You've never touched a book outside of fucking kindergarten, yet you think you know more of communism than me, a fucking communist? Do you think im a baffoon?

  • hypercracker
    ·
    2 months ago

    I think a big contributing factor is the articles they read are written in a way to make them feel as though they are "intellectually grappling with" the material and developing "nuance" when really it was just a bunch of keys jangling in front of their face. I read a really good essay at one point about how Scott Alexander (the last psychiatrist guy) structures his essays in this way to make you feel as though you're being really thoughtful while not doing any thinking whatsoever. Malcolm Gladwell also has this style. This is a deep cut but it reminds me of this silicon valley triumphalist tweet from 2015:

    Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

    Something interesting is happening.

    It's all in the end line. "Something interesting is happening" - that is the ultimate vibe of the liberal article. What is interesting about it? What is a tangible conclusion? It just throws a bunch of phenomena at you then does not actually analyze it. But because you learned of all these disparate phenomena then drew conceptual similarities between them you have done a thought. Libs learn that this is what public intellectualism looks like.

    • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I read a really good essay at one point about how Scott Alexander (the last psychiatrist guy) structures his essays in this way to make you feel as though you're being really thoughtful while not doing any thinking whatsoever.

      This is like when freeze-gamers feel smart after finishing a video game puzzle that was specifically curated to be solved and make them feel smart lol.

      Maybe even lower than gamer mentality.

      • hypercracker
        ·
        2 months ago

        Every time I solve a particularly difficult puzzle in a video game, before I start feeling too big for my britches I remind myself that the hard part of puzzle design is making puzzles that are easy enough to be solved.

      • AndJusticeForAll [none/use name]
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah, exactly! They complain about "hand holding" in games as if non-verbal game design directions aren't the same thing but without words.

        • AndJusticeForAll [none/use name]
          ·
          2 months ago

          If they play a game that's not player-centric in its design they complain with "it's objectively bad game design" or "it's not fair, and thus bad".

    • miz [any, any]
      ·
      2 months ago

      reminds me of this line from fancy lad's polemic against The Economist

      Here, then, is the problem with the magazine: readers are consistently given the impression, regardless of whether it is true, that unrestricted free market capitalism is a Thoroughly Good Thing, and that sensible and pragmatic British intellectuals have vouched for this position. The nuances are erased, reality is fudged, and The Economist helps its American readers pretend to have read books by telling them things that the books don’t actually say.

      How The Economist Thinks | Current Affairs

    • VILenin [he/him]M
      ·
      2 months ago

      Liberals are experts at aping the mannerisms of intellectualism without any of the substance

    • UlyssesT
      ·
      22 hours ago

      deleted by creator

    • gramxi [they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Adam Curtis voiceover:

      Something interesting is happening

      • hypercracker
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah Adam Curtis docs are an example of this unfortunately, even though people here like them for the vibe. One time I watched hypernormalization and felt blown away, then I tried to explain it to a friend and realized I could not identify any actual thesis from the film.