3 ms·

I think you're being a bit sensitive. It's a writing style meant to provoke.

millstone 10y ago
Denying essential humanity to anyone is always and everywhere unacceptable. "Unattractive men are animals, not human beings" isn't provocative, it's totally beyond the pale. If the essay called an ethnic or religious group animals, would you still link to it and characterize it as "interesting" and "provocative?"
- cLeEOGPw 10y ago
  In the context of the article, "animal" is meant to be understood as "something having non-human features". An ugly guy has both human and "non-human" features, so a mind is split in those both directions, and the split evokes the feeling of creepiness. Just because you feel bad about something it doesn't mean it's false.
- brhsiao 10y ago
  There is actually a distinct writing style that is meant to provoke, closely related to trolling, and should be recognized. Suppose I were writing a rant about obesity being unhealthy and visually jarring. I then decide, for comedic dramatic flair, to write "fat people should be eradicated from the gene pool," knowing full well it will anger the reader—who in turn cluelessly gets angry. I'd argue that that doesn't make me deplorable, it makes the joke on the reader. In the grand scheme of things, my gene pool comment obviously isn't serious, even if the rest of my rant is. Being provoked by people trying to provoke you is the conversational version of slipping on a banana peel, and is itself funny, albeit only ever so slightly.
kagamine 10y ago
Well if saying anything you like as long as it is meant to provoke [a response] is acceptable, then let's have a few articles about why antisemitism is cool and how black people have low IQs. Or are those subjects that have been covered and people have been both prosecuted over and been fired from their jobs for? Being provocative at least requires starting with an argument that can be defended.
- cLeEOGPw 10y ago
  I would like to have a discussion about those subjects too. So if you are above pc crowd, you can handle the painful truth. If you are on the same level as all pc people, then not much discussion is possible with you at all.

Denying essential humanity to anyone is always and everywhere unacceptable. "Unattractive men are animals, not human beings" isn't provocative, it's totally beyond the pale. If the essay called an ethnic or religious group animals, would you still link to it and characterize it as "interesting" and "provocative?"

cLeEOGPw 10y ago
In the context of the article, "animal" is meant to be understood as "something having non-human features". An ugly guy has both human and "non-human" features, so a mind is split in those both directions, and the split evokes the feeling of creepiness. Just because you feel bad about something it doesn't mean it's false.
brhsiao 10y ago
There is actually a distinct writing style that is meant to provoke, closely related to trolling, and should be recognized. Suppose I were writing a rant about obesity being unhealthy and visually jarring. I then decide, for comedic dramatic flair, to write "fat people should be eradicated from the gene pool," knowing full well it will anger the reader—who in turn cluelessly gets angry. I'd argue that that doesn't make me deplorable, it makes the joke on the reader. In the grand scheme of things, my gene pool comment obviously isn't serious, even if the rest of my rant is. Being provoked by people trying to provoke you is the conversational version of slipping on a banana peel, and is itself funny, albeit only ever so slightly.

kagamine 10y ago

Well if saying anything you like as long as it is meant to provoke [a response] is acceptable, then let's have a few articles about why antisemitism is cool and how black people have low IQs. Or are those subjects that have been covered and people have been both prosecuted over and been fired from their jobs for? Being provocative at least requires starting with an argument that can be defended.

cLeEOGPw 10y ago
I would like to have a discussion about those subjects too. So if you are above pc crowd, you can handle the painful truth. If you are on the same level as all pc people, then not much discussion is possible with you at all.