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It's because, just like with Objectivism before it, once one start to accept neoreactionary tenets, then their conclusions seem unavoidable. They're less illogi

It's because, just like with Objectivism before it, once one start to accept neoreactionary tenets, then their conclusions seem unavoidable. They're less illogical than one would hope or imagine. The biggest inoculant, personally, was reading "Guns, Germs, & Steel" in my late teens. Other important concepts that have helped me to design arguments against bullshit: * Pedigree collapse (undermines race realism and Great Replacement) * Sex chromosomes/allosomes (undermines binary sexual theories and pre-queer gender theory) * (Computational) complexity theory (undermines classical analysis of Chinese Room, Simulation Arguments, Newcomb's Paradox, other LW favorites) * Plate tectonics/basic geology (undermines space denial) * Worryingly: History of the USA (undermines Lost Cause, Deep State, etc.) There is a big underlying current that I have noticed: Those who committed to classical liberalism were the ones swept away, while neoliberals, metaliberals, feminists, and Marxists were not moved. This is the big change in the shape of the left wing, to the extent that such a thing exists, and probably a large part of why it seems so much further to the left than it used to be. The alt-right tide washed in, and washed out a large part of the center of the beach when it went back out. Also, as you point out, people aren't getting laid. It is depressing to ponder whether the real inoculant may have been the fact that I had a girlfriend in high school.

api 7y ago
Yeah, I also learned to talk to other humans in my late teens and had girlfriends (and friends in general both male and female). I think a lot of this bollocks preys on people with severe social issues. Unfortunately it sucks them into hate and resentment circle jerks and keeps them from finding actual escape hatches. BTW I have lots of issues with Ayn Rand but IMHO Objectivism is less loony than this stuff. She once wrote that "racism is the lowest form of collectivism," and I agree. She wouldn't be a friend of this stuff if she were still around, but she died in the late 80s. I actually think reading Rand in my teens and early 20s was an inoculant for me. I do think she was an original and very often misunderstood thinker even though I don't think she was ultimately successful. I consider her a liberal heretic rather than a right-winger and oddly enough I compare her to Marx as someone who had brilliant insights but whose prescriptions don't quite work. This podcast is worth a listen: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-8-jeffrey-a-tucker-on-murray-rothbard-the-libertarian-critique-of-the-alt-right/ https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-8-jeffrey-a-tucker-on...
davidgerard 7y ago
> Also, as you point out, people aren't getting laid. It is depressing to ponder whether the real inoculant may have been the fact that I had a girlfriend in high school. I can't quickly find a cite, but I recall something about how, when the PLO didn't need the Black September guerilla group any more, they deradicalised them by ... finding them girlfriends

api 7y ago

Yeah, I also learned to talk to other humans in my late teens and had girlfriends (and friends in general both male and female). I think a lot of this bollocks preys on people with severe social issues. Unfortunately it sucks them into hate and resentment circle jerks and keeps them from finding actual escape hatches. BTW I have lots of issues with Ayn Rand but IMHO Objectivism is less loony than this stuff. She once wrote that "racism is the lowest form of collectivism," and I agree. She wouldn't be a friend of this stuff if she were still around, but she died in the late 80s. I actually think reading Rand in my teens and early 20s was an inoculant for me. I do think she was an original and very often misunderstood thinker even though I don't think she was ultimately successful. I consider her a liberal heretic rather than a right-winger and oddly enough I compare her to Marx as someone who had brilliant insights but whose prescriptions don't quite work. This podcast is worth a listen: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-8-jeffrey-a-tucker-on-murray-rothbard-the-libertarian-critique-of-the-alt-right/ https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/ep-8-jeffrey-a-tucker-on...

davidgerard 7y ago

> Also, as you point out, people aren't getting laid. It is depressing to ponder whether the real inoculant may have been the fact that I had a girlfriend in high school. I can't quickly find a cite, but I recall something about how, when the PLO didn't need the Black September guerilla group any more, they deradicalised them by ... finding them girlfriends