6 votes

A close reading of Luigi Mangione’s self-help library

4 comments

  1. [2]
    BeanBurrito
    Link
    I've seen about a half dozen of Dr. Huberman's videos and perused his YouTube channel several times. He sticks to health and fitness information. I've never noticed him even mention politics.

    he was interested in right-wing and right-coded figures like Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman

    I've seen about a half dozen of Dr. Huberman's videos and perused his YouTube channel several times. He sticks to health and fitness information. I've never noticed him even mention politics.

    7 votes
    1. Sodliddesu
      Link Parent
      The term "right-coded" seems to be meaning "hocks diet pills and bad health information while trying to sound scientifically correct" which is honestly pretty common is American Right-wing media -...

      The term "right-coded" seems to be meaning "hocks diet pills and bad health information while trying to sound scientifically correct" which is honestly pretty common is American Right-wing media - brain pills and all that.

      You don't have to explicitly mention red vs blue to peddle to them.

      5 votes
  2. [2]
    boxer_dogs_dance
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm posting this partly because when I read the book Flow decades ago, I never associated it with improving performance at work in a way that managers would care about. Flow theory spoke to me...

    I'm posting this partly because when I read the book Flow decades ago, I never associated it with improving performance at work in a way that managers would care about.

    Flow theory spoke to me about how to find hobbies and enjoy them. It felt good to me that an academic was writing about the importance of having fun.

    I'm not sure that this author has much of interest to say about Mangione but I thought the thesis was interesting.

    Especially since the author focuses on Flow but Mangione never read the book.

    6 votes
    1. 611828750722
      Link Parent
      I think this bit was interesting at the very least. It might be oversimplifying it, and obviously everyone has their own biases, but to me he just seems less extreme than most 'normal' American...

      Since Mangione’s arrest, commentators have sought to rationalize his alleged act according to their own political views. As one Reddit user noted, “the American right thinks he’s an antifa terrorist (Ivy, PhD, and reads the Unabomber),” while “the left thinks he’s an entitled tech-bro jock (past praise for Musk and Rogan on X, richest-in-Maryland family, owns nursing home, and attends an Ivy).”

      I think this bit was interesting at the very least.

      It might be oversimplifying it, and obviously everyone has their own biases, but to me he just seems less extreme than most 'normal' American men in their twenties I've hung out with.

      Maybe in other societies he'd be seen as extreme-something, but in the context of America everything I've read about him puts him somewhere in the 'okay to talk to' section of my spectrum. Maybe a bit more intellectually curious, that would be the only thing that stands out.

      I will try and put it another way. I go to America a fair bit, and I have to interact with a lot of straight white American men in this age bracket. I often have to bite my tongue in these situations. What's normal for my country is extreme leftist in America. There are some American men I can talk to, and some I avoid entirely. This man's reading history and social media posts are all kinda green lights to me for 'at least willing to have a chat, even about American flaws, without getting angry/defensive'.

      In other words, he reminds me of a lot of the American people I've gotten along with - we disagree on a lot, we agree on a lot, our cultures are vastly different, but it'll be an interesting talk without getting heated.

      I find it hard to buy into anyone trying to paint him as an extremist when he reminds me of so many friendly American guys I've had nice chats with. If I was to refuse conversation with every American man in their 20s/30s who's listened to Rogan and dabbled in Peterson, I would not be able to talk to anyone.

      11 votes