Day: May 27, 2019

I’ve wondered why someone would post a view on a social/political issue on Twitter, Facebook or some other platform.

My guesses:

1. Venting/ranting ..just want to get something off of one’s chest.
2. Looking for support, allies, etc. “Who is with me?”
3. (a) Looking for merit validation from others (being recognized for being witty, insightful or..)
3. (b) Looking for moral validation from others (being “woke” or “moral” enough to be outraged, offended..or to even see what is offensive in the situation)
4. Looking to start a discussion for intellectual stimulation or entertainment (seems to be on the decline; I have some guesses)
5. Persuasion (by arguing or ..closely aligned with 3 (b), attempting to shame others into your position.
6. (a) Informing on the facts (I do this a lot with math blogs but some with science and, on occasion, with politics).
6. (b) Informing a friend “out of your bubble” about how people “in your bubble” see an issue. You know that persuasion is highly unlikely but would like to explain a point of view.

I’d LOVE to hear from others: does this list seem accurate to you? Did I leave out possibilities?

I admit that I’ve really cut back on talking to non-pundits/non-public intellectuals because, many times, I’ve found that what I thought of as “polite” feedback was construed as “finger wagging” on my part, “mainsplaining”, etc. And to be honest, I really don’t care for 1-3.

4: looking for discussion, CAN be rewarding, if done with the right people. But often I end up attracting those who confuse slogans with argument, or those who are intellectually dull or unpolished, or misinformed. Or..they might think that a religious text or some “woke canon” should carry some weight with me.

5. Can be fun, with a logical person who is in “logic mode”, though this often boils down to people getting outraged because you reject something in their “moral canon” or insufficiently outraged by what they think is outrageous.

Here are a couple of side notes:

Here, you can read about two “woke” groups going after each other: black feminists and white feminists:

As we grappled with the realities of Nia’s death, I began to use Instagram to facilitate a discussion and flesh out questions like: How many more black women and girls must die before mainstream media considers it a worthy story to cover? How could they possibly take away her white male murderer so gently in handcuffs, while black men are thrown to the ground during traffic stops? Why aren’t the recorded wails of her mother and the tears of her father enough for the whole world to be demanding justice right now? And where are the voices of all my white feminist friends when a black woman had been tragically murdered?

Almost immediately, at my request, hundreds of commenters asked the white women who they saw as friends and leaders to use their platform to highlight the tragedy of Nia’s death with the same outrage of their black feminist allies. And many did—both demanding that justice be served while expressing their disbelief that such a story hadn’t gained national attention in the same way that Laci Peterson’s or JonBenét Ramsey’s had. But there were just as many white women—women whose bios claim titles like “social justice warrior” and “intersectional feminist”—that somehow took this call for solidarity as a personal attack.

Instead of sharing in the outrage of Nia’s brutal murder, they came with fury for being tagged in a post that they felt challenged their own perceived feminist accomplishments.

Obviously the murder was a horrific event. But…well, here one woke group is complaining that another woke group isn’t expressing enough outrage in the correct way. This happens..and yes, conservatives have asked me “where MY outrage was” when certain bad things (or things that they thought were bad) happened (e. g., when some 3’rd rate academic that few had ever heard of said something stupid about 9-11)

And as far as writing: this is a handy guide to being more effective in everyday writing (e. g. texts, note, invitations, appeals for charity, etc.)

Workout notes: easy because I am between races. Weights at the Riverplex then an easy 4.35 mile walk along the Riverfront (full length, from the start to the end of the ball field wall) Much of it was in light rain.

Weights: rotator cuff, pull ups (5 sets of 10), bench: 10 x 135, 6 x 165, decline: 7 x 165, military: 8 x 50 standing, 20 x 40 seated, supported, 10 x 45 standing, then a few sets with the machine (using 45 + 10 + 5 on each side worked), 3 sets of 10 x 50 single armed rows, 2 x 10 with the machine (45 on each side), crow, plank, side plank, headstand, knee stretches.