
"Most smart people I know have decided to just not discuss anything sensitive" - randomname2
https://twitter.com/sama/status/610494268151431168
======
Nadya
>.@sama when you said "smart people," did you mean "people in positions of
privilege, esp. white dudes"? bc it's p cool if y'all shut up tbh

This person managed to not only be the exact type of person Sama mentions, but
also classist, racist and sexist at the same time.

But if I pointed that out outside of a pseudonym I'd probably lose my job for
pointing out that _yes_ , it is possible to be racist against white people
(and sexist towards men).

Redefining the words to somehow exclude your viewpoints isn't how the world
(should) work - but is increasingly becoming so.

There is an entire group of extreme leftists who hate "white males" by
default. Because they've somehow reasoned to themselves that white males
_chose_ to be born that way and it is impossible to be racist or sexist
towards them based on how they were _born_.

I have no idea the mental hurdles they jump over to reason about their
beliefs.

~~~
caseydurfee
Well, since you're not discussing things with an actual person, but the
ludicrous one dimensional straw man version of an "extreme leftist" that only
lives inside your own head, you're just congratulating yourself over having
constructed an absurd caricature, not actually winning an argument here. Are
you aware of that?

If so, it might be useful for you to think about why you gain
pleasure/satisfaction from constructing an idiotic parody of others' beliefs
that you can bat about your own head. What purpose does it serve for you?

The tweet you quote is saying something about privilege - how is it "classist,
racist and sexist at the same time"? What do you believe is inaccurate about
the assertion relative to privilege? Do you believe that white men don't (in
aggregate) have more privilege than other groups of people? Or do you believe
that privilege doesn't color the way people see the world?

What evidence do you have that "extreme leftists" (actual people, not
ludicrous self-invented caricatures) believe that "white males chose to be
born that way" and thus "it is impossible to racist or sexist towards them"?
I'm not an "extreme leftist" but one of the most common things I hear from
leftists is that "patriarchy hurts men too."

~~~
ebfe
He's quoting an actual person. It's the first response to the tweet.

~~~
Nadya
Nadya is a feminine name meaning "Hope" in Russian.

Not that gender is important online - I prefer not to disclose it. I just find
it funny you assumed I am a he, regardless of my username implying otherwise.

------
randomname2
Paraphrased due to 80 character limit. The full quote is:

"Most smart people I know have decided to just not discuss anything sensitive
because of the internet lynchmob looking for any slight mistake.

This seems unlikely to be a good development. At some point the conversations
will only have the extremists left."

------
itg
Unfortunately these internet lynch mobs are spilling out to the real world
where you can't even make jokes or hold viewpoints that are not approved by
the Internet Hug Box Mob. See Seinfeld, Tim Hunt, or the Strange Loop mess.

~~~
retrogradeorbit
What's this mess around Strange Loop? Do you have any links I can read?

~~~
vmorgulis
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9674992](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9674992)

------
jbandela1
I have been thinking about this for a while. This lead me to create
[https://www.spqrs.com](https://www.spqrs.com)

This is basically anonymous twitter where everybody has a generated pseudonym
instead of a username. You can follow users, and in addition can follow
topics.

If you are interested in trying it out, you can get a signup code at
[https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?c=cart;i=1436036;cl=296...](https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?c=cart;i=1436036;cl=296496;ejc=2)

(I have about 90 codes left out of the initial batch)

At the checkout enter discount code JRBFREEDOM to get the code for free.

------
randomname2
Yesterday on Twitter, Jason Calacanis had an interesting (if arguably
inflammatory) explanation for this:

"Looking for explanations of bizarre behavior online (#RachelDolezal, trolls,
gamergate, SJW)? two #s: 4.1% & 58.7%. I don't look for explanations of
bizarre behavior any more... there are many sick people out there & they are
drawn to social media."

Where 4.7% is the prevalence of severe mental illness and 58.7% is the
percentage that is in treatment.

And to be fair, the behavior of the most vocal online extremists overlaps to a
large degree with that of people with Cluster B personality disorders.

------
chetanahuja
Hah.. this thread will show a very interesting phenomenon. By definition,
anybody commenting here is not a smart person (oops.. what have I done ;-) )

------
ebfe
I wish I was oppressed enough to have the power to get people fired for saying
things I disagree with.

------
paulhauggis
It's true. I won't discuss anything sensitive online. All of my friends have
political battles online through Facebook and it will only hurt their future
job prospects. Many, many people have been fired over silly comments on
Facebook (read: having an opinion that makes special-interest groups, and in
some cases, people with mental problems, angry).

1984 is here and it's ourselves. We truly don't have the freedom of speech
when just stating your opinion gets you fired, your business destroyed, or
your personal life attacked.

We are also giving power to anyone and everyone that wants it. If I wanted to
get someone fired, I could easily dig through their personal info and get a
twitter mob online to protest their employer.

It works every time because businesses don't want the bad PR and the media
just wants to continue on with the same narrative.

