3 ms·

The term red pill comes from The Matrix where the non-subtle metaphor is "want to know the truth? Take the red pill". There was no need to censor the term if th

by antifa 5y ago

The term red pill comes from The Matrix where the non-subtle metaphor is "want to know the truth? Take the red pill". There was no need to censor the term if that was the meaning. A group of people, often considered misogynists or anti-feminists, who think they have a secret truth about dating women, also use the term. There is also the subtle metaphor of The Matrix, that the redpill actual refers to transitioning into women. The color was choosen because in the 90s estrogen hormone therapy were literally red pills in the 90s.

FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
Oh, I see. I hear "red pill" and think politics. As in, "converted to the Trump side". It's all Gnostic stuff. Hiding pieces of the mystery religion maybe even makes it more appealing to converts.
- goodpoint 5y ago
  The word you are looking for is not gnostic but "dog whistle"
  - FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
    "Gnostic" as in hidden knowledge -- "You're really in the Matrix!" Surely that's what "red pill" is about(?); that's the film reference. Though asterices could perhaps be a dog whistle too: "Only my desired recipients understand." A dog whistle of taboo gnosis. (When you go to an art gallery you hear lots of dog whistles: The text describing each piece is full of strange word-patterns. Often the repetition or gratuitous insertion of an unexpected word, e.g. "bodies", often as a double- or triple- entendre. The cant(ations) are easy to notice, once you dwell on the strangeness and ask yourself: "Why are they talking like that?") I suppose gnosis tends to live outside the Overton Window, thus would go hand-in-hand with dog-whistles. Related, the groups with this "knowledge" tend to have developed their own (incompatible) moralities -- and indeed, induction to such a group involves violation of the conventional morality (think killing a random person to enter a gang). "You can't leave us now; among the Others you'll feel guilt." So these three go together: Gnosis, dog-whistles, and "righteous sin". I suppose the last one develops last.

by antifa 5y ago

FooBarBizBazz 5y ago

Oh, I see. I hear "red pill" and think politics. As in, "converted to the Trump side". It's all Gnostic stuff. Hiding pieces of the mystery religion maybe even makes it more appealing to converts.

goodpoint 5y ago
The word you are looking for is not gnostic but "dog whistle"
- FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
  "Gnostic" as in hidden knowledge -- "You're really in the Matrix!" Surely that's what "red pill" is about(?); that's the film reference. Though asterices could perhaps be a dog whistle too: "Only my desired recipients understand." A dog whistle of taboo gnosis. (When you go to an art gallery you hear lots of dog whistles: The text describing each piece is full of strange word-patterns. Often the repetition or gratuitous insertion of an unexpected word, e.g. "bodies", often as a double- or triple- entendre. The cant(ations) are easy to notice, once you dwell on the strangeness and ask yourself: "Why are they talking like that?") I suppose gnosis tends to live outside the Overton Window, thus would go hand-in-hand with dog-whistles. Related, the groups with this "knowledge" tend to have developed their own (incompatible) moralities -- and indeed, induction to such a group involves violation of the conventional morality (think killing a random person to enter a gang). "You can't leave us now; among the Others you'll feel guilt." So these three go together: Gnosis, dog-whistles, and "righteous sin". I suppose the last one develops last.