I’ve boosted Ives Parr of Parrhesia before, for good reason—he’s smoking the good stuff. He makes the point that A.I. gibberish is more or less indistinguishable from actual Critical Social Justice “scholarship” (which is funded by your tax dollars). I’d take that a step further and suggest that given that what he’s saying does appear to be the case, we might as well just have the robots do the CSJ work and cut out the middleman. Give it a read.
Brian Chau is one of the smartest people on Substack. He makes the point that pseudonymity/anonymity works against transparency, and transparency leads to social and professional rewards.
and I batted this idea around in July, and I think they’ve both got good points. Personally, I write under the most casual of pen names, and prefer my pseud in social situations, but that’s mostly because I think “Jay Rollins” sounds cool.I’m in an Andrew-Tate-bashing mood lately, and so are my friends. Harrison Koehli’s take on the matter is, as always, worth reading. Harrison, for those of you unfamiliar with his work, is The Guy on the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of pathological systems, and he puts Tate in that context here, pointing out that it’s the deconstruction and destruction of traditional social guideposts that got us to a place where Tate would ever by taken seriously by anyone.
Guttermouth of The Gutter continues to put no effort whatsoever into building one of the most hilarious salons on Substack in her comments section.
SMH. So fucking lazy.
Closing out the week, I will never not upvote intriguing explications of historical social roles. Lorenzo Warby has a banger on the subject that I will not spoil; it’s short and excellent.
Social pro tip: If you want to put your best foot forward with someone who uses a professional alias, such as an author or an actor, keep in mind that people generally prefer that others call them by whatever name they give when they introduce themselves.
Jay! You're a real mensch :)
This week, I'm particularly interested in the Brian Chau essay--or really, your written response to John Carter relating to the same topic. Hell no, I don't use my real name on Substack--I'm even squirrelly about assigning a recognizably-feminine *nom* to the W. But my concerns are only half about the potential blowback for saying something untoward--the other half is a very stubborn boomer idea that perception of a work of art should be minimally influenced by the identity or personality of its creator. Of course we all know that's not the way of the internet, but I'm reluctant to let the dream die just yet.
Got more thoughts, but if I can collate them they may be more appropriate for your earlier linked column. Stand by.. maybe.
Some great recommendations this week!