T w e n t y S i d e d
Den Beste is at it again, this time fencing with some lunatic Castro supporter in a metafilter thread.
The Castro fan is going by the name “Mayor Curley”, and he has some posts that are both shocking and hilarious once you realize he’s dead serious. To simultaneously champion the cause of the little guy and support Castro is quite a mental challenge. I can’t imagine the sheer force of will required to bend one’s thinking unil understanding is so totally at odds with perceptions. This isn’t like trusting flimsy economic data or anecdotal evidence. This isn’t buying into urban legends. This isn’t starting with a false assumption. This is believing that the sky is pink and everyone who claims it to be blue is a mindless brain-washed puppet of The Corporations. He’s not just divorced from reality. No, he divorced reality, then reality got the house, and took out a restraining order against him. His posts would be less alarming if he just wrote “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over and over.
I know I said I try to avoid politics, but I don’t think I’m going to offend anyone here by saying that this guy is screaming, poo-flinging, drooling, howling-at-the-moon, raving, loco insane.
Good luck with that, Steven. And don’t get any on you.
Steam Summer Blues
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My Music
Do you like electronic music? Do you like free stuff? Are you okay with amateur music from someone who's learning? Yes? Because that's what this is.
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Here are four games that could have been much better with just a little more work.
Playstation 3
What was the problem with the Playstation 3 hardware and why did Sony build it that way?
Having read what went down in that thread over night, I’ve invited myself back out of it again.
I really should know better by this point.
I know how hard it is to resist. When someone says something obviously false, it seems so simple. Just step in and point out the inaccuracy. But then as the exchange goes on you see that the inaccuracy is propped up by a false assumption, which is in turn supported by rewritten history, which is in turn the product of total and absolute madness. And then you realize you just spent 500 words and two hours on a lunatic beyond hope.
It’s a trap!
I have the same problem, though I’m getting better at not arguing with freaks. I used to spend a lot of time in the RPGnet forums, especially Tangency, the off-topic section. I found myself arguing with freaks, lunatics, and avowed communists. Eventually I realized that I was wasting my time, so I moved to political blogs and spent my time doing exactly the same thing. I don’t learn, apparently.
“It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into.” –Jonathan Swift
Metafilter seems like a pretty crazy community. It’s even got the low-quality conspiracy-theory style webdesign. All it needs are low-res occultic symbol gifs strewn about and lots of advertisements for Wicca/Dianetics books.
I, too, tend to waste a lot of time browsing and occasionally posting in forums. It’s a bad habit but one I’ve been getting better at restraining. I often find myself with a browser window open and a reply ready, but then deciding that the peace of mind of not getting involved is more worthwhile than the potential worth of persuading a nutcase. I delete what I’ve written and close the window. Crisis averted.
I discovered a solution for exactly this problem.
For some reason, the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) forums attract a huge number and variety of nutcases. In one instance, I was trying to explain to a follower of homeopathy why his beliefs were invalid. In response to my careful explanations, I got long lists of questions seeking a scientific foundation for his beliefs, every single one of them based on false assumptions, expressed in fractured grammar, and leading nowhere.
I replied, in full, “No”. Which was every bit as effective as my previous attempts (i.e. not at all), but required far less of my time.
Now JREF has a little smiley holding up a sign saying “No” in honor of that day. :)
Well, I’m not terribly enamored of capitalism, either, but yeah. That guy’s nuts.
“It’s a trap”?
Admiral Ackbar?