Thinking about terms and concepts.
This episode of I Have No Idea What I'm Doing is sponsored by:
Our Goodstuff Patreon Subscribers and listeners just like you! Support your favorite podcasts directly to get exclusive unedited episodes and more.
Recurring Characters
(S01:E01) The Soundboards(S01:E08) Butt Stevens(S01:E08) Huell Howser(S01:E09) Big Dogs(S01:E11) CICPSCouncil at the Institute of the Center for Politics and SocietyAaron is CEO, Andrew is presidentBoth have large salaries and no responsibilitiesSlogan: “We disambiguate complexifiers for the good of humanity.”Also announcing our new PAC, BackPAC. A return to normalcy for all!(S03:E13) Ben ShapiroThought Technologies & Args
(S01:E05) Thought Technology: “…for who?”A thought technology to avoid the trap of tactical framing: append any assertions that are made like, “this will be too drastic”, or “this is too expensive”with the question: “for who?” Or, “to who?”(S01:E07) Thought Technology: posting as unpaid labor(S01:E11) Thought Technology: Maybe They’re just PoorThe idea is to stop when you see a meme which is based on mocking a person (maybe for their style or weird behavior) and ask yourself: is this really about them being a bad person, or could this simply be the result of them being in a very bad spot?(S01:E14) Thought Technology: De-contemptifyAny time I bristle at somebody “having it easy” or being “spoiled” I stop and ask myself, “is this actually just a decent and good thing for them that I’m only upset about because I’ve internalized a rationalization of late capitalisms awfulness by telling myself it was, basically, vitamins for character that was good for me?”(S02:E02) Thought Technology: efficiency vs. efficacyWhen you double efficiency your halve efficacy.Efficiency masks other failings because it gets adopted as the supreme metric. Once you pull back the curtain, you can see that making efficiency your god usually distracts you from more mundane but crucial areas of focus.EX:// InfrastructureAlgorithmic systems which predict the most efficient areas for road improvements cause people to stop paying attention to the maintenance of less efficient areas, which become degraded and require_more_ work than if they had simply been maintained.(S03:E03) Thought Technology: You’ve seen it, or you’ve been shown it?Remember that the media, whether consciously or unconsciously, is providing you a biased narrative.They show you things that drive engagement and attention. Usually, this involves the most extreme examples (see nutpicking, S03:E02)“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.“ - George Orwell, 1984(S03:E08) Arg: Small Business OwnersNew Arg for “what about small business owners?”“What about small business workers?”(S03:E09) Thought Technology: Disney-brainDisney completely short-circuits otherwise normal brains somehow(S03:E09) Thought Technology: Just Unfollow(S03:E10) Arg: Revolutionary DisruptionThere is much opposition to radical or revolutionary societal/national changes for fear of the likely disruptions to everyday life.If everyday life is already being disrupted, why not make radical changes?This is particularly true when the possibly painful changes we’re avoiding would likely solve the underlying thing disrupting our lives.With this in mind, we have even more opportunity to do big and radical changes during disruptive and chaotic times.(S03:E11) Thought Technology: Better ≠ GoodJust because something is “not as bad” as something else doesn’t make it acceptable.It’s Not That HardWhatever They Accuse You Of Doing Is What They’re DoingTerms
(S01:E02) Workismhttps://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/(S01:E09) StriversA Striver is someone who fully buys into the Capitalist American DreamThey’re always going somewhere, never happy with where they are, always comparing themselves to everyone elseThey have a tendency to make you feel bad, sometimes passively, because they need to know they’re better than someone(S01:E13) NequalNeither, nor, etc.(S03:E02) Dummy Chumevents, propaganda, memes, or messages that activate the stupidest ranks within any given group/movement/fanbase(S03:E02) Nut-pickingusing a whacky outlier position as if it represents a whole group. (basically weak-man fallacy)Ex:// sharing a post of a fringe BLM activist who states that it’s racist to speak to white people and holding it up as representative of the views of the entire movement.Concepts
(S01:E01/09) Huster’s Second Law - Always double the garlic/use all the garlic
View all episodes
