bonsai_angel's recent activity

  1. Comment on Looking for games that can be played with only the mouse in ~games

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy

    Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (September 2022) in ~health.mental

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    Very happy to be alive. Otherwise, not so good. Terribly alone.

    Very happy to be alive. Otherwise, not so good. Terribly alone.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Why you are lonely and how to make friends in ~life

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    Friend still hasn't called me back, they must be too busy dropping their phone off the edge of the couch and crawling across the floor again https://youtu.be/I9hJ_Rux9y0?t=221

    Friend still hasn't called me back, they must be too busy dropping their phone off the edge of the couch and crawling across the floor again https://youtu.be/I9hJ_Rux9y0?t=221

    2 votes

  4. Comment on How the idea of a “transgender contagion” went viral—and caused untold harm in ~lgbt

    bonsai_angel
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yeah, suggesting a person might have been born with a trait is fine, we're all born with traits. It's just something that is hard to know. And it seems like the legitimacy of being transgender (or...

    Yeah, suggesting a person might have been born with a trait is fine, we're all born with traits. It's just something that is hard to know. And it seems like the legitimacy of being transgender (or gay) often hinges on the idea that you're born a certain way and you can't change it. So if you're not allowed to be who you really are, you might literally die, or be forced to live an abject miserable existence in the wrong body. I guess I want to also recognize that people can make choices to redefine who they are based on culture and society, where there's a risk of "social contagion" and bad ideas. That thought doesn't work for a lot of people politically, because no one is obligated to approve of the life you choose, or support your chosen identity.

    edit: The argument for supporting and affirming transgender people is currently understood as a human rights issue, and not a question of liberty. I'm more interested in what that says about how we value liberty vs human rights than I am about the culture war surrounding trans people.

    edit2: The human rights angle is a big deal when children are the ones transitioning gender. If it's about liberty and you refuse to let your kid take puberty blockers, then you're just being a (good or bad) parent. If it's a human rights issue, then it's child abuse and you should have your kids taken away.

  5. Comment on How the idea of a “transgender contagion” went viral—and caused untold harm in ~lgbt

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    If you don't use the word "contagion" then there's nothing controversial about this idea. You can argue that the modern transgender identity is harmful or empowering, but I don't see how anyone...

    If you don't use the word "contagion" then there's nothing controversial about this idea. You can argue that the modern transgender identity is harmful or empowering, but I don't see how anyone can assume that being trans is something you're born with, and I'm also not sure why being influenced by others to become trans is necessarily undermining what it is to be trans. I guess because it threatens to show transgender identity in a more frivolous light, more like a subculture, more like body modification, or plastic surgery. All of which are permitted in our culture, but they aren't taken seriously.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on Reply All is officially dead. What to listen to now? in ~misc

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    Recommending podcasts is weird. For shows like Reply All that are structured and produced, you can tell someone, "this is a good show", and even if they don't like it they'll at least understand...

    Recommending podcasts is weird. For shows like Reply All that are structured and produced, you can tell someone, "this is a good show", and even if they don't like it they'll at least understand what it is, and agree that it is definitely a show of some kind. But most of the podcasts I like are just people talking to each other about stuff, for hours, with very little structure and low production value. I don't think the parasocial quality is necessarily unhealthy, but it does mean that by recommending a podcast you're sort of recommending a person, and it's hard to know whether someone's personality will click for you. So I'm actually... not going to recommend anything. Except for Reply All. You should download all the old episodes and listen to them again.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on When did you first realize you were different? in ~talk

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    I'm one of those "gifted" kids who ended up being kind of a failure. Life has always been weird and hard.

    I'm one of those "gifted" kids who ended up being kind of a failure. Life has always been weird and hard.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (June 2022) in ~health.mental

    bonsai_angel
    Link
    I dropped a class because it turned out to be more work than I could handle. It was the right choice, but it does make me feel like I belong on disability. No immediate financial problems though....

    I dropped a class because it turned out to be more work than I could handle. It was the right choice, but it does make me feel like I belong on disability. No immediate financial problems though. Just loneliness and soul-searching.

    7 votes