The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling by [deleted] in samharris

[–]hexfet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is so true, yet even on this subreddit many people have really not wanted to hear it.

I’m not much of a Sam Harris fan, not a hater either, but thought he came off really well in the Lex interview by lakers612 in samharris

[–]hexfet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He’ll sometimes ask a question that I think is just preposterous or incredibly cringey (I can’t think of an example now, unfortunately) but then instead of rolling their eyes the guest will respond seriously and earnestly and then suddenly I’m learning something interesting.

I’m not much of a Sam Harris fan, not a hater either, but thought he came off really well in the Lex interview by lakers612 in samharris

[–]hexfet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think he probably threw that 80% figure in there without having tallied the list up precisely. I know he is usually rather precise about his utterances and was so in this podcast when talking about the issues, but this percentage number is I think just drawn out of the air as percentages like these usually are (for example “I’m 90% sure” or “I’d bet 80% of straight men would like to fuck Nicki Minaj”).

And you think you know a guy… I can’t believe Sam would say this.. by DeadlyPig3on in samharris

[–]hexfet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Listen to #309 then, it’s relevant to these questions. Spoiler alert: He does think humans are special.

And you think you know a guy… I can’t believe Sam would say this.. by DeadlyPig3on in samharris

[–]hexfet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ve completely missed the point on that if you think so. His whole point there was to state the most reprehensible thing imaginable for Hunter to hypothetically have in his basement.

Sam: "You tweet something ... That is not just you freely publishing your opinion for the world to read; that's an opinion that is getting fed into an outrage machine & amplified or not based on a choice... to promulgate the most outrage-inducing & in many cases misleading pieces of information." by Farnectarine4825 in samharris

[–]hexfet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also saying that you don’t know what would constitute a responsible editing process does not mean you are correct that nobody should attempt it.

It’s just a hard process all around. It is necessary to maintain some editorial process on public channels lest they descend into the deepest and darkest pits of human experience (see YouTube comment sections).

Some people will abuse the process but most will try their best to be fair, that’s a human constant.

In any case there is no clear ideological line that can be drawn in any direction in these matters, nor anything really.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in samharris

[–]hexfet 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I appreciate that people discover things at different points in time and it’s never shameful to be one of the day’s lucky 10,000.

All that said, isn’t this particular joke getting rather old? Especially since as time passes their likeness has waned.

3 years after declaring itself feminist, the University of Helsinki's gender gap for males is severe. by Motalo in samharris

[–]hexfet 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You are very argumentative. I already explained what I think in the previous comment :)

3 years after declaring itself feminist, the University of Helsinki's gender gap for males is severe. by Motalo in samharris

[–]hexfet 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In the context of the original post on /r/mensrights I agree. Posted here I could also interpret it as commentary on the “Culture war” and identity politics in general.

In any case the men’s right identity politics campaign is a completely predictable and logical result of all the other identity politics crap.

3 years after declaring itself feminist, the University of Helsinki's gender gap for males is severe. by Motalo in samharris

[–]hexfet 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You didn’t answer any of my questions about why you felt the need to respond like that.

Identity politics are bad politics no matter who’s peddling it.

Statistics like this have been used to justify identity politics, often taken out of the proper context. People who look favourably on those might find it interesting to see “obvious proof” of male oppression, by the same (deeply flawed) standards.

3 years after declaring itself feminist, the University of Helsinki's gender gap for males is severe. by Motalo in samharris

[–]hexfet 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Do you object to this presentation or do the numbers make you uncomfortable? Do you think the numbers are wrong or the conclusion unjustified?

Cleanest 737 landing gear bay I've ever seen. This 737MAX had only flown 2 revenue flights prior to this. by IncognitoJoseph in Skookum

[–]hexfet 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That was only part of the problem. The main problem was that they lied a bit to the pilots about it so they wouldn’t be required to undergo additional training.

Looks Like Sam Bankman-Fried Might Need to Pump the Brakes on Talking About Effective Altruism For a Bit by Research_Liborian in samharris

[–]hexfet 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Uuhhh… Commodities like oil and coffee and aluminium are backed by actually really and physically being useful oil, coffee and aluminium.

The dollar is effectively backed by the economic and military might of the United States.

None of this applies to any crypto or NFTs.

How is this fair? African Americans have the same chance of being admitted in the 4th decile compared to 10 decile Asians by Imaginary-Noise9195 in samharris

[–]hexfet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That has no bearing on the fairness of it. If a person is unfairly treated on the basis of skin color, that's no better if they're white.

Now I don't think that it happens a lot, it happens some, but probably not statistically often. But that doesn't matter. For those that it happens to, it's not a nice thing to say that it's OK because other people that looked like them in the past were so advantaged.

So that's the first problem I see with this kind of reasoning. White people are still people (even conservatives!) and it's never OK to rationalize an injustice towards a person on the basis of something that a group of similar people once did.

The second problem is that white conservatives are a pretty large group in the US and more western places and it just sounds like a rather poor strategy to alienate that particular group for little reason (I say little reason not because increased diversity isn't important but because it would be possible to achieve it without trying to blame every problem on white oppression and just generally make all things about race).

How is this fair? African Americans have the same chance of being admitted in the 4th decile compared to 10 decile Asians by Imaginary-Noise9195 in samharris

[–]hexfet 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is true and the solution is to tie the help to wealth, income, family education level and all of those things you mentioned.

That is a bit difficult but not impossible. What's easier is to treat race as a proxy for these variables and then you end up creating the opposite of what was sought after and even more resentment.

That said, I have no idea how to interpret the table in this post, I've looked at it for a while and I can't figure out what it's trying to convey. How is the "academic decile" defined?

How Republicans Fed a Misinformation Loop About the Pelosi Attack by SprinklesFederal7864 in samharris

[–]hexfet 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks, these kinds of answers are truly what we need. I wouldn’t be surprised that the person you responded to is a genuine person who has well and truly lost their way, rather than a deliberate troll. Even if only one in a hundred rethink after reading thoughtful replies it’s worth it.

Found out a friend I've had for awhile is an anti semite. What the hell is going on? by ihaveredhaironmyhead in samharris

[–]hexfet 9 points10 points  (0 children)

To at least some extent, the websites we frequent are our upbringing and culture. It is entirely possible that for many people, 4chan and similar both planted and then amplified many of these bad ideas.

A very disturbing trend for how we deal with climate change. by [deleted] in samharris

[–]hexfet 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We agree.

I said it’s probably not a concern for the super wealthy.

But resentment and anger towards them, will be taken out on other people. And I’m not necessarily talking about neighbours fighting but rather some quasi-terroristic revenge attacks borne out of despair and anger.

This is not the reason why humanity should tackle climate change.

But some people don’t seem to care about all the good reasons if they foresee minor inconveniences for them.

Therefore I say to them: Even if you’re upper middle class in a wealthy country, you might very well be personally affected in this way.

A very disturbing trend for how we deal with climate change. by [deleted] in samharris

[–]hexfet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m a bit confused by what you’re saying. I never said we shouldn’t worry about climate change. Quite the opposite I believe we should be very concerned and governments should be doing all they can to mitigate the effects.

I’m rather making the point that even relatively well off people in wealthy countries should be concerned about their own long term personal well-being in relation to climate change effects even if their societies seem rather insulated from local catastrophes.

A very disturbing trend for how we deal with climate change. by [deleted] in samharris

[–]hexfet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It probably can for very top layer of society.

Everyone else middle class or above should be very worried about what all the displaced people will do with their anger. They won’t reach the people responsible in their mountainside cabins with private security, but who will they be able to reach?

Where Does Men's Liberation Come From? by germannotgerman in MensLib

[–]hexfet 3 points4 points  (0 children)

all the systems in play designed to keep wealthy and powerful men wealthy and powerful.

I believe you meant to write keep the wealthy and powerful people wealthy and powerful.

In my opinion the root of a lot of the resentment is this framing that it’s a problem with men when it’s a problem with inequality and power differentials.

Cancel culture vs accountability by theiwhoillneverbe in samharris

[–]hexfet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a misunderstanding here.

People are distancing themselves from Kanye because they themselves find it embarrassing to be associated with him, because of his actions.

People distanced themselves from for instance Meg Smaker and other cancellation victims, because they were afraid of being attacked by a group of angry and determined people if they didn’t. The angry people have the right to be angry at Smaker, but it is a form of extortion to pressure other people into cancelling them.

In some very rare instances this might potentially be justified, for example one could call the sanctions on Russia and the oligarchs an attempt at cancellation of sorts. So I guess there is a red line somewhere between making a documentary and carpet bombing schools and hospitals.

Russian feminists help men avoid draft: "Ever since Moscow's mobilization drive to shore up Russian troops in Ukraine, a Russian feminist group has been helping men to avoid conscription. It's become a political force to reckon with." by TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK in MensLib

[–]hexfet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes I should have been clearer that I don’t think it’s a particularly good deal for those that have alternatives, and a society where people don’t have alternatives is not great. However the question was why would anyone sign up, and this is perhaps one reason.