Grzmot's recent activity

  1. Comment on Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells in ~society

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    I recently met an Iranian woman who emigrated 10 years ago but was a pro-democracy activist. I was not aware of there being a pro-monarchy crowd at all, and she informed me that when it comes to...
    • Exemplary

    I recently met an Iranian woman who emigrated 10 years ago but was a pro-democracy activist. I was not aware of there being a pro-monarchy crowd at all, and she informed me that when it comes to the opposition to the regime, right now the pro-monarchy people are the loudest. According to her, they are numerically the minority, but are leading the protests right now.

    It makes her very sad, because it replaces one despot with another.

    5 votes

  2. Comment on Far Cry 5 | When gameplay and story fundamentally oppose each other in ~games

    Grzmot
    Link
    If it isn't clear because my Youtube account has a different name: This is my video. Far Cry 5 (FC5) is a game that has haunted me for a long time. 8 years ago, while sitting in a boring lecture...

    If it isn't clear because my Youtube account has a different name: This is my video.

    Far Cry 5 (FC5) is a game that has haunted me for a long time. 8 years ago, while sitting in a boring lecture and reeling from having recently played it for the first time, I wrote a rant here on Tildes about this game that flowed easily from my finger tips, even if it may be tough to read and so specific it sparked no discussion. No harm done, really. Some time later during Covid, I found myself in one of those late night online discussions and somehow we ventured into the topic of this game and I began ranting with such vigor that it took me about 40 minutes to finish. A friend in the discussion literally left their chair, went to the toilet, grabbed a drink and returned 10 minutes later and I didn't even notice and was still going.

    I'm now out of university, my life is quite different, and it's been 10 years since I've played it for the first time. Indirectly, FC5 is one of the reasons I try to engage with media on a deeper level now, simply because of abysmally dogshit the story is. I've begun learning the complicated skill of video editing, and have found essay writing and editing to be a fulfilling hobby. I'm not looking to turn it into a job, because I am not interested in having Google and Youtube's recommendation algorithm become my new masters. To be this is purely my own creative expression, and while I strive to improve with every video, I don't want to make them differently to have broader appeal. If they change, it's because I want to. This is my stuff, and I'm proud of it.

    In a way, despite it's absolutely terrible messaging, FC5 is responsible for that. Maybe I would've found my way towards this hobby without it too, but I think it would've been much later. Either way, I owe a strange thanks to this piece of art, no matter how despicable its message might be.

    Thank you for watching.

    11 votes

  4. Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    Just to affirm, rehabilitation being the main goal of a justice system was my opinion already when I wrote the original comment. I just didn't apply my own worldview and sought a bandaid solution...

    Just to affirm, rehabilitation being the main goal of a justice system was my opinion already when I wrote the original comment. I just didn't apply my own worldview and sought a bandaid solution for a specific and also incredibly rare problem, which, like you correctly point out, wouldn't be a problem if the focus was not for prisons to just be concrete boxes where people wait out their sentences, but actual facilities where the state pays great care to its inhabitants and also prepares them for when their sentence eventually ends and they are released back into society.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society

    Grzmot
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    And I genuinely appreciate you asking this question, because it has broadened my horizon! It would be a lie to say that I was thinking of anyone else but trans people when I wrote my original...

    And I genuinely appreciate you asking this question, because it has broadened my horizon! It would be a lie to say that I was thinking of anyone else but trans people when I wrote my original comment, which is absolutely not okay.

    Prison in general is a terrible place and I think too many people think that because it is a punishment, we don't need to care for prisoners, especially in the US, but really in a lot of places outside of Scandinavia, where the states have taken the correct path and focus on rehabilitating criminals into society rather than punishing them and then also brandmarking them forever.

    Rehabilitation always beats punishment and should be the main goal of any justice system not just because it is more humane, but also because it's just better for society in the long run, and to rehabilitate people they need to feel safe. But you're right that I could have been smarter and poked it from the same perspective that you have, but I appreciate that you wrote your comment, because you have made me wiser.

    8 votes

  6. Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    This one pains me still, because these things will keep happening, and do each case justice, probably require individual review by the authorities to decide where a person should be placed to...

    Gender Recognition Reform in Scotland was passed in 2022, leading to stronger self-identification privileges for trans people. It was quickly abused by Adam Graham / Isla Bryson, a convicted serial rapist, who demanded and was allowed to serve his/her sentence in a women's prison.

    This one pains me still, because these things will keep happening, and do each case justice, probably require individual review by the authorities to decide where a person should be placed to serve their sentence. That being said, Bryson was isolated in the women's prison and afaik despite TERFs summoning this banshee to limit people's gender expressions legally, this has not lead to anything bad. I do think keeping people that have been convincted of sexual crimes against women out of women's prisons is probably a good idea.

    9 votes

  7. Comment on Looking for Backroom games with something to do in them other than walking in ~games

    Grzmot
    Link
    Could you define, what a Backroom game is? Is that in reference to the backrooms creepypasta?

    Could you define, what a Backroom game is? Is that in reference to the backrooms creepypasta?

    5 votes

  8. Comment on Exposing YouTube sponsor "Honey" Part 3: Suppressing stand down in ~tech

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    Oh no! Sorry! This is what happens when I late night post

    Oh no! Sorry! This is what happens when I late night post

    6 votes

  9. Comment on Exposing YouTube sponsor "Honey" Part 3: Suppressing stand down in ~tech

    Grzmot
    Link
    As promised by MegaLag, here is part 3 out of ? of the Honey journey, where he journeys into the code to describe how the extension selectively suppresses "standing down", a feature of coupon...

    As promised by MegaLag, here is part 3 out of ? of the Honey journey, where he journeys into the code to describe how the extension selectively suppresses "standing down", a feature of coupon hunting extensions where they stand down and do nothing if the user has clicked on an affliate link so the money goes where it belongs.

    8 votes

  11. Comment on When we get komooted in ~society

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    I think (informed) people are extremely wary of start-ups trying to establish platforms, because that's all that anyone nowadays seemingly wants to do. Be the place where everyone goes and then...

    This is sort like saying that, because all the content on Tildes comes from the community, Deimos didn't really do anything. I think that goes too far? Building and maintaining the infrastructure is important.

    I think (informed) people are extremely wary of start-ups trying to establish platforms, because that's all that anyone nowadays seemingly wants to do. Be the place where everyone goes and then just skim off the top without really doing anything. This becomes problematic when the platform's goals do not align with the goals of the users. Take Tinder, or another swipe-based dating platform, they're all owned by the same group anyway. That's a platform that everyone uses and still hates, and it's actively making society worse because its goal is to keep users on the platform, and thus dating, while the users want to stop dating and find a partner in the shortest amount of time.

    8 votes

  12. Comment on You’re 16. You’re a pedophile. You don’t want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? in ~life

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    That's also how I read it. This makes sense because most conventional pornography is made to be consumed by cis men, and is very much so shot in the way where the viewers put themselves in the...

    My first thought, though, was that they had meant not to identify with the perpetrators in pornography, but instead to identify with the victims.

    That's also how I read it. This makes sense because most conventional pornography is made to be consumed by cis men, and is very much so shot in the way where the viewers put themselves in the shoes of the male performer. Even framing that isn't a direct point of view from the male actor, he is essentially a replacable puppet.

    In the context of child sexual abuse material, it's even more important to identify with the victim. People not aroused by it are going to do this naturally, but I imagine that's why the therapist suggests it as a strategy. Instead of the pedophile focusing on the arousal, they focus on the empathy for the victim.

    But I guess I don't understand how sexual and pornographic addiction works. Does empathy not influence the urges?

    Layman opinion; but any addiction is an escape from something. That's why you can get addicted to everything, not just drugs, but even behaviors. Eventually, the addiction might even become self-reinforcing: You're killing the shame that you've fallen this low by taking drugs/doing something with another high.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on You’re 16. You’re a pedophile. You don’t want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? in ~life

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    The people described in this piece are far away from hurting someone, beyond downloading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and viewing it, which, if it happens over peer-to-peer networks,...

    The people described in this piece are far away from hurting someone, beyond downloading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and viewing it, which, if it happens over peer-to-peer networks, implicates you because you also become a host from which others can download CSAM from.

    I do like the parallel you draw to pilots here. It's a less fucked up, but similarly problematic situation. A commercial pilot's license is around 100k, and many who get this education and enter this career do so because it's a lifelong dream. Getting kicked out because you did the right thing and admit to having issues you need help with, is a terrible fate. It blocks you from a good career, throws you into dire economic circumstances at a time you need help, and also stops you from following your dream.

    12 votes

  14. Comment on You’re 16. You’re a pedophile. You don’t want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? in ~life

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    I think there's a unique concoction of shame involved here, though. Yes, pedophiles aren't rampaging monsters who's humanity holds them back until they snap and grab the nearest child, But we're...

    I think there's a unique concoction of shame involved here, though. Yes, pedophiles aren't rampaging monsters who's humanity holds them back until they snap and grab the nearest child, But we're also systematically depriving them of professional help that I think will set a few on such a path.

    They are individuals with agency and I'm not absolving them of that, but there's something corrosive about growing up with this, not wanting to do any harm and literally everyone else expecting you to. The easiest way to break a person is to wrong them when they want to do good in particular.

    13 votes

  15. Comment on You’re 16. You’re a pedophile. You don’t want to hurt anyone. What do you do now? in ~life

    Grzmot
    Link
    This is a more than decade old article that I read at the time of publication when someone posted it on reddit. I bookmarked it; as this was a period of my life where I saved really good articles...
    • Exemplary

    This is a more than decade old article that I read at the time of publication when someone posted it on reddit. I bookmarked it; as this was a period of my life where I saved really good articles for future re-reading. I recently delved into my bookmarks looking for something else entirely, and re-discovered this thing. My first reaction was shock, my second was shame; I instinctively imagined what someone else would think of me if they saw this thing in my bookmarks.

    Curiosity won though, and I re-read the article. It's a good one, and given it's age, it also made me wonder where the subjects of it are by now. The researcher was easy to find, and it seems she still leads the center of child abuse prevention. But I wonder about the rest, too. Soon it's going to be 12 years.

    20 votes

  17. Comment on The drug that taught me how much I should suffer in ~health

    Grzmot
    Link
    I've had this thread and article in my tabs for weeks, but only got around to reading it now. It's a really fantastic piece of writing, a wonderful observation brought across in a digestible...

    I've had this thread and article in my tabs for weeks, but only got around to reading it now. It's a really fantastic piece of writing, a wonderful observation brought across in a digestible format.

    I really wish I had more to say on this, but there's nothing to critique here. The lessons are all correct, the only thing is that sometimes, unforseen circumstances can fuck you over even after you've gone through your gauntlet of suffering. We are the captains of our own destiny, but the first officer is still life.

    Thank you for sharing this.

    6 votes

  18. Comment on Exposing the YouTube sponsor "Honey" Part 2: Stealing private coupon codes, extreme data harvesting, and more in ~tech

    Grzmot
    Link
    This is part 2 of MegaLag's earlier video that made big waves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk I editorialized the title because as a creator MegaLag is unfortunately beholden to the...

    This is part 2 of MegaLag's earlier video that made big waves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc4yL3YTwWk

    I editorialized the title because as a creator MegaLag is unfortunately beholden to the Algorithm™, which includes his choice of thumbnail, which we are luckily spared here. However the video is in-depth, and is not edited in the sensationalist style the thumbnail and title would led you to believe.

    That being said, I respect the man for dropping part 1 a year ago, going silent since then and just now releasing part 2.

    17 votes

  20. Comment on Vince Zampella killed in Ferrari crash in ~games

    Grzmot
    Link Parent
    Yeah absolutely. Apparently Zampella was an avid car enthusiast with racing track experience, but the video makes it seem like exactly what you describe. A gross miscalculation in a car and with...

    Yeah absolutely. Apparently Zampella was an avid car enthusiast with racing track experience, but the video makes it seem like exactly what you describe. A gross miscalculation in a car and with speed that permits none.

    4 votes