Michael S. Judge, Death Is Just Around the Corner

[linebaugh]

And you see that with the actual text discussion in the chats- seems the only conversations that get picked up are comparisons between deleuze and some other thinker so that the conversation can hide behind the respective ambiguity of the technical terms. Which, like my earlier example, is especially maddening because Deleuze never shows any inclination to treat his terms with that sort of rigor.

 

[version]

they're often discussed in this very American, very "online" way that you get on sites like Twitter and Reddit.

What I mean by this is the tone of stuff like Chapo Trap House or people who spend a lot of time cultivating a moderately famous Twitter account.

 

[version]

You ever come across that Vaush guy?

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

They told me off for posting a quote which mentioned something about suicide

There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide

 

[version]

Exactly!

 

[linebaugh]

I see his videos recommended on youtube but avoid them for the same phenomenon your talking about. I also see alot of his clips/tweets reposted on far right reactionary accounts where he's making very weird remarks about the age of consent

 

[version]

I see his videos recommended on youtube but avoid them for the same phenomena your talking about. I also see alot of his clips/tweets on far right reactionary accounts where he's making very weird remarks about the age of consent

Yeah, he's exactly the sort of person I'm talking about. The archetypal online, American leftist.

 

[version]

That's the vibe I got off the D&G server.

 

[version]

The way this stuff's often discussed is exactly the way Luka described the other day.

With more information and less time than ever thinkers get turned into trading cards. There's a social need to know about everything but no time to learn anything. It all becomes a question of knowing which names are names to drop at any given time. Keeping up with the trend-currents.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

want to stop having any interest in anything that overlaps with him

it seems like these people form weird Internet cults around them. the successful ones anyway.

that's how Mencius Moldbug was back then. The Last Psychiatrist was another. Gary Brecher aka John Dolan aka the War Nerd.

I suppose that's what you do if you're a would-be thinker and you don't have an outlet in academia

I'm (thankfully) not on the pulse of Twitter/Reddit/discord so idk exactly how it works now but it feels the same.

tho unlike in yr blogspot/wordpress days everything is monetized (or, I assume) now which has to change the dynamic

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I can't imagine wanting to talk about philosophy on Twitter or Reddit, I barely want to do it here with people I've known for 10+ years

 

[version]

it seems like these people form weird Internet cults around them. the successful ones anyway.

that's how Mencius Moldbug was back then. The Last Psychiatrist was another. Gary Brecher aka John Dolan aka the War Nerd.

I suppose that's what you do if you're a would-be thinker and you don't have an outlet in academia

I'm (thankfully) not on the pulse of Twitter/Reddit/discord so idk exactly how it works now but it feels the same.

tho unlike in yr blogspot/wordpress days everything is monetized (or, I assume) now which has to change the dynamic

Yeah, that's absolutely the case. And it can go to these people's heads. Slate Star Codex is another one. You end up with these cults of personality.

 

[version]

I think this is part of my issue with a lot of podcasts. It feels grubby. They smell blood in the water and go buy some mics and set up a Patreon.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Slate Star Codex is another one

that one I've actually heard of, he got doxed right?

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

tbh cults of personality seems like a return to how philosophy originally was in Ancient Greece

there's a strong cult of personality vibe around Socrates

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

or not even a return, academia is all about cults of personality

more like a return to cults of personality unmediated by the unwieldy medieval relict that is of the university and its bureaucratic apparatus

 

[version]

that one I've actually heard of, he got doxed right?

I don't know the full story, but what I read was a reporter intended to use his real name in a feature, so he decided to pull the plug on the blog because he's some sort of medical professional and he didn't want it interfering with his work.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I mean, you have to monetize it tho, what else can you do?

if you're a white collar professional like Curtis Yarvin or the SSC guy, there's probably less of a need

but for most people you want every income stream you can get

 

[version]

We were joking about Joe Rogan earlier, but he's a high profile example of this stuff at work. There's a dedicated subreddit specifically for his podcast with over 500,000 subscribers. And it's a little hub for all their interests. They post about cannabis legalisation, politics etc. It's its own little ecosystem, but it all revolves around Joe Rogan and his podcast.

r/JoeRogan

r/JoeRogan: A portal to discuss Joe Rogan, JRE, comedy, cars, MMA, music, food, psychedelics, mind-expanding revelations, conspiracies, insights …

www.reddit.com

 

[version]

I mean, you have to monetize it tho, what else can you do?

if you're a white collar professional like Curtis Yarvin or the SSC guy, there's probably less of a need

but for most people you want every income stream you can get

Fair point. There's just something I find really lame about it. The fact everyone has a podcast, everyone has a Patreon. Just how it goes though. If it works, people will try it themselves.