Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #literalists
Most recents (18)
78.01/ Week seventy-eight, January 8-14, 2022, thread here.
Week 77 below.
Week 77 below.
78.02/ #MotzeiShabbatMovieNight, John Woo's "Paycheck"
Why? (1) Underrated sci-fi action mystery, (2) we saw Mission:Impossible 2 wks ago and it's sequel is by Jon Woo... but it's terrible while this movie is great and almost the same genre
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paycheck_…
Why? (1) Underrated sci-fi action mystery, (2) we saw Mission:Impossible 2 wks ago and it's sequel is by Jon Woo... but it's terrible while this movie is great and almost the same genre
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paycheck_…
78.03/ Only silver lining to a Cowboys win: a scorigami!
70.01/ Week seventy, Nov. 13-19, 2021 thread begins here.
Week 69 below.
Week 69 below.
70.02/ So many self-appointed smart guys told me that Garland was doing nothing. They were wrong & caused panic because they are impatient Dunning-Kruger cynics seized by the #Literalist fallacy that if they didn't see DOJ's work, it didn't exist.
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
70.03/ I’m just one man, but if the supply chain problems are caused by not enough little packets of soy sauce/spicy mustard/duck sauce then I can help out immediately.
I’m also willing to propose they be functionally considered currency instead of bitcryptocoins.
I’m also willing to propose they be functionally considered currency instead of bitcryptocoins.
1/ Some #Vayeitzei thoughts. First, Prof. Nahum Sarna translates the "sulam" (usually translated as "ladder") as "steps" likely of a Ziggurat, a human-made 'mountain' which in Mesopotamian culture simulated the mountains where gods lived (e.g. Olympus).
balashon.com/2006/07/haslam…
balashon.com/2006/07/haslam…
2/ Sulam cont: Here's an entry for the one at Ur, which a city identified with Abraham
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat_…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur_of_the…
This means, yes, that the "sulam" was a stairway to heaven. Hey, sometimes words have two meanings.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat_…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur_of_the…
This means, yes, that the "sulam" was a stairway to heaven. Hey, sometimes words have two meanings.
3/ Second: Possibly the most important, overlooked, character in the Chumash is Leah.
She's mother of half 6 of the 12 tribes, step-mother to 2 more, and the only daughter. Her children are the kings (Yehudah), priests (Levi) and scholars (Yisacchar).
She's mother of half 6 of the 12 tribes, step-mother to 2 more, and the only daughter. Her children are the kings (Yehudah), priests (Levi) and scholars (Yisacchar).
68.01/ Week sixty-eight, Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2021, thread begins here.
Week 67 below
Week 67 below
68.03/ #Dune is an incredibly flawed book that's nonetheless fascinating. Also, as a kid I thought the (pseudo) Arabic was Hebrew. e.g. "Kwisatz Haderach" which I eventually recognized from Midrash (from last week's parsha! God "shortened Eliezer's way"):
sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genes…
sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genes…
1/ Jude's warning about the "one good man" (in this case, about the NBer trainwreck, see inside) is something I worry about as well: when a cause's fate can rise or fall with the virtue or sins of one single person.
2/ This can be an inevitable consequence of ethical heroics. Jewish law (IMO) emphasizes the severity of Chillul Hashem for this reason: Jews are commanded to act as representatives for God on Earth. Our individual behavior can destroy the entire mission.
3/ Yet an iconoclastic mission will often require salient, brave individuals. How to avoid the problem of Chillul Hashem and the pitfalls of Jude's "One Good Man"?
Same answer: Don't be alone. Don't be "one."
Same answer: Don't be alone. Don't be "one."
54.01/ Week fifty-four, July 24-30 2021, thread begins here.
Week 53 below:
Week 53 below:
54.02/ This is a fun Rebbe story, which could even be true (who knows), re: apologetics for the bracha of "Shelo Asani Isha."
Source (Pleasant Ridge Newsletter, Vaetchanan 5771): eflip2.com/prozdor/E_DEV7…
[I needed to edit the alt-text a bit to get to 1000 char.]
Source (Pleasant Ridge Newsletter, Vaetchanan 5771): eflip2.com/prozdor/E_DEV7…
[I needed to edit the alt-text a bit to get to 1000 char.]
54.03/ I've tried to teach people & model the behavior that every person needs to be treated with respect. That we are to treat janitors with the same respect as we do rabbis. Sadly, they learned to treat rabbis with the same respect they treat janitors.
chabad.org/library/articl…
chabad.org/library/articl…
46.01/ Week Forty-six, May 29-June 4 2021, begins here.
Week 45 below:
Week 45 below:
46.02/ Attempting the "Not starting every email/tweet with the word 'so' challenge." This is comes after "Not starting every etc with 'well'"
I understand this is common for academics. In my observation: "well" is to state your hypothesis, "so" the next step in analysis.
I understand this is common for academics. In my observation: "well" is to state your hypothesis, "so" the next step in analysis.
46.03/ I just spent hours writing a thread and for some reason the screen skipped and I lost everything. It's hard to explain how destructive this is. First time it's happened and now I will know to continuously back up writing in a side document. But I'm mildly perturbed.
39.01/ Week 39 thread, April 10-16, 2021, begins here.
Last week's thread, week 38 - April 4-9, 2021, below.
Last week's thread, week 38 - April 4-9, 2021, below.
31.52b/ This is a continuation of the week 31 (Feb. 13-19) thread which is getting too big for stable threading. This is an experiment for this week: to split a thread when it gets to 50 or so.
Part one is here:
Part one is here:
31.53/ I've been thinking the same thing (not so well put, of course). How did Skype become the fax machine of this tech crisis?
31.54/ This is good to see! I'm glad the effects are empirically demonstrated.
It's nice when virtue is demonstrably effective. Social science for the win!
It's nice when virtue is demonstrably effective. Social science for the win!
1/ Another observation the #Literalist fallacy I see about how much Trump (ym'sh) has planned all of the chaos & violence. My overarching point will be that society is structured & that means there's an inherent pattern to effects no matter the 'intelligence' behind the causes
2/ The virus should teach us this. #Literalists claim it was made in a lab because they see a killing-machine that carves its way through society and they must apply individual force & cause to the effectiveness of the biological organism
3/ #Literalists see only the tree, not the forest, so they think every effect stands alone, and thus has individual cause. This is the root fallacy of 'intelligent design'
its what led my ancestors to presume every disease is caused by a demon. Nature becomes personified.
its what led my ancestors to presume every disease is caused by a demon. Nature becomes personified.
25.01/ Thread for week twenty-five, Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, 2021, begins here.
Week 24 thread was here:
Week 24 thread was here:
25.02/ We've been blaming 2020 for our troubles, but maybe it's b/c it was the Year of the Rat? Acc. to chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/rat/ "In Chinese culture, rats were seen as a sign of wealth and surplus" and if that doesn't describe 2020, what does? (P.S. I was born in a ratty year)
25.03/ This is about the can-opener guy and, yes, he's abusive but strangely proud of it showing us that the AITA topics are possibly not as made up as we assumed.
I pray that when DJT is deposed & disposed these people will feel stigma again.
I pray that when DJT is deposed & disposed these people will feel stigma again.
22.01/ #ShavuaTov & happy 3rd night of #Hanukkah
Week 22, Dec 12-18, thread begins here.
Week 21 was here:
Week 22, Dec 12-18, thread begins here.
Week 21 was here:
22.02a/ Well Obama wasn't a real American, Biden not a real president and Jill Biden not a real doctor. This is a common gripe by anti-intellectuals & #Literalists who believe physicians own "doctor" when they actually stole it from PhDs
22.02b/ But let's be clear about why she actually deserves to use the title - aside from my own standard argument that I earned the degree - Dr. Biden is currently employed as a professor in a university. It's her job title, ya trolls! It's as valid as calling her "First Lady"
15.01/ From last night, about the newest COVID outbreak from within the White House. As I've said before, the core value of Pence/GOP is anti-expertise, which leads to their self-destruction
15.02/ #Steelers @ Titans is the game of the week and as the picture below shows, nearly everyone in the 50 states will get to see it except... me in Jersey. But I'll get to listen to the game on my laptop, 10-70 seconds behind (why?!) #HereWeGo
15.03/ @Dameshek is (basically) my age and we were both kids in Pittsburgh at the same time so we have the same abject fear of Mr. Yuk.
13.01new/ I'm experimenting with a new procedure for my #RandomThoughts thread (linked below), which has gotten enormous and difficult to navigate. Each week I will make a separate thread & embed/link it in the original monster. Let's see if this works
13.02a/ We subscribe to the local NJ paper (Support Local News! Another Slogan!) & they invest heavily in Kings Feature & Creators Syndicate comics. As an amateur comics historian/artist, I have issues with the quality of both groups, but esp. with The Lockhorns & Andy Capp
13.02b/ I collect comic strip books (comics were a road not taken), my kids have a youth filled with some of the best (Calvin & Hobbes, Far Side, Cul de Sac, Citizen Dog, Peanuts) so the two martial strife comics are a jarring contrast.
1/ Reading my recent threads you can conclude "OMG it's so bad, how can we prevail"
I get that. I'm describing the rotted structure & bad systems b/c if it weren't so rotten, the GOP couldn't have gotten away with this evil.
I get that. I'm describing the rotted structure & bad systems b/c if it weren't so rotten, the GOP couldn't have gotten away with this evil.
2/ Put another way: if we fix the bad structure, this won't happen in the same way (maybe at all). It helps to be a systems thinker here, and since COVID has made most of you amateur epidemiologists, we can compare contagions
3/ The virus spreads in a certain way, when we understand how the virus works, we can slow or stop the mechanisms of spread and that will prevent damage.
As Fauci said, the virus tells us what we need to do to prevent contagion.
So: masks, 6 feet, good ventilation etc
As Fauci said, the virus tells us what we need to do to prevent contagion.
So: masks, 6 feet, good ventilation etc
1/ The GOP via their leaders Trump (ym'sh) & Barr, have openly declared war against blue states and especially cities. The evidence is overwhelming, but the disguised paramilitary forces in DC & Portland should be enough to show any reasonable person they're outright fascists
2/ The GOP gaslights the country and the media in acting as if their naked, anti-Constitutional and illiberal power grabs are normal, but we must resist.
(See yesterday's thread for why most of the media plays along with the propaganda)
(See yesterday's thread for why most of the media plays along with the propaganda)
3/ The attacks on the cities as unrepresentative of America is as old as the country, from Jefferson to Jackson to the Confederacy to my favorite oddball example: Prohibition.
I won't go deeper into it now, but Proh. remains a Rosetta stone for understanding the US paradox
I won't go deeper into it now, but Proh. remains a Rosetta stone for understanding the US paradox
1/ Looking at the OpenSchoolsNow position by the GOP, I need to revise my opinion on their similar gun-nut position about schools.
I mean, whenever there'd be a school shooting I'd ask them: "Do you like to see kids killed?!" but they'd dismiss me & shame me for this assumption
I mean, whenever there'd be a school shooting I'd ask them: "Do you like to see kids killed?!" but they'd dismiss me & shame me for this assumption
2/ Their counter-argument was that they just loved guns and freedom and were afraid of tyranny and the massacres were just a sad price of freedom.
But the GOP is now taking the same nihilistic position about schools with the pandemic as they do w/guns!
But the GOP is now taking the same nihilistic position about schools with the pandemic as they do w/guns!
3/ It's the same rhetoric about guns with the masks: "freedom." It's pretty obvious now that the GOP is a cult with scary parallels to murder-suicide cults of history. It's thus likely that their fetish for guns is the same type of cultish mentality. The deaths are worth the cost
Sure, "polls aren't votes", but 15 pts down means Trump's (ym"sh) vulnerable, dries up fundraising, allows GOP electeds to contradict him publicly, allows reporters to treat him normally & not as the magician of 2016 who commands a cult of violent kooks.
See:
To combat the complacency that the polling imbalance could bring, I suggest telling fellow anti-Trumpites that no matter how much DJT is down in November, when you vote, it will feel as good as punching him in the face with all of your strength
#VoteBlueToSaveAmerica
#VoteBlueToSaveAmerica
