But how can I hear “diverse opinion” if X opinions are banned/blocked/moderated in the first place?
There is no space where all opinions are welcome. It simply does not exist. Some opinions are going to force out others.
If you run a space where Nazi opinions are okay to speak, you can't really expect to hear Jewish opinions. Or opinions of PoC or queer people or disabled people and so on and so on.
So most places do the calculations. You can ban this one view. And in return an entire spectrum of views becomes more welcome.
Bigotry is a painfully simple, painfully shallow, and painfully boring viewpoint. It is almost completely one-dimensional, simplifiable to the idea that the "other" is inferior or dangerous and is to be shunned or feared. It is a viewpoint that we all already know, one we have all already heard. Banning it loses us almost nothing, and in return we gain so, so many more valuable insights.
🇬🇧 The failed cover-up of the EU Commission's anti-encryption group shows: #Chatcontrol is the product of the lobby of an international intelligence-industrial complex. Netzpolitik.org reports (in German): https://netzpolitik.org/2023/geheime-liste-wie-der-sicherheitsapparat-die-chatkontrolle-praegt/
@actuallyautistic @neurodivergents
In case this helps anyone, here's one of my best Autistic hacks for dealing with intrusive thoughts and anxiety spirals. ( This works for me because I'm by myself a lot.)
When the thought spiralling starts, I choose a mildly complex subject that interests me, and explain it out loud. Over and over again, trying to get the explanation as clear as possible.
I do this when I go for a walk, when I'm driving, or just pacing at home.
Topics that work for me: how binary numbers work in comparison to decimal numbers, the rules of a board game, the various ebook formats and how they compare, the motivations of characters in a book I'm enjoying, the best way to introduce a new rat to an established group of rats, how to set up an aquarium, and so on.
Apart from soothing my brain, it also helps me to assert this behavior as normal for me, where previously I was hyper aware how others might judge it as weird.
A new acronym that just muscled its way into my head: MOLaR
Megaproject
Of
Last
Resort
Action films are chock full of MOLaRs:
- Shuttles in Armageddon
- Jaegers in Pacific Rim
- Nuclear Sun Rebooter Spacecraft in Sunshine
- Magma Doom Trains in The Core
- etc.
A lot of #geoengineering proposals also have a MOLaR vibe to them.
I wanted to share a part of a recent conversation I had which triggered my old defense mechanism related to often being put in situations where the expectation is that I adhere to any line of questioning, and rarely consensually, in order to be “understood” and in turn validated by others
So much harm can be inflicted because “you just want to understand”
Matrix spec stuff
I've written an MSC that should, if it gets approved, make the review and approval process for #Matrix spec changes *much* faster and less painful than it is today: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/4073
Review comments are welcome - do make sure to stay constructive in your comments, and follow the usual review process! In particular, try to avoid 'peanut gallery'-style commentary.
At the risk of opening Pandora's discourse I am so curious what people think the ideal, landlord-free system of commercial real estate looks like. Does the state use tax revenue to allocate office & manufacturing space to corporations for free? Should businesses need to purchase an entire building in order to operate? Are banks considered landlords for profiting off of mortgage income or no? If condos, are their fees a mutual aid scheme or extractive rent-seeking evil? https://dads.cool/@alex/111369160655657656
One of the best feelings in the world is to find someone thinking about exactly the same things as you at exactly the same time but further along. Then you get to see into the future, only its a different future where you are also a different person that can see the problem in a different way than you can. It seems like the healthy response is to want to talk to that person and hear what they think and tell them what you think, since you are both thinking about the same things.
How sad is it that many of our friends in academia feel exactly the opposite: you need to constantly be watching out for someone thinking about the same things as you to beat them, cut them down, or coopt them. The last thing you would do is talk to them, because they might "steal" your precious ideas.
The prestige cult is depressing, and if that's an inroad to help our colleagues help themselves to not do DoD supersoldier research or pay for another RELX/ICE surveillance apparatus it seems worth taking
In the process of moving to @joepie91. This account will stay active for the foreseeable future! But please also follow the other one.
Technical debt collector and general hype-hater. Early 30s, non-binary, ND, poly, relationship anarchist, generally queer.
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- The devil doesn't need an advocate; no combative arguing in my mentions.
Sometimes horny on main (behind CW), very much into kink (bondage, freeuse, CNC, and other stuff), and believe it or not, very much a submissive bottom :p
My spoons are limited, so I may not always have the energy to respond to messages.
Strong views about abolishing oppression, hierarchy, agency, and self-governance - but I also trust people by default and give them room to grow, unless they give me reason not to. That all also applies to technology and how it's built.