wcerfgba's recent activity
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Comment on Postmodernism, conservatism, reactionarism: A brief attempt at deconstructing the purist fans in ~humanities
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Comment on Lost media in ~talk
wcerfgba LinkBrutalMoose on YouTube has a few videos where he watches old random VHS tapes. There is a subreddit for this kind of stuff as well, forgot what it's called. I found a random public access show...BrutalMoose on YouTube has a few videos where he watches old random VHS tapes.
There is a subreddit for this kind of stuff as well, forgot what it's called.
I found a random public access show once, searching YouTube for "pickle perfection".
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Comment on Steak-umm's raises awareness for the "DEEP FAKES Accountability Act" in ~tech
wcerfgba LinkI wonder what a transformative justice approach to deepfakes and other AI harm risks are. If we pursue a legislative response to these threats, is there a risk that we concentrate control of AI in...I wonder what a transformative justice approach to deepfakes and other AI harm risks are. If we pursue a legislative response to these threats, is there a risk that we concentrate control of AI in the hands of states and megacorps? The balance of power is already skewed towards those actors, so how can various other types of communities develop the resources they need to be able to exercise consent over the use of AI on them, and be able to prevent and heal from harms arising from violations of that consent?
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Comment on Chiropractic isn’t what you think it is in ~health
wcerfgba Link ParentIt really depends on what you are trying to treat, as well as how you are treating it. Cochrane reviews are very informative. For instance, acupuncture can be effective for preventing migraines:...It really depends on what you are trying to treat, as well as how you are treating it. Cochrane reviews are very informative. For instance, acupuncture can be effective for preventing migraines: https://www.cochrane.org/CD001218/SYMPT_acupuncture-preventing-migraine-attacks
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Comment on They can and will ruin everything you love in ~music
wcerfgba LinkIt's depressing, but it should not come as a surprise: it's a privately owned company with a standard corporate hierarchy, not a cooperative owned by the artists and customers. If we want nice...It's depressing, but it should not come as a surprise: it's a privately owned company with a standard corporate hierarchy, not a cooperative owned by the artists and customers. If we want nice things, we need to own them and implement appropriate governance structures.
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Comment on The Techno Optimist Manifesto by Marc Andreessen, redacted by Grosser in ~tech
wcerfgba Link ParentYes, unfortunately he is an influential self indulgent clown man with a lot of money. 🤡🤑😭Yes, unfortunately he is an influential self indulgent clown man with a lot of money. 🤡🤑😭
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Comment on How to argue against identity politics without turning into a reactionary in ~misc
wcerfgba Link ParentYes, this is exactly what happens with other concepts like intersectionality. Authoritarians present this as if it's about atomising people and ranking them on a hierarchy of oppression, when...Yes, this is exactly what happens with other concepts like intersectionality. Authoritarians present this as if it's about atomising people and ranking them on a hierarchy of oppression, when instead it's about appealing to experience and showing how different communities struggle against the same systems, finding resonances, and building solidarity.
I think optics, specifically the terminology and arguments we use, are really important when discussing our ideas with people who are coming from less radical, slightly-authoritarian mindsets, like centrists. I had a conversation with someone this week about "living below the breadline" and "meeting people's needs", and I learned that some people are very concerned with problems of 'free riders' (what about people who don't want to earn their living?) over and above problems of equality (why can't we provide for everyone?). These people don't lack a sense of fairness, instead they are defining fairness in a different way. In order to understand that, I had to listen to them first, and then explain my positions in their terms. My values are important to me, and I believe in them so strongly because it is like I have seen something innately beautiful but I cannot describe why. Instead I want to find out how to show people the same thing I am looking at, in the hopes that they will see beauty in it too. At a minimum, if we are both able to look at the same things, it makes it easier to talk about them, even if they don't resonate with us in the same way.
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Comment on How to argue against identity politics without turning into a reactionary in ~misc
wcerfgba LinkI found this article quite thin, I feel like it complains that there are issues with identity politics several times without clearly stating what those issues are. I found the article referenced...- Exemplary
I found this article quite thin, I feel like it complains that there are issues with identity politics several times without clearly stating what those issues are. I found the article referenced towards the end, by Maurice Mitchell to be much more stimulating. In it, he critiques specifically neoliberal identity politics, which he defines by its focus on the individual.
I am not a fan of the term 'identity politics' because I think it is begging the question: what is your identity and why do you have it in the first place? We must not forget that these are social identities, and that this concept is intimately connected to the concept of communities.
As a resident of my town, I am a member of a community of place. As a non-binary person, I am a member of a community of experience. As a researcher, I am a member of several communities of practice. As my parent's child, I am a member of a community of blood/genes. In each instance, there is something concrete that I share with other people, which brings us into a community, and which allows us to form a social identity. Identity follows community, not the other way around. I propose that it is not useful to speak of a 'community of identity' because I see that as begging the question.
I don't think we should be speaking of 'identity politics', instead there is 'experience politics', 'place politics', 'practice politics'. We have to look at the factors which underlie each specific social identity.
This also works to counteract the neoliberal identity politics that Mitchell describes, because it shifts the focus from a label to the reality of people's experiences. In doing so, it becomes more intuitive to understand why communities and identities of experience are relevant, and how to argue well with them. Mitchell says:
You may hear someone argue, “As a working-class, first-generation American, Southern woman…I say we have to vote no.”
It would be both more persuasive, and more informative for this person to instead draw upon their own experiences and the experiences of others in their community: "I saw this happen before...", "This happened to the women in X...". These alternative formulations do several things which are lacking for me in the 'label-centred' statement: they ground the argument in reality; they create a story; they point directly to ourselves and people we are connected to; and they show where we can learn, so that we can improve our work (praxis!)
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Comment on USENET, the OG social network, rises again like a text-only phoenix in ~tech
wcerfgba LinkI tried getting back into USENET a few months ago, looking for a jazz newsgroup. I only found one, and it was completely dead apart from spam 😔I tried getting back into USENET a few months ago, looking for a jazz newsgroup. I only found one, and it was completely dead apart from spam 😔
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Comment on What's your method for shopping for laptops? in ~tech
wcerfgba LinkI like the in house reviews at NotebookCheck. They provide info on storage performance, battery life, noise, and heat. For my last two laptops I've thought about my requirements and used their...I like the in house reviews at NotebookCheck. They provide info on storage performance, battery life, noise, and heat. For my last two laptops I've thought about my requirements and used their reviews to build my shortlist of models.
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Comment on Any offline bookmark managers (or similar software) you'd recommend? (simple and open source preferred!) in ~tech
wcerfgba Link ParentI also came to recommend Zotero. You don't need an account but if you have one you can sync your library to their servers so you can access it on the web interface. You can run your own sync...I also came to recommend Zotero.
You don't need an account but if you have one you can sync your library to their servers so you can access it on the web interface. You can run your own sync server as well.
One thing I really like about Zotero is that it also saves and syncs attachments, and it can autoresolve PDFs. So I can find an article, add to Zotero via Firefox plugin, and then it saves a copy of the PDF so I have the full article to read on my phone.
The Better BibTeX plugin is great as well. It auto exports a BibTeX file of my entire library so I can cite anything anytime I want.
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Comment on Things to do and see in Vienna in ~travel
wcerfgba LinkI was there not long ago for a couple of days, here are places I'd recommend: Craft beer: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BsbqLgVbmFA38JgB9 Organic Turkish food (best vines leaves I've ever had):...I was there not long ago for a couple of days, here are places I'd recommend:
Craft beer: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BsbqLgVbmFA38JgB9
Organic Turkish food (best vines leaves I've ever had): https://maps.app.goo.gl/jM6oCcC1fxW8rmSk7
Vegan burgers, right next to Sigmund Freud Park (try the sweet woodruff soda, it's really unique): https://maps.app.goo.gl/gr5rceaaj3Ec4FBw6
Just walking around MuseumsQuartier is great, it seemed very hip to me.
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Comment on Non-revolutionary anarchism in ~humanities
wcerfgba LinkI don't have a lot of time right now, but I can try and dig more things out later if you want. The book that's had the most impact on my recently is Joyful Militancy. You may find prefigurative...I don't have a lot of time right now, but I can try and dig more things out later if you want.
The book that's had the most impact on my recently is Joyful Militancy.
You may find prefigurative approaches to be your kind of thing. Rather than working towards grand revolution and overthrowing capital/state/Empire/..., they focus on building better systems, relationships, ways of being and doing today, that operate in the way we want, and provide an alternative to existing systems.
Community-based participatory research can have a strong resonance with prefigurative politics. Also look up asset-based community development.
Think about your own life and what's missing: what do you want? Talk to people in your neighbourhood and community. Come up with ideas and do stuff. Organise a potluck or a community litter pick. Set up a community newsletter, or events listing website. Look up mutual aid and set up a group in the area (these really took off during COVID, probably there is an existing network nearby that you can rekindle). Organise an unreading group, or a town hall meeting on climate resilience. Not everything has to be big projects working at a large scale. Instead, focus on building relationships locally and organising small things that give you all energy, and build a sustainable community.
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Comment on Women in Denmark can now take a blood test to identify genetic foetal abnormalities in early pregnancy. But it has raised ethical questions. in ~health
wcerfgba LinkIt's important to listen to disabled people, and acknowledge different models of disability, when discussing these things. The social model of disability highlights the importance of the...It's important to listen to disabled people, and acknowledge different models of disability, when discussing these things.
The social model of disability highlights the importance of the environment in causing disability and making impaired people disabled with a lower quality of life.
So a key question for me is: in an ideal world where people with Down's or other genetically caused impairments have all of the support needed, and society was changed to fully accommodate them, how much could Down's affect someone's quality of life, and would terminating a pregnancy still be something people would consider?
At it's worst case, this combination of technology and policy is a form of eugenics which reinforces a medical model of disability, preventing impaired people from being born, and weakening efforts for social transformations that should lead to disabled liberation.
In the UK we recently had a case where a disability rights campaigner with Down's went to court to change abortion law, as currently a 'substantial risk' of 'severe handicap' is an exception to the 24 week cut-off period.
https://care.org.uk/news/2022/07/abortion-and-disability-what-does-the-law-say
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Comment on ‘So, I hear I’m transphobic’: Dee Snider responds after being dropped by San Francisco Pride in ~lgbt
wcerfgba LinkThe distinction between action and subject is interesting. Someone can do something which is transphobic, and/or they can be transphobic. It's an important distinction because the emotional...The distinction between action and subject is interesting. Someone can do something which is transphobic, and/or they can be transphobic. It's an important distinction because the emotional effect, and the implications, of those two messages are quite different. Further, people may move fluidly between these different judgements without much discussion about that movement, and where one statement can be used to deduce the other.
I think both the festival organisers, and Dee, can be seen as making these movements. Dee's quote moves from talking about his actions, both his ally work and this recent controversy, and then moves to ask if he himself is transphobic. The festival organisers, who perhaps invited Dee to perform because of his allyship, have seen this incident, and decided that this transphobic incident justifies revoking their invitation. This can be interpreted as them holding Dee accountable for this incident, but also feel to me like a value judgement of Dee and his positions in general, more akin to deplatforming. That might be a purely emotional resonance based on the similarities of two tactics with different aims, though.
In terms of the blowback, I think this is an example where messaging is so important. I don't know anything about Dee's work and allyship, but even the best allies will sometimes make mistakes. If you say to someone you have a problem with something they did and you want them to make amends, they can do that and take accountability for that action. If you jump straight to it being an issue about their character though, they will get defensive and also are not sure of targeted action they can do to correct that issue.
I don't know what comms were like between Dee and the organisers. One point of interest is that the SF Pride press release was not linked from the news article, but Dee's official statement was! I found the SF Pride press release and it doesn't provide much more information other than saying it was a mutual agreement to part ways. So perhaps there has been an attempt at constructive dialogue here.
I think the same fluidity around judgements about actions vs judgements about people are also present in our criminal justice system and state rhetoric/propaganda around public safety, policing, crime, terrorism, etc. Some people commit crimes, and they might go to jail. But rarely are these people portrayed as 'people who committed a crime', rather they are portrayed as 'criminals', which has the effect of moving the notion of criminality onto them as people, rather than as a function of actions they took in a specific set of circumstances. Once the rhetorical device has implied a binary in the minds of the public (criminal vs good citizens) then the state uses the binary to Other one of the groups and construct a narrative about protecting 'us' from 'them'.
Perhaps further investigation of this fluidity could be an opportunity for developing new leftist optics and rhetoric. In the case of the 'trans debate', we can make it clear that we are not trying to attack people for their views, we're trying to hold them accountable for their actions. In the case of transformative justice, we can make it clear that people who have committed crimes are still people, that the 'class' of 'criminals' is not useful for creating a fair and effective justice system, is actively harmful, etc.
Not sure how to really conclude from there. Sorry for kinda a ramble post! ❤
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Comment on The Gostok (interactive fiction) in ~games
wcerfgba LinkThanks for sharing! I had an idea for a similar mechanic but a different format, more like a top down open world style:Thanks for sharing! I had an idea for a similar mechanic but a different format, more like a top down open world style:
Little Critters
This is an idea for a game inspired by simulation games and language. The player is able to move freely around a map populated by various ‘critters’, social animals who communicate with a randomly generated language. Gameplay consists of the player observing the critters going about their activities and trying to learn the syntax and vocabulary of the language so that they can communicate with the critters and achieve some objective.
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Comment on Kenyan player expelled after pretending to be a woman to win lucrative prize in ~games.tabletop
wcerfgba LinkWhat are the reasons for gender segregated leagues in chess? Having seen all the discourse around trans athletes in sports, I've come to the opinion that instead of gender segregation we should...What are the reasons for gender segregated leagues in chess?
Having seen all the discourse around trans athletes in sports, I've come to the opinion that instead of gender segregation we should split leagues by ability instead. This mirrors and extends what we already do with disability sports and weight classes.
I understand one argument for women's leagues is they provide opportunities for women to win and achieve highly. But I also think it creates competition between men and women as classes and can divert funding and attention away from women in sport, since men's sport is the 'default'. So I think we should instead explain the variance in ability by other factors, and define leagues by those, instead of by gender. Gender can be a useful proxy for many of those factors but there's no reason I see why they can't be explicitly unbundled and defined.
I don't know anything about chess, so my follow up question would be, are there gender differences in the brain which make women less competitive than men? Or could open chess be a fair playing field? A quick glance at ratings for me makes it look like they could all compete fairly, but perhaps I do not know enough here.
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Comment on A Black professor trapped in anti-racist hell in ~life
wcerfgba Link ParentAll the comments on this article are fantastic ❤, but I think what I have to say fits in best to this thread so I'll reply here. I think a big part of the issue with online discourse is that often...All the comments on this article are fantastic ❤, but I think what I have to say fits in best to this thread so I'll reply here.
I think a big part of the issue with online discourse is that often it's with 'random' people that we don't have an established relationship with. I have friends I've known for a decade or more, and we can have conversations about 'controversial' or complex issues like racism, capitalism, whatever, because we are acting as critical friends. That baseline of trust, patience, and compassion is already established. By contrast, talking online through short text messages with pseudonymous people in a (semi-)public setting is a completely different environment, and that baseline often isn't there.
That said, I think there are (at least) two approaches. One is to ask, "how can we make online discussion more civil/... given that discussion partners don't always have those relationships?" Another is to ask, "how can we use the Internet to create new relationships with people, which can then serve as a basis for intimate discussions?" I'm more interested in this second question.
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Comment on A deep, nuanced Tumblr discussion about trans-exclusionary beliefs and how they come to be in ~lgbt
wcerfgba LinkThanks for sharing this, it was a really good read. But I notice that just as in the un-nuanced discussions of TERFs there is that assumption that they aren't feminists, this conversation is doing...Thanks for sharing this, it was a really good read. But I notice that just as in the un-nuanced discussions of TERFs there is that assumption that they aren't feminists, this conversation is doing a similar thing with 'radfem':
One thing i'd add that hasn't been mentioned in the reblog chain i read is that radical feminism is absolutely opposed to prostitution, surrogacy and pornography. eradication of these tools that harm women is a core tenent of radfem theory, and seeing liberal feminists talk about how porn is great and sex work is just any other job is a massive part of the betrayal by mainstream feminism that's been mentioned upthread.
This is not what I thought radical feminism was about. My understanding of the distinction between liberal and radical feminism was that liberal is more focused on legal reforms and creating rights for women, whereas radical is more about critical theory and changing the structure of society. There are, for example, SWERFs -- sex worker exclusionary radical feminists -- but like TERFs they are a minority contingent, not part of the core definition of what radfem is.
Has the consensus changed, or is this a sign that this thread is mostly led by libfems who have an un-nuanced understanding of radfem?
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Comment on Apple TV+ to adapt William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel Neuromancer in ~movies
wcerfgba Link ParentTrue, but I really enjoyed Severance. I guess it depends who the writers/directors are?True, but I really enjoyed Severance. I guess it depends who the writers/directors are?
Y'all are referencing postmodernism a lot, and I'm curious what exactly you mean by that? Especially in the context of identities and fandom?