people as recent as the Victorian Era might not walk around modern London and wondering why people there are acting so strangely.
self_made_human
Sajjano durjano bhūyāt, durjano badhyatāṃ sadā, baddho'nyān nibandhāyet
2hr ago
My favorite dino franchise is the Primal animated series. It takes its core conceit, a caveman teaming up with a T-Rex on a rampage of revenge, and executed so well. Great animation too, same director as the Clone Wars.
naraburns
nihil supernum
2hr ago
EDIT to flush out:
It's "flesh out"--like filling out a figure that began only as bones (i.e. in outline).
Willfully violating a custody order will just get your ass thrown in jail and the custody order enforced and discredit further attempts to challenge it.
Sure, if you get caught in the wrong jurisdiction. But violating a custody order doesn't even have to be willful; often it is the result of a misunderstanding, or an emergency, or just panic. Even responsible adults can panic! That doesn't mean they aren't generally sufficiently responsible to care for a child.
This makes about as much sense as "if a police officer is violating your 4A rights, try to steal his pepper spray". I absolutely am not denying the predicate here: officers do sometimes step over the 4A, just that reacting in that way is straightforwardly counterproductive.
Again: only if it doesn't work out for you. Which it often won't! But there are literally times when your choice is "break the law now, and it will be bad, or don't break the law now, and it will be worse." In that case, it's not irrational or irresponsible to decide that "bad" beats "worse." That's the unfortunate nature of reality. The police are not invincible, the courts are not infallible, the law is not incontestable. I wouldn't, as an attorney, encourage a client to ever violate a custody order! But I can imagine, as a parent, circumstances that might demand it of me.
sun_the_second
could survive a COD lobby and a gay furry discord server
2hr ago
If I had to count all the settings I know of which offer extremely easy alignment of mental and physical gender, yet enjoy the fandom of many trans people who create explicitly trans OCs in those settings... well, I'd probably run out of fingers on at least one hand.
JarJarJedi
2hr ago
Minority? Maybe? Extreme? Don't think so. There are a lot of women who reject the concept of traditional family and gender roles, and it's not considered "extreme" at all, it's "feminist" and "empowering". I mean, a woman thinking like that would not be considered crazy and would not be socially shunned in any but the most narrow circles. Not everybody would agree with her, but in no way that would make her a social pariah.
Once this is rejected, the position of preferring hot and exciting, even if short-term, partnerships to a long-term investment with a lukewarm partner at best, from which the women does not derive any pleasure - seems only obvious. It's like if I asked you, do you want to get excellent tasty meal every day for free, or a pile of gooey tasteless slop for which you must work for hours, what would you choose? Eventually, an abundance of fancy food may lead to some health problems if you're not careful, but while you're young and healthy, is it even a choice really?
Zoomers seem incapable of enjoying a story in which a character has values different from theirs, and furthermore they are prone to assuming that the author is endorsing those values. (This is a generalization and I hope I'm not right, but it's what I gather from most young book reviewers nowadays.)
I have seen the inane "you choose what to put into your story and therefore creating a story where X' controversial thing happens which is kinda like X controversial thing that happens in reality makes you literally Hitler" criticism more than enough for my lifetime.
E.g. "putting generically evil goblins/orcs/demons into your story mirrors xenophobia". Although I suppose this is less about having values different from theirs and more about assuming Xenophobia to be a Sin, rather than a reaction that's bad when it's based on the wrong assumptions and good when it's based on the correct assumptions.
yofuckreddit
2hr ago
I had two playlists. One I've shared previously, which is roughly my "Best of: All Time" list truncated down to 100 tracks.
The other is a workout playlist that is not perfect but good for cycling:
Arist(s) Name Track Name
- Party Favor; Lil Gnar Spirits Pt. 2
- Taylor Swift; Snakehips Lavender Haze - Snakehips Remix
- Rêve Hypersexual
- Knox; John Harvie Leg Day
- Megan Thee Stallion; Latto Budget (feat. Latto)
- Rage Against The Machine Sleep Now In the Fire
- TOOL Undertow
- Our Last Night Anti-Hero
- Tom Morello; Bring Me The Horizon Let's Get The Party Started (feat. Bring Me The Horizon)
- SZA Low
- Kesha; Eagles Of Death Metal Let 'Em Talk (feat. Eagles of Death Metal)
- Mabel Don't Call Me Up
- Post Malone; Halsey; Future Die For Me (feat. Future & Halsey)
- flor Every Night
- Tyga; Offset Taste (feat. Offset)
- Jack Harlow; jetsonmade I WANNA SEE SOME ASS (feat. jetsonmade)
- TOOL The Pot
- Post Malone Wow.
- Drake; Future Diamonds Dancing
- Run The Jewels; El-P; Killer Mike Call Ticketron
- Clearside Cop Drama
- DJ Khaled; Drake POPSTAR (feat. Drake)
- Rise Against The Good Left Undone
- Nine Inch Nails Discipline
- Aries FOOL'S GOLD
- Aries DEADMAN WUNDERLAND
- Logic Fade Away
- The All-American Rejects "Swing Swing"
- Big Sean; Post Malone Wolves (feat. Post Malone)
- Jack Harlow Dua Lipa
- blackbear lil bit
- Joyner Lucas; Logic Isis (feat. Logic)
- Logic Keanu Reeves
- Run The Jewels; El-P; Killer Mike Oh My Darling Don't Cry
- Sleep Token Granite
- Halsey; ILLENIUM Without Me - ILLENIUM Remix
- Run The Jewels; El-P; Killer Mike; DJ Premier; Greg Nice ooh la la (feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier)
- BOYS LIKE GIRLS BLOOD AND SUGAR
- Bishop Briggs; King Kavalier River - King Kavalier Remix
- Run The Jewels; El-P; Killer Mike Legend Has It
- Sleep Token Chokehold
- Run The Jewels; El-P; Killer Mike DDFH
- TOOL Cold And Ugly - Live
- NF PAID MY DUES
- Flume; Tove Lo Say It (feat. Tove Lo) [Illenium Remix]
- Petey USA The Freedom to Fuck Off
- Halsey Gasoline
- J. Cole MIDDLE CHILD
- TOOL Jerk-Off - Live
- Kendrick Lamar HUMBLE.
- Rise Against Prayer Of The Refugee
- ¥$; Kanye West; Ty Dolla $ign FUK SUMN
- DOVERSTREET Thank You
- GloRilla; Megan Thee Stallion; Cardi B Wanna Be (with Megan Thee Stallion & Cardi B) - Remix
- Pusha T; Ab-Liva Suicide
- City Girls; Cardi B Twerk (feat. Cardi B)
- 3OH!3; Katy Perry; Matt Squire STARSTRUKK (feat. Katy Perry)
- Amyl and The Sniffers Chewing Gum
- Zach Bryan Oak Island
- Logic; Eminem Homicide (feat. Eminem)
- Elley Duhé; Whethan MONEY ON THE DASH
- J. Cole G.O.M.D
- Pusha T Numbers On The Boards
- PHONK WALKER KING OF THE ROAD
- Logic Under Pressure
- JAY-Z; Linkin Park Dirt Off Your Shoulder / Lying From You
- Lil Wayne; Cory Gunz 6 Foot 7 Foot
- Rage Against The Machine Calm Like a Bomb
- Audioslave Cochise
- Mos Def Mathematics
- Pusha T; Tyler, The Creator Trouble on My Mind
- Kendrick Lamar DNA.
- TOOL Forty Six & 2
- Eminem The Ringer
- Vince Staples Norf Norf
- Geto Boys Still
- Pusha T; Chris Brown Sweet Serenade
- Pusha T Come Back Baby
- Drake Toosie Slide
- FJ Law; Laur Elle play dumb
- Kanye West Black Skinhead
- Tinie Tempah; Zara Larsson Girls Like (feat. Zara Larsson)
- Andy Mineo I Ain't Done
- Yellow Claw DJ Turn It Up
ThomasdelVasto
Κύριε, ποίησόν με ὄργανον τῆς ἀγάπης σου
2hr ago
Yeah, David Chapman writes a lot about how value has collapsed all into one set of 'good' versus 'bad' where it used to be a lot more distinctive. https://meaningness.com/systems-crisis-breakdown
yofuckreddit
2hr ago
"Funny" Anecdote about SW - they have (had?) one of the most sociopathic and dysfunctional IT departments I've ever worked with. One of two clients my firm has ever fired.
Earendil
Then over Middle-Earth he passed
3hr ago
I await your strident objections over tomorrow's chapter.
Earendil
Then over Middle-Earth he passed
3hr ago
A test reader described the tone as 'sublime horror' and while that's not per se what I was going for it seems apt.
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
3hr ago
Values are fundamental. To a first approximation, no one actually wants values diversity, whether in their fiction or anywhere else. Good things are good, bad things are bad, more bad things are not good.
I think this is more true today than it used to be. Zoomers seem incapable of enjoying a story in which a character has values different from theirs, and furthermore they are prone to assuming that the author is endorsing those values. (This is a generalization and I hope I'm not right, but it's what I gather from most young book reviewers nowadays.)
You say you enjoy the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Pentateuch because of "values-consonance" but how similar are those characters' values to yours, really? Sure, they fit into the general Western monotheistic tradition, but Bronze Age heroes really weren't much like you and IMO the gap between your values and theirs is probably greater than the gap between your values and the average Blue Triber's.
Conversely, do you not enjoy the Iliad and the Odyssey? The Tale of Genji? The Ramayana? Even though they express very different values? Or, if you want to get Jungian, because they express archetypes that aren't so very different after all.
To the original point, though, yes, it's not just modern writers who cannot conceive of characters (especially heroes) with values different from their own. The Victorians were definitely guilty of this. Probably Homer was guilty of this. But here and there we do so some writers who stand out for trying.
Amadan
Enjoying my short-lived victory
3hr ago
Re #1: I have tried Russian and Chinese litrpg and Wuxia, and honestly, maybe you don't like reading about people inappropriately spouting progressive values, but a world of power-hungry psychopaths that read like if KulakRevolt were given super-powers is even more depressing to me. What is there to root for? Why would I want any of these people to win?
Re #2: Agreed that the John Carter movie was good and tragically mismarketed, but (seconding @WhiningCoil) the books are fun but if you've read the first couple you've read them all, and this is actually true of a lot of the old pulp stuff (like Tarzan, Conan, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Lensmen, etc.) They all follow a very predictable formula and the writing is often not up to modern standards either. Even some of the more modern classics (Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven) don't really stand the test of time, IMO.
Re #3: I see ranting all over the Internet that "No one is writing books (men) want to read" when there is in fact an entire ecosystem of indie-published authors doing just that. Now a lot of what they write is awful, and a lot of it is marketed with not much more of a hook than "This will really trigger blue-haired progs!" but apply Sturgeon's Law and you can still find gold amidst the dross. (Devon Eriksen and Travis J Corcoran come to mind- also plenty of right-wing trad published authors like Larry Correia and John C. Wright).
anon_
3hr ago
It could. But I predict it is extremely unlikely in any given chance.
So much so that I think any parent gambling on "I'm gonna defy the court and get a media shitstorm that causes it to reevaluate in my favor" is making an extremely irresponsible bet.
zPvQINBQvfFR
3hr ago
It could also draw media attention to your case, cause a shitstorm, and force somebody to actually look into it and fix the problem. The martyr strat sometimes works.
Yeah, I like bookstores and libraries. I want to hang out in bookstores and libraries. I don't want to download new books, I want to browse and buy them in person.
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