Barry Deutsch is an indefatigable defender of fragile womanhood, a white knight. an ally to the bitter end. I admire tenacity, as well as the willingness to take the risk of going where his view may not be received with a warm embrace.
He did so here in defense of the statistics claiming that women in college are raped at 27 times the rate of Somalia in mid-revolution. Barry is hardly a fool, even if he’s blinded by the feelz. That’s not to suggest any malevolence to him based on his single-minded adoration of the feminist mystique, as Hanlon’s Razor applies. I accept the premise that he is utterly sincere in his support of the cause, even if his politics makes him incapable of reasoned detachment.
So it came as no surprise that he was the creator of this very funny, if mind-numbingly stupid, comic at Everyday Feminism.*
That Barry spent his time on this is an homage to the fear and loathing that compels a guy to spend his time appealing to the chorus of women who suffer such deeply felt trauma that they need a trigger warning that doesn’t include the word “trigger,” lest they be triggered.
Don’t read this as a violation of nearly every logical fallacy in existence, from strawman to appeal to emotion to reductio ad absurdum. That would suck the fun right out of it, and to fail to enjoy Barry’s effort would be unfair to whatever psychological need propels him forward.
Instead, appreciate what Barry has done here, offering a gift to all who gaze upon his comic by the recognition that there is no panel that suggests any interest in equality rather than a world of fragile, helpless, infantilized females in need of some guy like Barry to protect them from the insufferable pain of their existence.
But then, it’s not as if they can laugh at their own silliness.
*Experience is that many deeply partisan websites use donotlink when hyperlinking to a site that doesn’t support their cause. It was a specialty of anti-revenge porn activist Mary Anne Franks, for the purpose of depriving the Google-juice to hated sites that their twelve passionate readers might offer.
Since I view this as typically dishonest and infantile, I link directly to the source, even though it might serve to enhance the credibility of the website. Because that’s what big boys do, without crying about it. I point this out because most of you don’t know about the shenanigans played behind the scenes on the internet, or get to appreciate the ridiculous lengths that feminists and SJWs go to control the spread of any view that isn’t theirs.
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Hanlon’s Razor applies, to be sure, but only because it makes no distinction between the unintended ignorance to which we are all subject at times, and which we are embarrassed by when we see it in ourselves, and willful ignorance, or, in Barry’s case, intentional, aggressive stupidity. We need a new razor that separates the two.
Hanlon’s Razor fails to make that particular distinction because it is seldom necessary.
If you did something bad enough to garner lots of publicity, you’d apologize immediately (if you lawyer let you, but there’s another story), and try to make it right, and nobody would bring up Hanlon’s razor, because there wouldn’t even be any question of malice.
Hanlon’s Razor doesn’t even come into play until the stupidity causes problems so major that malice is reasonably suspected, and this typically happens when the stupid is applied over long periods of time, during which plenty of nay-sayers attempt to make the perp see the voice of reason.
So, no, we don’t need a new Razor — the default selection with Hanlon’s is “intentional, aggressive stupidity” (as you so aptly put it) vs. malice.
I agree with all of that, but I think there’s another piece to be considered. Most of the sjw #activists have no marketable skills, and there isn’t anything else of any specific value that they could otherwise be doing. Barry’s cartoon here and his conversation with Scott linked above demonstrate that he isn’t that.
I’ve made the point here before that I think you should treat them the same whether it’s malice, stupidity, or something else. But someone like Barry is immune to backhanded accusations of stupidity. (for one thing, I don’t think he’s stupid at all) I’m still thinking it through, but there has to be a better way to make fun of someone like Barry.
I don’t think he’s stupid either, though he suffers the blindness of the true believer. There is no way to make fun of Barry, nor any reason to do so as he is one of the faithful. Neither facts nor ridicule will cause him to see the error of his faith. That would require him to be capable of a detached vision, and that’s something the passionate cannot do.
It’s enough that he puts his heart into his comics and writings, and we can see the humor for ourselves, whether we laugh with him or at him.
True believers that marriage policy has anything to do with children, or that free speech is better than safe spaces, or that feelings ought not to replace elements of serious crimes, have all been mocked into silence, or at least demoralized into constant second guessing. I wouldn’t want their side to suffer the kind of false narratives that they use to discredit their opponents, but it shouldn’t be necessary to stoop to that level. After all, their demands are antithetical to the values that built the civilization they live in.
You’re misapprehending what’s meant by true believers. They are people who have embraced an ideology because it “feels” right to them, rather than after thoughtful reflection based on reason and logic. They remain open to reason and logic when it conflicts with their thoughts. Truth, to true believers, can’t be shaken because it’s not a product of thought, but feelings and faith.
Only a communist would argue that someone with a modicum of intellect owes the world cogent analysis 🙂
But more seriously, as both SHG and innumerable blog posts and books on “Why smart people do dumb things” show — smart people do dumb things, with a passion. High intelligence may or may not be necessary for making good decisions, but it certainly isn’t sufficient.
A couple of decades ago, I worked with a very smart guy who made lots of dumb decisions both at work and at home. He was good at compartmentalizing, though, and I capitalized on this at every opportunity (because I was fairly new and he knew the codebase like the back of his hand): “Hey, George! Assume x, y, and z. What would be the pros and cons of changing the code to do A?”
He was the only guy I ever knew who could and would willingly suspend his beliefs and provide you with an extremely well-thought-out answer based on your own, without adding gratuitous comments about how “well, of course that’s not true, but…”. It was amazing to behold.
Aw, I don’t see myself in that comic. To the safe space!!!
Aren’t comics supposed to be funny? And much shorter than this? I was talking with someone last week at a fabulous resort in Mexico about how I thought the whole ‘trigger warning’ thing was a joke. But it turns out it isn’t. I am still living under a rock.
I think it’s very funny. Just not in the same way that Barry Deutsch does.
While it is very long, there are just so many strawmen to ridicule. It must have been very hard on Barry to limit it to a mere 32.
Making up 2^n pseudo-distinct categories for the stuff you hate is like the essential liberal arts skill.
So what you’re trying to say is that the math equation required to leave a comment is too easy for you?
