"That seems plausible to me; it’s the ‘spiritual but not religious’ types to tend to adopt wacky beliefs, while atheists tend to be resistant to everything."
It's the dogmatic aspect of these belief systems, either atheistic or theistic. They shutter the mind (by the way, this is generally a good thing!) to superstition and fuzzy vague pseudo-spiritual beliefs - now if you don't mind I need to get my chakras re-energised followed by an intense session of reiki.
I have autism so that part about the spooners hit a little close to home for me haha. It's a very disabling condition, causing all sorts of problems in my life (can't drive, can't hold a 9 to 5 job, etc.), but in the past decade there has been this absolute tidal wave of people diagnosing themselves with it or going to clinician after clinician until they are told what they want to hear, and then declaring themselves the "autistic community" even though there's nothing clinically wrong with them and their autism amounts to things like "nervous when speaking publicly" (it's never the "sometimes forget to bathe for a month" variety of autism). These people are like 99.99% female and get angrily defensive about any criticism of self-diagnosis.
I am always mindful of my favorite quote from Terry Pratchett via one of his major characters: if it's personal, it ain't important.
Regarding internet phenomenas, what I've noticed is that the internet allows people to see isolated problems as being far more common than they really are, and then they start adapting themselves to that problem out of fellowship, which in turn gives off the impression the problem is more real than it really is.
I sat here trying to think of pithy word plays on Western values (and obviously ‘value adds’, because it’s kind of bonus content) before questioning my life choices and abandoning the enterprise 🙄
"That seems plausible to me; it’s the ‘spiritual but not religious’ types to tend to adopt wacky beliefs, while atheists tend to be resistant to everything."
It's the dogmatic aspect of these belief systems, either atheistic or theistic. They shutter the mind (by the way, this is generally a good thing!) to superstition and fuzzy vague pseudo-spiritual beliefs - now if you don't mind I need to get my chakras re-energised followed by an intense session of reiki.
I have autism so that part about the spooners hit a little close to home for me haha. It's a very disabling condition, causing all sorts of problems in my life (can't drive, can't hold a 9 to 5 job, etc.), but in the past decade there has been this absolute tidal wave of people diagnosing themselves with it or going to clinician after clinician until they are told what they want to hear, and then declaring themselves the "autistic community" even though there's nothing clinically wrong with them and their autism amounts to things like "nervous when speaking publicly" (it's never the "sometimes forget to bathe for a month" variety of autism). These people are like 99.99% female and get angrily defensive about any criticism of self-diagnosis.
Good piece on it over at Quillette: https://quillette.com/2021/08/03/when-youre-diagnosed-with-autism-by-tiktok/
New one for the next Sunday West, Ed: Matt Goodwin on the Zoomers.
https://substack.com/inbox/post/72397783
We're absolutely fucked as a nation. Enjoy.
Westworld
Wild Wild West
InterWESTing Reads
West in Show
Saving the West for Last
Great name.
I am always mindful of my favorite quote from Terry Pratchett via one of his major characters: if it's personal, it ain't important.
Regarding internet phenomenas, what I've noticed is that the internet allows people to see isolated problems as being far more common than they really are, and then they start adapting themselves to that problem out of fellowship, which in turn gives off the impression the problem is more real than it really is.
I sat here trying to think of pithy word plays on Western values (and obviously ‘value adds’, because it’s kind of bonus content) before questioning my life choices and abandoning the enterprise 🙄