Zuzak
@Zuzak@hexbear.net
- Comment on Explains a lot... 5 weeks ago:
Frog speedrun any%
- Comment on Biden 'outraged' over Israel strike on World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza 7 months ago:
So is he going to do anything material about it? Or is he giving that statement to the press and then immediately calling up Bibi to reassure him it’s just for show? I have a feeling I know the answer.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 year ago:
I’ve been watching Voyager for the first time and just got to the episode. I think I agree with the decision (as a lever-puller) but it does raise some interesting questions. As Janeway mentions, if they’d been able to do it immediately, she’d have done it without question, but after two weeks of Tuvix integrating with the crew it’s a more difficult question. If Tuvix had been around for say 5 years I think I’d disagree with separating him. I think the way I look at it is that the social bonds possessed by Tuvok and Neelix are more important than the mere two week old bonds of Tuvix, but if Tuvok and Neelix were long dead and their loved ones had already mourned them, while Tuvix had had more time to become a fixture in people’s lives, then the circumstances would be different. Tbh I disagree with the idea that Tuvok and Neelix get the biggest say - I think that the input of Kes and the rest of the crew is valuable, and Kes pleads to get Neelix back while none of the crew back Tuvix.
Does that mean the worth of lives is based on popularity? Not generally, but I do think that social connections are a relevant thing to consider. Part of what makes murder bad is not just the loss of the individual’s life, but also what it means for everyone else. If you could press a button to create a life then press another to end it, would you have made the world a worse place by doing so? I don’t think so. But if you press a button to create a life then go out and murder someone who already existed, then I think you have.
I’d also say that the captain’s responsibilities in her role as captain are relevant and also support the decision.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 year ago:
Well, some of those are actual bigots and some of them are false positives shrug-outta-hecks
- Comment on [deleted] 1 year ago:
Hexbear has a powerful immune system designed to target bigots. Sometimes that immune system sees a threat where there isn’t one. Veteran Hexbears have either learned how to avoid being seen as a target or have learned to endure it when it happens, and as much as we may regret false positives, we also recognize the value in purging legitimate targets.
Some people hate the immune system because they’re false positives, but a lot of people hate it because they are the legitimate targets - and generally they were always going to hate us regardless. Then there are those who haven’t been targeted but just don’t like the idea of an immune system on principle, the free speech centrists and tone police who see us an indistinguishable from 4chan (kinda telling on themselves that their main problem with 4chan is the rudeness, not the bigotry).
We’ll always have a solid core of haters who we also hate who’s concerns we don’t care about. I’ve lost track of the number of times someone’s whined about us being too harsh only for it to come out that they said some nasty shit about the homeless or something. For the rest it’s a matter of convincing them of the advantages of the immune system and communicating how to avoid becoming a false positive, while making sure to double check targets on our end.
- Comment on Australia wants to force cats to stay inside or give them a curfew because they are murdering so many other animals they are a threat to the country's biodiversity 1 year ago:
We have someone saying that not letting cats outdoors is fascism and someone else saying that letting them outside is genocide, and neither one is from Hexbear sicko-hexbear
Whichever side you’re on, the important thing is to dig in to the most extreme position possible and denounce everyone else in the strongest possible terms. Bring out the memes buried beneath seven layers of irony and in-jokes and let the world know the truth about how goldfish are colonialist. This is the Hexbear way.
- Comment on Is there a way to block hexbear 1 year ago:
- Comment on Is there a way to block hexbear 1 year ago:
Correct.
- Comment on Suddenly seeing more hexbear posts. Did we re-federate with them? 1 year ago:
Oh so the definition of being white varies now? People are dermofluid or something? “I’m white skinned but I’m not white.”
The definition of being white, like all definitions, can indeed vary based on time and place, yes. Whether someone is white “enough” to be included in the category of “white people” is not an objective fact and will change from culture to culture, from time to time, and even from one individual to the next.
Racial categories in Europe were more complex than they generally are today, especially in America. It’s difficult to maintain distinctions in race between different European nationalities when everyone’s immigrating to the same place and having kids together, so over time these subtle distinctions have dropped off somewhat in favor of the simpler categories of “white” and “non-white.” But some of these distinctions still remain, for instance, many people who identify as “white nationalists” or even “white supremacists” also hate Jews, including Jewish people with white skin. Hitler’s infamous 14 words declare that a future must be secured “for our white children,” yet clearly he did not consider white-skinned Jewish people to be included in that definition.
As absurd as it may be to say that someone can have white skin but not be considered white, it can happen. The reason it doesn’t make sense is because race is, to a large degree, something that is socially constructed and nonsensical.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 year ago:
I figure the engineers just inflate their estimates in anticipation of the captain telling them to cut it down, and then the captain expects the engineers to do that and it’s a vicious cycle.
- Comment on Hexbear federation megathread 1 year ago:
:::spoiler Spoiler for off-topic
Russia is attempting to paint outside groups as subhuman. Are you attempting to be an apologist for those statements?
I don’t know which specific statements you’re referring to, but no, I don’t agree with painting anyone as subhuman.
are there posts/comments that were painted in too broad of a stroke as Kremlin propaganda?
I don’t know, because the post is unclear as to what constitutes Kremlin propaganda, which is why I asked for clarification.
Second, I am calling out the whataboutism in your post.
Explaining my motivations for seeking out information from multiple sources is not whataboutism. I believe that it’s worthwhile to understand the perspectives and mentalities of groups that I disagree with, and I presented the example of my experiences in a “post 9/11 world” to illustrate the dangers of equating “Seeking to understand the other side’s motivations” with “Agreeing with the other side.” 20 years ago, we could be having a very similar conversation but I’d be accused of being a terrorist sympathizer instead of a Russian propagandist. Understanding the historical context of the creation of the Taliban and their motivations does not mean that I agree with them any more than it does when I understand the same as Russia. But it’s easier to recognize that that’s true of past events, because it is no longer in the heat of the moment.
I consider your accusation of whataboutism to be anti-intellectual. The study of history is vital to understanding the present. Writing off all historical comparisons or attempts to learn from the past is dangerous and not valid. How can we possibly avoid repeating the mistakes of the past if we can’t compare them to present events?
- Comment on Hexbear federation megathread 1 year ago:
Yes, there is currently some disagreement among our users on how much we should change our, let’s say, idiosyncratic site culture now that we’re federated. Not everyone wanted to federate in the first place, and most of us didn’t really know what to expect. For the past three years, we haven’t had to play by anyone else’s rules, and not everyone is enthused about the prospect. Also, as an explicitly political space, while we have discussions about other things, we don’t have any spaces where veering into politics is unexpected or unwelcome.
Personally, I think federation is the most excitement we’ve had in ages, so I’m in favor of adapting and playing by the rules, because otherwise I think it’s inevitable that we’ll get cut off eventually. But it’s a pretty big change in a pretty short time-frame, so tbh idk what will happen.
- Comment on Hexbear federation megathread 1 year ago:
I talked with the lemm.ee admin and he did not mind if hexbear users engaged in that post in a way that was not low-effort.
I interpreted that to mean that our admin asked and was specifically told we could do it.
- Comment on Hexbear federation megathread 1 year ago:
I posted here only after one of our admins said this:
I talked with the lemm.ee admin and he did not mind if hexbear users engaged in that post in a way that was not low-effort. I’ve removed a couple comments from there that were inappropriate. Basically if the meta community does not have a sidebar rule specifying it is for local users only or the post explicitly asks for only local users to comment then hexbear users are free to defend themselves/hexbear. Abiding by the CoC of course.
- Comment on Hexbear federation megathread 1 year ago:
I’m firmly in the “tone it down” camp on Hexbear (especially on other instances) and I appreciate people’s patience and I’m glad that some people have gotten past our abrasiveness. I’m hoping things will quiet down and stabilize before we burn our bridges. I’m glad to hear that your experience with our mods was positive and that you’re focusing more on that, over the years I’ve come to trust our mods and I believe they’re committed to making this work.
As has already been mentioned and acknowledged, clarification on Kremlin propaganda would be appreciated. I agree with removing false information, but I’m of the belief that it’s important to understand the positions and perspective of every nation, especially those considered enemies, for the sake of peace. I do not trust any source from any state implicitly, but rather I believe in gathering information from a variety of sources and critically examining each. I grew up in a “post 9/11 world” and in that context, any attempt to understand the motivations or historical context behind that event, beyond “They hate us for our freedom,” was treated with suspicion, along with all sorts of lies about Muslims in general. Since then, I don’t go along with hating who I’m told to hate, at least until I feel I’ve investigated the matter fully, including hearing the stated positions of both sides. To that end, I think there is value in listening critically to state-affiliated sources, from every side.
I look forward to having productive discussions in the future.
