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Feb-28-16 | | luftforlife: <TheAlchemist>: For your collection Chess Informant: 640 Best Games -- Part 2: Looks like Gyula Sax beat <Pavel> Vavra at Varna in 1972: http://chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/1...
More soon! Best, ~ lufty |
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Feb-28-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> I don't like communism. Yes, I suppose it might be too one-sided, but hopefully not too biased on portraying my side. |
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Mar-11-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> What do you think of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_G...? By the way, The Alchemist by H.P. Lovercraft or Ben Jonson? |
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Mar-12-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Knight13> I only know a little of the underlying philosophy, so take what I say with a pinch of salt, I guess they are right in some aspects but I imagine the tactic of "starving out the beast" will never be too popular to be effective. It's their prerogative (it's in their name after all), but if it becomes too tribal it might degenerate into the polar opposite of what they claim to be against. It does provide food for thought at the very least, whatever else one may think about it. But as I said, I would have to look into it more to be more concrete. <The Alchemist by H.P. Lovercraft or Ben Jonson> I've only been asked about Paulo Coelho before :-). Anyway, there really was no particular inspiration, I think I just found alchemy (the precursor to my actual profession pharmacy) to be cool sounding. I think it isn't that bad, if I compare it to how I often agonize about naming characters in games it almost looks like a stroke of genius :-). |
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Mar-12-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Knight13> I probably should have clarified I don't view it as a uniform movement, there are extremes and more intellectual people alike (and the former are a likely a pretty easy target). It seems there is at least a strain that is more interested in evolutionary (or biological) explanations of certain behaviours and sex differences and that is something I find interesting, though I haven't really had time to look into it more in-depth (at least on surface I find it more appealing than social constructionism, which is often espoused by SJWs). On that note, have you ever seen the Brainwashing series? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVa... |
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Mar-14-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> No, I have not seen any Brainwashing episodes before. I will check out The Gender Equality Paradox soon and get back to you. I think the MGOTWs are at least right about two things: women are no morally better than men, despite how well the media portrays women and how innocent and angelic women portray themselves to others (especially men; and that the family courts heavily favor women to the detriment of men. The sages can say whatever they want about what marriage is supposed to be about, but you can't know everything about your partner or predict what she or he will be like years later, or whatever problems may arise that break the marriage, no matter how hard the couple try to hold it together. |
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Mar-20-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> I just started watching The Gender Paradox and realized that I have in fact seen it last year. The title was different, though, and I think it was a mirror video. Or it might've been the same video and I just don't remember the title. Don't feel like watching it again. One of my closest friends--former closest friend, who now ignores me, but I still respect him--was a feminist supporter who didn't call himself a feminist but nevertheless found antifeminism to be "morally indefensible" (his words), and when I told him that the result of men and women spreading out unequally in different fields, and thus resulting in unequal pay, was because of men and women's personal choices, he found the idea of women's personal choices having a tendency to lead them to lesser-paying careers "an insult" (his words). He seems to still believe that women are still encouraged to go into less-paying jobs by the society since childhood, like telling them math is a "boys" thing or that science isn't for girls and things of that nature (as it was the custom decades ago, though less so in communist countries I'd imagine, because men had to support a family, so giving away jobs to women who, especially at the time, would insist on a higher-earning man as partner and usually spent most of the money she earned on herself instead of splitting it 50-50, would be an exchange of giving a woman a job at the cost of another man, his wife and his kids--things like this can't just change overnight and expect it to have no negative consequences. And I mean both married women and single women. For example, let's say a married woman gets a job that's typically male dominated and earns extra cash. Sounds great, right? But other women can do the same, both single and married. Soon, another woman has taken a job away from your husband. Then your son is now affected because other single women are entering the field. But the single women taking those jobs aren't willing to support men who made less than them, in general, especially back then, and married women with a now-unemployed husband probably didn't feel comfortable in those times having the roles switched, so divorces would increase... Do you see how you can't just change established customs like that overnight no matter how much you hate or love it, or how sexist you find it to be?). And he also believes that society (US) still treats women and minorities as second-class citizens. Probably a good idea to avoid talking about feminism and Social Justice issues with your friends who may think differently or else you risk losing them. Unless you don't mind losing them or want to lose them, of course. Anyway, so career choices between men and women are already affected since birth as demonstrated by the different toys male and female toddlers choose, as you know. Women tend towards the jobs with more socialization or that deals with people issues while men tend to choose jobs that deal more with objects, space, and objective answers. Videos like that supports what antifeminist and Men's Rights Activist Karen Straughn once said: the freer the society, the more men and women diversify in career choices, and this is why in places like China engineers are close to 50/50 men-and-women (I haven't checked the sources for this, but I believe her) while in the Western world it isn't. Do you have any other videos you want me to check out? |
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Mar-21-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Knight13> Well, the other videos in the series deal with other topics like violence, sexuality, race, etc. If it interests you, Wikipedia links to Dailymotion for the whole playlist (you can also find them on YouTube): http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist... Anyway, I'm sure you've found plenty of videos yourself (there are plenty of channels who deal at least in part with debunking SJW and feminist videos etc.). One channel I've found interesting is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL... (he is an evolutionary behavioural scientist). I'm not sure how much he deals with feminism specifically, though, probably more with the whole notion of social constructionism. |
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Mar-21-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> I know Gad Saad. Watched his live-stream with Sargon of Akkad and a part of his live-stream with Karen Straughn. Haven't checked the videos on his channel, though. I presume you've watched at least some of his videos. Do you know if he commented in any of the videos you watched on these fun little quotes by someone-whose-name-I-cannot-remember: "There are more men in power because women like powerful men" and "Why aren't there more women in power? Because their husbands are" or "... because they can marry someone who is already in power" or "... because they'd rather marry someone who is in power," I forgot which one is correct. |
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Mar-21-16
 | | TheAlchemist: Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps in some of the conversations he's uploaded? I don't always have the will or the attention span to sit through hour-long videos :-). |
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Mar-26-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> This crap just happened at my university: "Someone wrote ‘Trump 2016’ on Emory’s campus in chalk. Some students said they no longer feel safe." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news... I should vote for Trump just to #$%$ off those kind of people. What do you think? I'm not a fan of him, but I am an even less fan of SJWs and patriarchy-theory feminists. |
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Mar-27-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <knight13> After seeing the pictures they should have made a case for vandalism. But yeah, it's ridiculous. I'm not sure that should be the only reason people vote for him, but many probably will. Still, part of me wishes he wins as well for the same reason and because it could (a big maybe) force both parties to take a look at themselves. Anyway, better Trump or Sanders than Hilary or the other Republicans. But what is most baffling about the whole thing is the final letter from Wagner. I mean what good will come long-term from feeding the students' victimhood complex or whatever you want to call it. And this one really takes the cake: At the same time, our commitment to respect, civility, and inclusion calls us to provide a <safe environment> that inspires and supports <courageous inquiry>. I went through some comments and found this one interesting: <I am starting to see these kinds of students show up in the workforce and it is frightening. I am a partner at a law firm. A new associate just out of law school gave me a brief. It was poorly done. I wrote the following on it and put it back on his chair (it was 5:00 p.m. and of course no one works past 5:00 anymore): "Needs to be redrafted. Your legal analysis needs work. Start by outlining issues and try again." The next morning he went to all the other associates and told them that I said he was a bad lawyer and that I was creating a hostile work environment. I am the most even keeled person around. I know attorneys who would have yelled and screamed. The fact is that he thought he was perfect. He graduated law school and passed the bar, so he must know it all. Right?> So I wonder whether it will be the companies that finally sort this thing out because it will cost them money (more than certain fines etc. anyway). |
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Mar-29-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> They have no idea that they are responsible for creating the "monster" they hate so much. Oh, well, still better than actually living in a communist country! On a positive note, the louder these people scream, the easier it is to identify who they are for future reference. Their actions will catch up with them later in life. "Emory University Young Democratic Socialists" <-- Me not joining. The democratic element in a democratic socialist society is an illusion. |
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Sep-15-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> "Justice & Equality By Identity Politics" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X8... Great video, if you still care about that stuff. |
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Sep-20-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> Was sifting through past posts and must make a correction: feminism is not a sub-category of Social Justice. It might be a sub-category of cancer*, though. *"Generation Trump: Meet the women who think feminism is cancer" http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/generation... |
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Sep-21-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Knight13> Hey! Missed your previous post, must have been buried too soon on the recent kibitzing. Thanks for the vid and article. Regarding the latter, I'm not too keen on just conflating antifeminism with the right, though I get why it would seem that way, I find it pretty funny how upside down the whole free speech thing has become, conservatives are fighting for it and self-proclaimed "liberals" against it. The propaganda machine is still going strong, luckily many people see it for what it is. It is unfortunate, however, that (most of) the political establishment is firmly on their side. I don't know what a hypothetical Trump presidency would mean, probably not much but I suppose the backlash would still be huge, with protests etc. (kind of like after Brexit, but more intense). It would certainly be interesting :-). |
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Sep-22-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> Hello, Geralt. Many liberals are antifeminists. Many liberals also dislike progressives (the "bad" leftists who want to limit freedom of speech--unless they're the ones exercising it, of course, then they can say whatever they want). The article was more of a citation for the claim that feminism is a sub-category of cancer (that I didn't get that idea from the Encyclopedia of Thin Air), not necessarily that I agreed with the article. Voting for Trump pisses off the people I hate, so I might do that, since both candidates are not good. |
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Sep-22-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <knight13> Hey! I assume you've tried the Witchers? :-) Anyway, I thought the idea came from Milo's infamous online poll? In any case, I don't really envy you the choice you have at the election. Though I suppose the offering is the natural result of things, in a way. |
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Sep-23-16
 | | Fusilli: <K13> Liberals face more than one dilemma when it comes to simultaneously defending progressive causes and defending individual rights. Here's a pretty good example: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_... Another example is sex-selective abortions. In various countries in the world the sex ratio at birth (boys/girls) is higher than normal because of intentionally disproportionate abortion of female fetuses (China, India, S.Korea, some former Soviet countries, etc.) Many suspect that some immigrant groups in the U.S., to some extent, are prone to practicing this. So, as liberals support abortion for any reason, should they still support it when the reason is "We want boys"? |
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Sep-23-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Fusilli> Thank you for your thoughts. A very good example and quite a dilemma. I guess at the end of the day it comes down to picking your battles or at least tackling problems step by step. Though at the heart of such customs usually lie illiberal ideologies which I think must be countered. Also, often young children are indoctrinated into them so even the "choice" aspect here is questionable. The problem is that in the name of diversity many cultural norms get a free pass just because they're foreign, yours would (likely) be such an example. "They don't know any better" shouldn't be a justification in my view. I'm likely simplifying a bit too much, but a lot of this is due to poor education and lack of encouragment of critical thinking and evaluation. |
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Sep-23-16 | | Knight13: <TheAlchemist> I've only played The Witcher for an hour (don't like the combat mechanics). I might try Assassins of Kings or Wild Hunt in the future. Milo didn't come up with the phrase "feminism is cancer"--many others have said it in the past--but he is the one who went public and ran with it, yes. <Fusilli> I think they value boys because the boys have a lot more expectations and responsibilities placed on them than girls (like having to financially take care of their parents when they grow old; with the family name on the line depending on how successful he becomes--girls don't have all that on their shoulders, so with their lower responsibility comes less rights and privileges), and because boys pass down the family name (I guess if you're expected to be responsible for supporting an entire family, you get the privilege of passing down your name). |
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Sep-23-16
 | | Fusilli: <TheAlchemist> I find these issues fascinating. As someone with sometimes strong liberal sensibilities, I feel prone to call on liberals when they falter. Ultimately, I suppose I value equality before the law above everything else. When it comes to abortion, I frankly don't like it and, if one day it is put on a referendum, I might vote for banning it. Yet, given that it is legal, I believe everyone should have access to the same high quality, low-risk abortion procedures, and therefore I support Planned Parenthood. (The thought that people may abort fetuses just because they are female repels me, though.) I feel the same way about the second amendment. Maybe I would prefer a society without the right to bear arms, but since it is there in the constitution (and it's there for understandable reasons, knowing US history and culture), I want that right to be available to everyone, under the same terms. I gather you are not in the US, right? Where are you? |
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Sep-24-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Knight13> Yeah, the mechanics in the first one are really clunky and it was a bit of a chore to get through, but it was worth it. The second one and especially the third one are better when it comes to gameplay, still you might want to at least look at videos (I'm not sure about any demos, who puts them out anymore?). You can get Assassins of Kings for around 3$ on sale on Steam. |
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Sep-24-16
 | | TheAlchemist: <Fusilli> So in the end there are many issues that are not black/white and there is often a downside, or let's say abuse potential, which is understandable. There are several issues where I would give people the right to choose and not just outright ban them, but it does come at a cost. The problem might come with selective application of the law to those who abuse the system, instead of it being fairly enforced, so I can see why some might see banning as the surest way of avoiding abuse. Ok, perhaps I'm being too general. Regarding abortion, there are other ethical dilemmas, for example genetic defects etc. Sex is just too arbitrary and while I am pro choice I don't really know how you can avoid such instances other than fighting against these backwards ways of thinking that lead to such decisions. Still, an outright ban seems an unnecessary and too drastic a solution and most likely leads to a black market of sorts, which means less safety, probably criminal networks etc. Anyway, I'm from Slovenia, so some of the issues you may face in the US are not really applicable to us (yet?) and vice-versa. Also, the political spectrum is quite different (as is in other European countries), in the US you would call a lot of us and our parties far left if not outright communist :-). |
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Sep-24-16 | | brankat: Hello Uros!
I thank You for dropping by the other day. It has been quite a while we talked, and it felt good to hear from You. How have You been? I suppose by now You are actually a real Alchemist :-) |
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