mechanosapience | (no subject)

(no subject)

A strange thing happened. I think I might have witnessed someone confronted with the fact that her beliefs and ideology is ultimately selfish and her attempts to justify are intellectually lacking. I'm not sure what, if anything will happen. I don't know her very well (I follow a community she moderates), but she seems okay. She reminds me a little of Mytheos. I hope she responds by realizing how selfish her beliefs are, but I suspect that she's probably gone into a sort of lockdown echo chamber in her head. Who knows... Either way, best of luck

bluetooth16

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I am not sure what you and this person talked about, nor do I know how intellectually justified her ideas were, so I won't comment on that. However, I do have to wonder where you get off criticizing people for having selfish political beliefs. That seems to describe the entirety of the political spectrum, not just Republicans. Moreover, I will remind you that one reason you originally started drifting back toward the Left was because you were worried about Republicans cutting Federal Grants for your branch of scientific inquiry. That seems to be at least a self-interested reason for doing something, though I won't insult you by suggesting that you have no intellectual reasons for going back toward the Left.

I wasn't criticizing her for having a selfish ideology. It's more that she needs to justify this to herself. She can't accept the notion that her views are based on self-interest. Also, I'm surprised that you're not still in denial about my shift back left. It seemed like whenever politics came up, you kept trying to convince me that I was a neocon. I hope you aren't insulted by my comparison. All I meant was that you are both highly intelligent and oddball young Republicans (and not in the no-standards-younger-than-40 way). This was not meant to be a pointed comment.

Ah, yes, I see what you mean. That sort of lack of self-awareness is regrettable, though also by no means confined to the Right. Although I have come to the conclusion that a little self-deception is part of human nature, especially politically.

On that note, I no longer consider you a neocon. I think that, if nothing else, the influence of Political ONTD has made that designation impossible for you (speaking of, for the love of God, read something else to balance it out). I do think that, if I had to pick a friend who would become a neocon twenty years down the line, I'd put you on the list tentatively, but that's the end of it. I just hope that your brief stint on the right has made you able to understand our ideas, rather than dismiss them. No, I am not insulted by your comparison. In fact, I'm flattered by your qualification of it.

I admit, in terms of number of contributors, ONTD_P does have a liberal bias, but there are enough conservatives who speak up frequently enough that one can get the conservative take on things if one looks. Speaking of, what left-leaning media source do you patronize for the sake of balance?

Dude, I watch the fucking "Daily Show" and I go to school on a campus full of prospective left-leaning media sources.

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