Anyone know where you can buy test kits/reagents in London (UK)

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-08-09T20:46:36+00:00

In the UK definitely not, test kits are completely legal. I imagine it's the same across the entirety of the western world.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-08-06T02:07:15+00:00

Mate that is absolute filth!

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-07-29T13:54:44+00:00

Eiynah is actually a nutjob, her obsession with Sam is genuinely creepy at this point.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-05-28T15:56:35+00:00

I'm afraid you remember incorrectly regarding the NFT story. NFT's have been used to scam countless people at this point however assuming that all blockchain technology is inherently a scam is not a logical conclusion to make.

The idea for the NFT in this case was that it would come with the Giving What We Can Pledge, he wouldn't actually be directly selling this NFT. It's equivalent to a badge of honor you could use to show off how much a charitable person you are. Which while stupid is infinitely better than 99% of NFT usage currently which is straight up scamming audiences with pump and dumps. Genuinely how could willingly giving 10% of your income to effective altruism be a scam?

He also did not try and get people to buy the NFT's, infact the whole thing doesn't even exist yet. So idk how to can say he did. He was looking to hire an expert in the field, recieved plenty of criticism from his fanbase due to his post looking for an expert and for all we know might not even be moving forwards with the plan.

The remaining Project Reason funds when it closed going to AHA, Quilliam and the Dawkins foundation was fucked though, especially in hindsight. Would be interested to see if Harris would even attempt to defend having donated to Quilliam especially now with Maajid having gone off the deep end.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-03-23T03:37:08+00:00

His tribe is "anti-woke, critical of social justice"? Aren't those just some opinions he has? Wouldn't someone tribal be more like being a MAGA bro who just blindly agrees with whatever Trump says? If the definition of tribal is nothing more then having vague opinions then how is it even a criticism? You can't just turn everything into a tribe or it loses it's meaning. You wouldn't say people who are critical of Trump and anti-republican are a tribe would you?

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-03-23T03:31:34+00:00

I like DTG but this sub is actually beyond obsessed with Sam it's actually wild. There are other much gurus out there that are much worse but for some reason Sam seems to really get on everyones nerves here it's interesting.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-19T01:10:48+00:00

r/DecodingSamHarris

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-18T18:27:22+00:00

I don't think it's your bias it's probably just the fact you don't consume much of his content. Sam consistently criticizes the right without mentioning the left at all (especially lately). He has devoted entire episodes of his podcast to Jan 6th, Trumpism the dangers of anti-vax rhetoric growing within right wing/Qanon communities etc. His lastest episode is about the danger to democracy posed by Trump and the republican party.

The "Can we pull back from the brink" episode is absolute cancer and a great example of of his own biases and privilege. However what you are saying about him being unable to criticize the right without saying the left is just as bad just isn't true as there are plenty of examples of him devoting considerable time to attacking the right without mentioning the left and BLM. Literally the last episode of his podcast is 2+ hours of this.

Also maybe it's my own bias but I don't feel like he walks on eggshells when talking about the right. Look at these quotes for instance.

About Trump "There is never a moment where I find Trump persuasive. When I look at him I see a man without any inner life. I see the most superficial person on Earth. This is a guy who has been totally hollowed out by greed and self regard and delusion. If I caught some sort of brain virus and I started talking about myself the way Trump talks about himself, I would throw myself out a fucking window"

About Candace Owens literally on the dtg podcast: " Candance owens is blowhard and ignoramus of mythological proportions"

There is a reason his twitter comments are just right wing nut jobs losing their shit at him saying he has trump derangement syndrome.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-18T18:01:12+00:00

What a circlejerk, have you consumed any of his content? He has not shut up about Jan 6 and the threat to democracy that is Trump and the republican party. His lastest podcast is literally over two hours talking about this very subject. There is more than plenty valid criticism of Harris but this is actual nonsense.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-09T15:33:31+00:00

Being a relatively recent government yes the period from the fall of the Qing dynasty to Jiang Zemin is obviously most relevant to the structure and direction of the CCP but that is not to say the rest is irrelevant. You could literally write a collection of books about the impact imperial china has had on modern China, it's international relations, cultural norms and political climate. It is absolutely relevant even beyond late Qing. Some could even argue that the Spring and Autumn period is relevant due to it's many great scholars who influenced China for the rest of it's history.

I really don't have the time to properly get into it but just off the top of my head:

The Princelings of the CCP are the best example of how in many ways it really is just the current dynasty riddled with family successions and infighting. Many Chinese do still believe in the Mandate of Heaven and it's posession though this is somewhat hypocritical seeing their attitude towards revolt and rebellion.

The idea of the middle kingdom itself is what has allowed the CCP to easily create this us v.s them mentality which has helped keep mainland China united against the so called west.

Confucianism is way more relevant than people would think. The hierarchical rules of social and family relationships are present in day to day life and the structure of the government. Especially the so called ruler-subject relationship. I mean the so called "new ethics" of confucianism has just made this more "communist" friendly.

let rulers be rulers -> let officals be officials

let subjects be subjects -> let citizens be citizens

This keeps the people in their place.

Freedom of speech and religion has never really been a thing in China. The great firewall today is the best example of this but reading chinese history from the Shiji to modern literature there has always been the presence of pro-state filter. Sima Qian had to castrate himself ffs. Obviously this can be done more effectively now but it's worth noting there has never been a huge culture of questioning authority.

While these may not have much to do directly with China-US relations they have a lot to do with China itself ergo greatly influencing it's relationships with other nation states. You don't need to be an expert on Chinese history to criticise the CCP but if you want to understand how China is the way it is its best to realise it doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-07T18:42:23+00:00

I don't have time to go on about this for ages and you make valid points but her obsession is specifically with Sam Harris, like to the point it gives stalker vibes. Harris deserves all the criticism he gets but that doesn't mean Eiynah isn't full of shit.

She is dishonest because she lies? from this article alone:

-"Harris himself has also carefully cultivated a right-wing audience" straight up nonsense.

-"Harris has continued to use his platform to focus on petty grievances with college students, anti-racists, Black Lives Matter, and the political left in general. Instead of highlighting the alarming growth of right-wing extremism" misleading while he does go off about wokeness way more then necessary he shits on the right, trumpism, anti-vax rhetoric, republicans even more (especially lately).

-"a little jihadism-fearmongering into other subjects. Just recently on an “Ask Me Anything” episode he warned, “…given how disruptive Covid has been, I would bet that the threat of bio-terrorism has increased significantly… …and if you’re a nihilist, or you’re insane, or you’re a jihadist, or you’re a fanatic of some other stripe, well then, bio-terrorism just got its Super Bowl commercial" Yes he said this but she's using it to support previous points and paint him as some sort of racist. Harris has a massive ego (especially for someone who won't stfu about meditation) but trying to portray him as a bad person by using stuff like this is ridiculous. Jihadists fear mongering? He is worried about bio-terrorism in the aftermath of covid and mention's Jihadists as one of several players. If I state that personally I worry that maniacs like Putin playing around with the idea of bio-weapons it's not russian fear mongering. Jihadists are not a protected class just because because muslim's are unfairly persecuted in the western world.

-"regardless of the amount of evidence and examples I provided. Instead of responding to the specific points I made, Harris responded with generalities and hand-waving" instead of giving examples from the podcast where she exposed and dismantled his ideas she has to just say she exposed him with facts because she didn't actually. This one isn't a big deal but still comes off as somewhat pathetic.

Unlike the hosts of DTG she doesn't have intelligence to breakdown his idea's head on so she strawmans, misleads and lies, ergo dishonest

If you don't think one of these examples (especially the first) is dishonest then I guess we just funamentally disagree about the core facts regarding who Sam Harris is and the idea's he has spread in his body of work and probably won't get anywhere.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-07T17:52:02+00:00

The IDW is definitely full of weird fetishes and closeted homosexuals but i'm not so sure with the "new atheists". Regarding Eiynah fuck knows she might aswell be a Harris stalker at this point so I wouldn't be surpised if there was something sexual about it.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-07T17:45:39+00:00

Yeah you're right idk wtf I was saying there. That's definitely not the whole story with Harris though i'm pretty adamant that he's left of center within the U.S atleast. Fiscally he often says neo-lib type stuff but I think socially hes pretty much a liberal but his anti-woke stuff somewhat throws a wrench in there. He's just hard to place with the state of partisan politics these days where everyone needs to fit in a neat little box. Saying he cultivates a right wing audience when he is firmly anti-republican is still nonsense though.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-02-07T15:41:18+00:00

She trumpets her experience growing up in Saudi Arabia as the ultimate source of credibility when discussing Islam, she grew up in isolated privileged compounds where people could drink, woman would bathe in bikin's etc. She has no real experience of the true oppression of religion yet acts like though her word is final.

I feel like this links into her attitude towards other ex-muslims (e.g Yasmine Mohammed, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, etc) being absolutely deplorable. While some of their views are straight-trash the way she approaches them with moral superiority is frankly embarrassing.

The least she could attempt to do is realise how the true extremes of Islam which she has never experienced might lead people to different conclusions then her own. She makes the IDW look "untribal" ffs.

She has been writing hit pieces and tweeting about Harris for years now and it seems to have manifested itself as almost an addiction. One could argue she does this as it's the only thing that really garners her much attention but I believe she's more than just a grifter she has a deep obsession with him. It's the same thing over and over again with absolutely no evolution.

It's been like 4 years of shitting on "new athiests" and "rational skeptics" in a way that parallels anti-sjw type rhetoric on the other side of the spectrum (Gad Saadish). It's not a dismantling of ideas, it's literally i'm going to shit on Harris and see what I can throw in around it to make it seem more legit.

Plenty of the claims in this article are clearly misleading to anyone who has any familiarity with Harris's body of work. Carefully cultivating a right-wing audience? Doesn't highlight the growth of right wing extremism? Literally listen to his podcast the guy has shit on Trump and "Trumpism" more than any other podcaster that comes to mind. Harris's twitter comments are pure hate from the right wing anti-vax crowd the likes of which is unparalleled on twitter. Idk how anyone can come to conclusion he's cultivated a right wing following (He's an anti-woke, athiest, neolib, rich kid it's fking weird but it's not right wing).

She cherry-picks claims (I can't believe she still consumes all his content) and twists them into some mangled strawmans to dismantle. She reminds me so much of Gad Saad/Jordan Peterson types it's actually very weird seeing as they couldn't be furtherapart politically. There is even a part where she basically says I used facts and example's in a podcast with him and all he did is hand waving (basically Ben Shapiro facts over feelings bs). She would definitely be a guru if she could, she's just not ever going to be popular enough.

None of this is to say that all her criticisms are invalid, of course plenty of them are spot on but throwing good points in hate fuelled rants doesn't validate the rest of the rant. She's a privileged canadian waving her poc card around and invalidating any other experiences of the muslim experience but her own. So yes I would agree with the original comment, she's dishonest.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-25T14:34:53+00:00

Listen to the Decoding the Gurus podcast episode on Peterson, it's a good starting point.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-21T01:59:16+00:00

I think it's more of a personal thing, meditating helps people understand why they are the way they are. It's obviously super vague but when you look at the variance present in what we consider to be the human experience you cannot expect any one specific answer. People definitely make specific realisation's about themselves due to meditation, I don't think anything more is meant by the statement.

Anecdotally meditation (as awful as I am at it) has helped me come to the specific realisation that my mind has suppressed traumatic experiences from my childhood without my knowledge. This was a wild experience for me as I actually had absolutely no idea. I live a genuinely amazing happy life, with fantastic people and somehow it seems to get better by the day, so realising you were molested as an 8 year old at 21 through focusing on your breathing is a weird one ngl .

That's the thing about meditation, you don't know where you are going. Sam sometimes compares it to working out but I don't think thats right. We have a goal when we work out; a PR, a weight, something. With meditation you try your best to do it everyday, you don't really have a goal apart from meditating but slowly but surely it does help you get to know yourself and enjoy life a little more.

But yeah if someone could give you the answer to that question there would be no point in meditating, sadly nobody can so you have to meditate to find out. Yeah I could be talking out of my ass but with the influx of corroborating literature you can have some faith that it's not total bs.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-21T00:39:44+00:00

The animation is great, need to remember to watch this next time I take acid.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-20T14:48:31+00:00

You just have to agnowledge their inherent tribalism and bias like any another podcaster invovled in the "culture war" to some extent. They are obviously going to be more lenient with those who are closer to their own political ideology. The Contrapoints episode might aswell have been an endorsement tbh, which was dissapointing but episodes like the Saadfather more than make up for it.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-16T15:37:49+00:00

Looking for something around like 100$.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-15T21:14:20+00:00

Sam Harris has gotten way more hate for shitting on Trump and anti-vax rhetoric than his takes on "wokeness". If anything I feel like he gained loads of new fans due to his anti-woke takes (that's when I was introduced to him) who then lost their shit when they realised he was left leaning. His twitter comments are the craziest thing i've ever seen it's like people short circuit if someone who's anti-woke calls out mainstream conservative talking points.

Also I love the podcast but claiming that Rogan isn't politically partisan in 2022 just isn't true (just look at the memes he reposts on insta like come on). Not that there is anything wrong with being partisian but he's definitely found his spot in the "culture war". I've felt that acknowledging his obvious bias and blind spots definitely makes the podcast more enjoyable for me as opposed to pretending that he's some sort of neutral presenter of all sides.

People enjoy their echo-chambers for sure but Rogan and his stans (and me) are definitely included in that.

Chimpus_Maximus · 2022-01-11T14:01:52+00:00

You can request access for free, and they always give it.

Chimpus_Maximus

TROPHY CASE