American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing. I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression “paranoid style” I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes. I have neither the competence nor the desire to classify any figures of the past or present as certifiable lunatics. In fact, the idea of the paranoid style as a force in politics would have little contemporary relevance or historical value if it were applied only to men with profoundly disturbed minds. It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.
It’s written at a higher than 6th grade target, so it might be a challenge for anyone who’s not used to that. Please give it a good faith effort to read.
Thinking about it, the low literacy rate in the US might be an aggravating factor. Something like half of US adults cannot read at a 6th grade level. That’s going to hurt their ability to deal with complex topics.
I wrote that bit because when I was reading the linked article, it felt harder to read and understand than what I’m used to. So it wasn’t really coming from malicious elitism.
On the other hand, I want to live in a world where people don’t feel insulted (even when it was by accident, like here!) and just completely stop listening. I know I do it too, but it sucks.
Especially with the “elitism” facet. Sometimes other people actually are better than us on whatever topic. That’s okay. Like if we were talking about math and you were like “This uses some complex algorithms so it might be hard to follow if you haven’t done more than algebra in a few years” I’m not going to be mad. What would I even be mad about?
There are different reading levels, but I don’t know a lot about them because I’m not in education.
You can probably recognize it even if you never thought about it before. “See spot run” or “Green eggs and ham” are very simple texts. Something like “the Great Gatsby” or “the Hobbit” are more complex, and a 2nd grader would struggle to read them even if they technically know how to read.
Technical manuals, works on a specialist topic, or … my knowledge fails me a little here, but like more complicated novels, may be more advanced. More advanced in vocabulary, sentence structure, and things like symbolism, metaphor, or whatever cool shit House of Leaves was doing.
I think this is a sample of a text written at the 6th grade level www.oxfordonlineenglish.com/…/reading . I looked it up when that article about how most adults can’t read and comprehend at that level was going around.
I don’t think we’re really on the same page. Literacy and intelligence aren’t the same thing. But if you take nothing else away from this, I think you got the “higher reading levels are more complex” thing. Maybe.
Also I think you have a typo and one of your can should be can’t
It is very rare for anyone on the internet to apologize or admin fault. Well done. Thank you. I understand your intent and I’m not mad. Apology accepted.
Belief is social. If you’re surrounded by people that all believe a thing, you’re more likely to also believe. If challenged on something that threatens group membership, your brain reacts like it’s a physical threat. Group membership is that important. Facts matter far less.
Is there a way to make it stop recommending weird “step-” stuff? Like, the top page right now (incognito, but I guess it’s possible they fingerprinted my device so it’s not entirely a “new” user)
stepsister
roommate
step sister
step siste
step sister
"i met her in the elevator" - ok at least this one isn’t a family member
step daughter
step sister
"snapchat leak" - ok this is differently gross
"best friend" - sigh fine
thick asian - acceptable
"best friend", again.
step sister and so on.
Everyone I’ve talked to about this hates it, but I guess enough people either like it or click it anyway for it to be the dominant theme.
I think even if you enter in via Google or ddg with “-step”, the porn site itself will probably have them as related (no pun intended) videos and recommended videos. It’s a small complaint certainly.
The bullets I think might be a client thing? They look fine for me. I won’t say I know markdown super well but I use it at work sometimes.
This is one of my biggest peeves in games. Ass Creed Valhalla was really bad about it. Identical looking dudes on opposite sides of a river. One set are pushovers the others are completely lethal. Hate it.
I was going to say something like this but probably less well written.
I’ve definitely had coworkers that I simply do not trust to commit code without review. And there’s one guy who’s a cool dude and all, but all of his ideas seem to be “let’s throw everything out and do it with a different library/language/paradigm”. And I’m just like no please no.
I’ve been on Reddit for over a decade. But I’m done with that site and want to do something else. What do normal people look at on their phones? Is it all social media? Streaming?
When you’re talking to an open source dev, just remember that they are literally giving you their time for free, and they are people who don’t like to be treated poorly....
In our current day and age, it’s rather hard to meet new people and make new friends, particularly for those of us who do not participate in mainstream social media. So, how and where do you meet new people? Feel free to add some context around that.
Would like there to be less stigma around sex work.
As with all work, I want better work protection. Unions. All that.
Specifically, I’m really tired of the “step-” stuff that the major free sites seem to push a lot. I don’t know why it’s trending but I don’t like it.
I think in a couple years ai is going to be good enough to make video, and that’s going to be weird. Like today you can type “big tit redhead” and hope you get results that do it for you, but in the future it’ll probably be able to create results. That will open whole new fronts in ethical debates.
Wondering how much of the Lemmy user base wouldn’t use an adblocker. If you do use one what other blocking do you use to circumvent data collection, YouTube and reddit front ends and things alike?
Lady I used to sit next to at work didn’t use an ad blocker. She also would have like the “do you want to install this plugin?” thing open in her ide for weeks. I don’t know how she did it. She’s a software developer so she’s reasonably tech literate. It just didn’t bother her enough to think about doing something about it.
Does conservatism mean “preserve the way things are”? Things are bad. Things are really bad for a lot of people. Trying to preserve things in such a state is difficult to justify.
Is it “outgroups to bind, in groups to defend”? Well that’s obviously a bad framework.
The common “curse” words like “shit” and “fuck” are pretty impersonal. They can signal an escalation, but are typically pretty minor. They don’t even do that when the speaker is like “I just took a huge shit. Don’t go in there for a while”
Other words, like racial slurs and anti-queer stuff, invoke more history and violence. If someone calls someone an asshole that’s probably not that big a deal. If they call someone a n-word f-gay-slur, there might be a hate crime about to happen.
So I don’t use those words. I don’t want to bring the stuff they import into the scene.
People who are the typical recipients of the slurs using them themselves is a related topic I’m not very qualified to speak on, and I wouldn’t try to police their language.
Are Americans more prone to conspiracy theories than people in other countries?
It’s wild.
ifn't (programming.dev)
The Perfect Solution (programming.dev)
the fuckgraph (mander.xyz)
researchgate.net/…/245634594_Chains_of_Affection_…...
Why in the year 2024 and with all the knowledge humans have now do people still believe in religion?
deleted_by_moderator
[Alzwards Corner] Haha, I'm in danger! (lemmy.world)
Source: Alzwards Corner...
Decentralized [Work Chronicles] (startrek.website)
Website: workchronicles.com/comics/
I wish it need not have happened in my time. (startrek.website)
What do normal people look at on their phones?
I’ve been on Reddit for over a decade. But I’m done with that site and want to do something else. What do normal people look at on their phones? Is it all social media? Streaming?
Don't be that guy. (lemmy.world)
When you’re talking to an open source dev, just remember that they are literally giving you their time for free, and they are people who don’t like to be treated poorly....
How do you meet new people?
In our current day and age, it’s rather hard to meet new people and make new friends, particularly for those of us who do not participate in mainstream social media. So, how and where do you meet new people? Feel free to add some context around that.
18+ What do you think about the porn industry ?
Electric cars: The equivalent of switching from binge drinking whiskey to binge drinking wine. (lemmy.ml)
Who doesn't use an adblocker and why?
Wondering how much of the Lemmy user base wouldn’t use an adblocker. If you do use one what other blocking do you use to circumvent data collection, YouTube and reddit front ends and things alike?
What do you like about liberalism, capitalism and conservatism?
What's the consensus on swearing here
Noticed not many people use curse words....