Thread by @atroyn

things i like about living here:
- people have a lot of weird ideas
- they will tell you about them and listen to your weird ideas
- some of the ideas are new and interesting
- people are conditioned to learn about weird ideas
- there is some absolutely amazing woo

things i dislike:
- every idea is presented as if it were completely original. pointing out it may not be is NOT ALLOWED referring to prior work is NOT ALLOWED
- talking about problems or even possible difficulties is NOT ALLOWED

there is a special type of parasite that has evolved under these conditions to maximally distribute soft headed woo and is protected from ever being questioned about it because that is NOT ALLOWED

this type of person can actually get away with saying really awful things but the realization that they are awful requires thinking about the implications of the surface thing being said, which is NOT ALLOWED if it doesn't result in a positive feeling about the things

the primary defense of this type of organism is 'oh that's not what i meant' or the instant reversal of meaning and implication in subsequent further discussion.

pointing this out is also NOT ALLOWED

maybe this is a problem with me and not them in that i am too ready to look for possibly negative implications in any given train of thought. and i really do appreciate people just popping off about whatever is on their mind, i really truly love and embrace it

my problem may be that this type of organism has figured out that it's a great way to get social status without really contributing anything and with sufficient diffusion they are essentially protected from anyone pointing out that maybe their thinking is awful

i am not good at this type of communication so maybe it's just jealousy, you can read that into it if you like

the people i admire most are those i think of as 'true believers' - these are people who when challenged do not take the 'oh that's not what i meant when i said it's just all in depressed kids' heads, i meant the opposite', but instead think and respond based on their beliefs

true believers very often unmask my criticism as ill-thought through or fascile, and it often is, i admit - another part of living here that i like is people are willing to forgive that because of the natural idea churn. i feel dumb and this is very good.

even if i turn out to have a point, true believers will examine their belief system and even if they do not modify their beliefs, they at least respond according to those beliefs, instead of to avoid discussion through the NOT ALLOWED things

one model for the organism's reaction i that because they highlight ideas for status, they have truly internalised the idea that everyone else does as well and so they think criticism is intended to attack status or display status

i don't like systemic models for describing the thoughts or actions of people because that's not how people work imo, but it feels like a good model for what i've encountered?

not knowing about prior work or possible problems is not _bad_ and you should not feel bad for not knowing about them, you came up with thoughts on your own that mirror great thinking other people have done, that makes you smart and good

i guess what i dislike is a pattern of engagement that feels like industrialized status extraction without any stake in the real beliefs and implications of that thought

that's why i love the true believers and not the organisms.

to end, one way for me to automatically think of you as a true believer is to go out and do or make something based on your intrinsic beliefs about the world

even if i don't like what you made or did i will probably admire you in some way or engage with what you did or said

(someone is definitely going to post hitler in response to that last one)

probably the most dangerous people for me to meet and who i am actively afraid of are the true believers who i _agree_ with. this has happened i think once, maaaaaybe twice