three goblins in a cowboy hat

ray / personal nonsense

[gorbling]

Im enjoying the longevity of tumblrs recontextualization style of humor. a seemingly innocuous post followed by like "posts that a gnome would make" or like "are you a phone"

[gorbling]

[hapalopus]

[hapalopus]

More from the notes:

[voyaging-too]

Someone I respect and consider an intelligent, capable scholar has just told me that she uses chatGPT to write parts of grant proposals, and suggested that I do the same. This is like existentially horrifying.

Not only because chatGPT has gotten that good that fast, not only because it means most of the jobs I’m qualified for will be nonexistent or much diminished in a few years, but because this is saying the quiet part out loud. That the things we’ve been writing were always mostly bullshit and never really mattered. That grant proposals were always just about gabbling out the correct buzzwords, and so were conference abstracts and grad school applications. That this goes beyond academia. That both the public and the private sector is employing huge crowds of people to write meaningless text. That my inability to care about my work is not wholly a personal failure, that nobody cares, that nobody has cared for a long time, that people value their own work so little (or are forced to value their work so little, through impossible time pressure) that they would happily replace it with a passable okayish replica.

I’m not a great writer, and when I’m on here, writing inconsequentially, for my own enjoyment, I am often thoughtless. But writing is still my self. And I think anything that goes out into the world as written word has a value, it is important, and the writer is responsible for it. Of course I’m a nervous wreck who is paralysed by the thought of writing anything for publication, or even to be read by anyone else irl, and that’s not healthy either. But I can’t handle the idea of people not caring for their own writing at all. I am disgusted by the idea that we can just push a button to make soulless shit pseudotext, and it won’t even be that much of a change because we already had been making soulless shit pseudotext anyway, not caring, or not being allowed to care.

[astercrash]

I feel a very similar way, working as a software developer, discovering my coworkers had begun using that thing to write technical documentation for our clients.

I have technical skills, I’m a programmer, but my communication skills are the ones that have set me apart my whole career. I choose my words carefully, I communicate concisely and with a great deal of specificity. Everything I wrote for the last six years was polished to ensure anyone could understand exactly what I had built and why.

And they didn’t care.

They never cared.

If they can replace that work, that pride, with verisimilitudinous word salad then what was the fucking point of taking it seriously.

This is just another extension of asshole salesmen controlling all the levers of power, the depreciation of real skill in favour of confidence trickster scamming is at an all time high.

[voyaging-too]

If they can replace that work, that pride, with verisimilitudinous word salad then what was the fucking point of taking it seriously. 

Absolutely. There is a problem of “oh shit, this robot can do my job better than me,” but most of us are not having that problem quite yet, we are having the problem of “this robot can do my job in a barely passable dogshit way, but it turns out that a barely passable dogshit was all that was ever expected of me, and if somebody or something can produce barely passable dogshit faster and cheaper, then they will.”

[vash-the-trans-catboy]

Do you have tattoos or piercings?

Tattoos and piercings

Only tattoos

Only piercings

Neither

Voting ended onApr 2, 2023

Pls reblog if u vote :)

What type of tattoos and piercing do you have/or want?

[guooey]

I am the world's #1 contributor to walking around aimlessly

[flightsofwonder]

being an adult is just saying to yourself “this is the weekend i’ll clean my [x]” and then proceeding to not do that because it’s the weekend and you deserve to relax, goddamnit

[flightsofwonder]

why does this have 85K notes

[randomslasher]

because we reblogged it instead of cleaning our [x]

[sludgewizard666]

if it sucks hit da bricks <- litany against sunk cost

take it easy but take it <- litany against burnout/apathy cycle

fuck it we ball <- litany against perfectionism

now say something beautiful and true <- litany against irony poisoning

[pepsimansthickjuicymeatyschlong]

some others i found in the notes

[moveslikekeithrichards]

when tumblr is like "this post went to heaven" brother that is not where these posts go when they die

[catgirl-kaiju]

[sioltach]

[catididnt]

Transcript:

“Most of what you think you know about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is wrong.

This is the model that we all learned in psych 101 is wrong [image of Maslow’s pyramid is shown] where our basic physiological needs are at the bottom of the pyramid and achieving one’s full individual potential is at the apex.

What you may not have known is that Maslow spent 6 weeks with the Blackfoot First Nation in the summer of 1938. He learned about their worldview and the Blackfoot Tipi, appropriated and misrepresented their perspective to establish his own Maslow’s hierarchy, and then didn’t give them credit.

[Image of Maslow’s pyramid and Blackfoot tipi shown, described below]

According to the Blackfoot Tipi, self-actualization is at the bottom of the pyramid. In the middle we have belonging and community actualization, where people take care of each other and help each other with their basic needs. And at the top, we have cultural perpetuity, which is teaching each other how to live in harmony with the land and achieve community actualization through generations.

It makes so much sense, right? Taking care of oneself is not enough. We need to take care of each other and our community.

This is why we need to decolonize psychology.”

[mango-habanero-autism-deactivat]

If anyone wants to learn more about this I suggest watching the late Narcisse Blood's interviews on Maslow and the influence of Blackfoot worldviews on his work thru the Blackfoot Digital Library, they're very in-depth

Eldon Yellowhorn also discusses Maslow and Blackfoot ways of knowing but I forget which interview it's in

[hrefnatheravenqueen]

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Maslow’s hierarchy connected to Blackfoot beliefs

I first heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in an advertising course I took in college many years ago. I remember looking at the pyramid an

The picture at the start of the next paper shows Maslow at the reserve, btw.

Before Maslow's Hierarchy: The Whitewashing of Indigenous Knowledge

For the last few months, I’ve been wincing a bit every time I see a

I have referred to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs for as long as I can remember. I learned about it as a way of looking at the complete physica

Also this is good if you're interested in a very short introduction to tipi construction and their use as homes and visual records of important knowledge:

I much prefer the Siksika model to Maslow's. It places the individual at the base of the tipi, and the existential objective in that model is literally cosmic in scale. A self-actualized individual can better contribute to the community, and a self-actualized community and culture can perpetuate itself through time. The goal is so much larger than the realization of your own self, it's about being a part of a greater whole and ensuring it lasts into perpetuity.

[redstonedust]

writers wishing they could draw whats in their head 🤝 artists wishing they could write whats in their head

[azeler]

🤝

writers wishing they could write what's in their head

🤝

artists wishing they could draw what's in their head

[deus-ex-aquila]

[nessa007]

[mens-rights-activia]

I’m taking L’s you did not even know existed

[ruggedrookie]

“fem-presenting” this, “masc-presenting” that. what if i wanna just be Presenting. i am showing you something and you have no idea what it is

[andmaybegayer]

#I’m presenting you with a dilemma

[lestatbf]

he's the worst man alive he's the love of my life he's covered in blood he's weird about god and he's a lot, he's not perfect, but most importantly he's bisexual

[spiced-wine-fic]

[torracat]

this is the money garf. reblog for untold pasta and riches to come your way

[lesbianshepard]

stupid leftists and their belief in *checks notes* the intrinsic value of human life

[pastel-selkie]

Reblog if you would burn down the statue of liberty to save a life

[randomslasher]

Here’s the thing, though. If you asked a conservative “Would you let the statue of liberty burn to save one life?” they’d probably scoff and say no, it’s a national landmark, a treasure, a piece of too much historical importance to let it be destroyed for the sake of one measly life. 

But if you asked, “Would you let the statue of liberty burn in order to save your child? your spouse? someone you loved a great deal?” the tune abruptly changes. At the very least, there’s a hesitation. Even if they deny it, I’m willing to bet that gun to their head, the answer would be “yes.”  

The basic problem here is that people have a hard time seeing outside their own sphere of influence, and empathizing beyond the few people who are right in front of them. You’ve got your immediate family, whom you love; your friends, your acquaintances, maybe to a certain degree the people who share a status with you (your religion, your race, etc.)–but beyond that? People aren’t real. They’re theoretical. 

But a national monument? That’s real. It stands for something. The value of a non-realized anonymous life that exists completely outside your sphere of influence is clearly worth less than something that represents freedom and prosperity to a whole nation, right?

People who think like this lack the compassion to realize that everyone is in someone’s immediate sphere of influence–that everyone is someone’s lover, or brother, or parent. Everyone means the world to someone. And it’s the absolute height of selfishness to assume that their lives don’t have value just because they don’t mean the world to you. 

P.S. I would let the statue of liberty burn to save a pigeon. 

[boyist]

[robotmango]

also, there is an extreme difference between what things or principles *i* personally am willing to die for, and what i would hazard others to die for. and this is a distinction i don’t think the conservative hard-right likes to face.

an example: so, as the nazis began war against france, the staff of the louvre began crating up and shipping out the artworks. it was vital to them (for many reasons) that the nazis not get their hands on the collections, and hitler’s desire for them was known, so they dispersed the objects to the four winds; one of the curators personally traveled with la gioconda, mona lisa herself, in an unmarked crate, moving at least five times from location to location to avoid detection.

they even removed and hid the nike of samothrace, “winged victory,” which is both delicate, having been pieced back together from fragments, and incredibly heavy, weighing over three metric tons.

the curators who hid these artworks risked death to ensure that they wouldn’t fall into nazi hands. and yes, they are just paintings, just statues. but when i think about the idea of hitler capturing and standing smugly beside the nike of samothrace, a statue widely beloved as a symbol of liberty, i completely understand why someone would risk their life to prevent that. if my life was all that stood between a fascist dictator and a masterpiece that inspired millions, i would be willing to risk it. my belief in the power and necessity of art would demand i do so.

if, however, a nazi held a gun to some kid’s head (any kid!) and asked me which crate the mona lisa was in, they could have it in a heartbeat. no problem! i wouldn’t even have to think about it. being willing to risk my own life on principle doesn’t mean i’m willing to see others endangered for those same principles.

and that is exactly where the conservative hard-right falls right the fuck down. they are, typically, entirely willing to watch others suffer for their own principles. they are perfectly okay with seeing children in cages because of their supposed belief in law and order. they are perfectly willing to let women die from pregnancy complications because of their anti-abortion beliefs. they are alright with poverty and disease on general principle because they hold the free-market sacrosanct. and i guess from their own example they would save the statue of liberty and let human beings burn instead.

but speaking as a leftist (i’m more comfortable with socialist tbh), my principles are not abstract things that i hold aside from life, apart or above my place as a human being in a society. my beliefs arise from being a person amidst people. i don’t love art for art’s sake alone, actually! i don’t love objects because they are objects: i love them because they are artifacts of our humanity, because they communicate and connect us, because they embody love and curiosity and fear and feeling. i love art because i love people. i want universal health care because i want to see people universally cared for. i want universal basic income because people’s safety and dignity should not be determined by their economic productivity to an employer. i am anti-war and pro-choice for the same reason: i value people’s lives but also their autonomy and right to self-determination. my beliefs are not abstractions. i could never value a type of economic system that i saw hurting people, no matter how much “growth” it produced. i could never love “law and order” more than i love a child, any child, i saw trapped in a cage.

would i be willing to risk death, trying to save the statue of liberty? probably, yes. but there is no culture without people, and therefore i also believe there are no cultural treasures worth more than other people’s lives. and as far as i’m concerned the same goes for laws, or markets, or borders.

[aquatixwitch]

Well said!

[lauraantoniou]

This is an excellent ethical discussion.

[oganizediguana]

The first time I came across this post, randomslasher’s addition was life changing for me. I suddenly understood where the right was coming from, and I had never been angrier.

[hazeldomain]

This is also why so many people on the right fail to see the hypocrisy of trying to make abortion illegal when they themselves have had abortions. They can tally up their own life circumstances and conclude that it would be difficult or impossible to continue a pregnancy, but they’re completely mystified by the idea that women they don’t know are also human beings with complicated lives and limited spoon allocation.

This is also why they think “get a job” is useful advice. In their heads they honestly do not understand why the NPCs who make up the majority of the human race can’t just flip a switch from “no job” to “job.” When they say “get a job” they’re filing a glitch report with God and they honestly think that’s all it takes.

This is also why they tend to view demographics as individuals. They think that every single Muslim is just a different avatar for the same bit of programming.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

Borrowed observation from @innuendostudios​ here, but: there’s also a fundamental difference in how progressives view social problems versus how conservatives view them. That is, progressives view them as problems to be solved, whereas conservatives do not believe you can solve anything.

Conservatives view social issues as universal constants that fundamentally are unable to be changed, like the weather. You can try to alter your own behavior to protect yourself (you can carry an umbrella), and you can commiserate about how bad the weather is, but you can’t stop it from raining. This is why conservatives blame victims of rape for dressing immodestly or for drinking or for going out at night: to them, those things are like going out without an umbrella when you know it’s going to rain. 

“But then why do conservatives try to stop things they dislike by making them illegal, like drug use or immigration or abortion?” And the answer is: they’re not. They know perfectly well that those things will continue. No amount of studies showing that their methods are ineffective will matter to them because effectiveness is not the point. The point is to punish people for doing bad things, because punishing people is how you show your disapproval of their actions; if you don’t punish them, then you’re condoning their behavior. 

This is why they will never support rehabilitative prisons, even though they reduce crime. This is why they will never support free birth control for everyone, even though that would reduce abortions. This is why they will never support just giving homeless people houses, even though it’s proven to be cheaper and more effective at stopping homelessness than halfway houses and shelters. It’s not about stopping evil, because you can’t; it’s about saying definitively what is Bad and what is Good, and we as a society do that by punishing the people we’ve decided are bad. 

This is why the conservative response to “holy fuck, they’re putting children in cages!” is typically something along the lines of “it’s their parents’ fault for trying to come here illegally; if they didn’t want to have their kids taken away, they shouldn’t have committed a crime.” It doesn’t matter that entering the US unlawfully is a misdemeanor and child kidnapping isn’t typically a criminal sentence. It does not matter that this has absolutely zero effect on people unlawfully entering the US. The point is that conservatives have decided that entering unlawfully is Bad, anything that is not punishing undocumented immigrants – due process of asylum and removal defense claims, for example – is supporting Badness, and kidnapping children is an appropriate punishment for being Bad.

[oldshrewsburyian]

#ivan karamazov#enters the chat (@the-world-lit-or-unlit)

[owlinanoaktree]

Worth reblogging again.