AnarchistArtificer

I'm increasingly convinced that being rich in general seems to be toxic for the soul. I went to a university that tends to draw a lot of rich and influential people, and I have a striking memory of talking to a posh girl at a party once. She was deeply lonely, and lamented that all of the people in her "social class" were assholes, but they also felt like the only safe people to be close to, because everyone else were suckups and sycophants. I got the sense that she was someone super important, but that the conversation was only happening because I had no idea who she was (I wouldn't be surprised if she was a princess or something).

I'm also reminded of an article by Abigail Disney a while back, that explained how the rich are taught from a young age that they must protect their dynastic wealth. It's quite a tragic thought to me, as someone who grew up in poverty, that even the rich seem to live their lives subordinate to money.

You're comparing between different sample pools, which matters when we're talking about probability adjacent stuff. We're not asking "from this large pool of people at an airport, who is likely to receive additional scrutiny?" Because of this, your comment about how you've seen people of all backgrounds get scanned isn't relevant to OP's point.

The scope we're looking at is the pool of experiences across one person's trips. Imagine if it was every time that you got stopped for additional checks at an airport, even when you couldn't see any mistakes that you had made. If you get checked because your keys triggered the sensors, then that's a mistake that you can learn from, but consider how it would feel if you meticulously complied with everything you were meant to do, but were still consistently pulled aside for additional checks.

I know that on the internet, you never know whether someone is being hyperbolic, or straight up spinning a yarn, but try to take OP on faith here and consider how dismissive your comment comes across. I don't know OP's particular circumstances, but I have previously made a comment similar to yours to a friend, who called me out on being an asshole. Back then, I was oblivious to the reality of these things.

My friend explained that the first time they were pulled aside for additional checks, they opted to believe that it was just a random thing. The second time, they felt more uneasy, but actively resisted the "victim mentality" (their words). By the 20th time, they had come to expect it as inevitable, and that no change to how they packed, or what they wore would change things. They desperately wanted to believe that they weren't being targeted for additional searches, but after a certain point, it becomes impossible to believe that these things are random.

A facet of Scientism, as I understand it, is a sort of hero worship of "Great" scientists. Part of this is because it's easier for us to build a narrative of history if we focus on key figure, but that's antithetical to how science actually works. It neglects the importance of the wider scientific "ecosystem", which includes mechanisms of peer review, academic teaching and learning etc.

I've known people who were pretty prominent academics, who got some of their best ideas from random places, like hanging out in a bar with academics from outside their field. But a good idea on its own matters very little: science, in practice, works on a foundation of trust and community, and basically any research has an entire team of people behind it.

I have no doubt that the scientist mentioned in the headline is exceptional at her job, but by presenting her as the scientist who is working on this presents an inaccurate perspective of how these things actually work. I see why the headline chose to present her as more essential than she likely is, but as it seems to for the person you're replying to, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth

I find Scientism concerning because I am a scientist who is quite concerned by the gap between actual science, and how people use science-shaped rhetoric. An example of this is how in the UK, during COVID, the government repeatedly claimed they were "following the science", despite many of their policies being completely contrary to what the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) had recommended.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the scientific method — I wouldn't be a scientist otherwise. But writing news headlines about the achievements of scientists exists beyond science. Being opposed to Scientism isn't being opposed to the scientific method. Rather, it's more like acknowledging that science isn't a universal tool for solving all ills. Personally, being against Scientism also means being against the weird way we put science, and scientists on a pedestal. I understand the sentiment (and hell, I'm probably a scientist in part because a younger me was chasing that pedestal), but I think it's probably harmful long term — both to society and to science

Edit: fixed grammar

"Just thought someone going to the trouble making this is cringey."

I gotta disagree with you on this one; I'm a huge fan of what I call "high effort shitposts". I think the effort is charmingly absurdist

I found myself thinking "this dude seems autistic", and I felt guilty for such a thought, because being autistic myself doesn't render me immune from projecting problematic notions onto other people (autistic or otherwise). However, my thoughts went there because I've seen this kind of single minded obsessiveness manifest for good or for ill across many different people.

I remember one time discussing the grim state of the world with a friend, who quipped "man, I'm glad I'm autistic, because I'd have probably topped myself if I didn't get this level of obsessive joy from my train set". Similarly, I have friends who have made their special interests into their career (which certainly can go wrong, due to inability to "switch off", and decreased life compartmentalisation). It is sometimes hard to find a healthy balance when some people genuinely do thrive in revelling in their obsessions.

As it turns out, the dude in the article is autistic — it sounds like maybe the diagnosis happened after this incident, so at least something good came of this. Maybe it's a pipe dream, given that support for adults with autism can be pretty grim, but I hope he's able to find the support to chase his passion in a manner that's healthy and fulfilling for him. My nerdy interests have never driven me to things like arson, but that doesn't mean I don't relate to that level of intensity

I had a similar experience. The video that helped me had pretty poor video quality compared to some of the other results, so I only turned to it when I was burnt out from basically every other video being useless for my task. Props to all the Indian educational YouTubers

Ah yes, because the rest of the world is so great at responding to online mis/disinformation.

I already have it in a virtual machine: the past ✨

I can see why the French right love her so much, given that the right wing do a lot of "rules for thee, but not for me"

I feel like there's a joke in here about Linux users propensity to distrohop being like a ritual reenactment of switching to Linux for the first time (without having to defile one's computer with Windows again)

Okay, but consider that the ultra-rich technofascists are a group that has had a disproportionate impact on the continued pillaging of the climate. They aren't just opportunists wanting to make the most of the fragments of society that will remain after climate disaster, but people who have been working to bring that scenario into fruition because it's profitable in the short term whilst positioning them to take even more power.

I cannot emphasise enough that they want this, and that this ideology goes further back than the current wave of them. The reality of climate change is unfathomably dire, but I hope you understand why it's necessary to resist these people as part of whatever climate resilience we can build. I'll probably be dead before shit really hits the fan, climate-wise, so my goal is to do whatever I can to support the people who come after me. If those techno-assholes are allowed to inherit the fragments of society, the entire planet is even more fucked