tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post926012289664007143..comments2024-03-03T04:40:39.492-05:00Comments on Fire Megan McArdle: Cheap Pop Psychology Shot Of The Weekbradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-910248275752332862009-09-16T17:54:54.406-04:002009-09-16T17:54:54.406-04:00Or are made by Foucault and his descendants, who a...Or are made by Foucault and his descendants, who actually are crazy and want to give mental illness stature it does not deserve as some kind of sign of genius. <br />To say again, Ayn Rand was not a philosopher, she was a hack demagogue who expressed herself via text.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-47795140147781859422009-09-16T17:52:24.498-04:002009-09-16T17:52:24.498-04:00And no, philosophers are not crazy, that's off...And no, philosophers are not crazy, that's offensively simplistic, at best.<br />Nietzsche, for example, did not "go crazy", he either suffered from syphilis or, as is more likely according to modern research, had a slow growing brain tumor behind an eye. Most of those claims are made by anti-intellectuals who want to cheaply invalidate someone's work without actually addressing it.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-24673002913623080452009-09-16T17:45:31.543-04:002009-09-16T17:45:31.543-04:00Uhhhhh.
Ayn Rand was not a philosopher, any more t...Uhhhhh.<br />Ayn Rand was not a philosopher, any more than L Ron Hubbard was.<br />Words mean things, people, don't be know-nothings.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06907349163323395529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-55651036872492336872009-09-15T22:33:39.944-04:002009-09-15T22:33:39.944-04:00Hokey Smokes, I wasn't inviting cheap pop psyc...Hokey Smokes, I wasn't <i>inviting</i> cheap pop psych shots, but well done!<br /><br /><i>Are all philosophers crazy? I ask that in all seriousness, because every time I read about a philosopher the bio ends with "and oh by-the-way they were crazy."</i><br /><br />In all seriousness, yes. To be a published/successful/discussed philosopher you'd have to be disturbed. I mean, they only talk & write about nothing &/or whatever they've imagined inside their minds all day & night. Crazy & self-obsessed. <br /><br />I must go before I write/reveal anything else about myself.M. Bouffanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04519088858760760560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-35567514085784994362009-09-15T19:29:29.136-04:002009-09-15T19:29:29.136-04:00Well, both are superior, but narccisists have doub...Well, both are superior, but narccisists have doubt underlyinh. I don't see that as much in herNutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-48165744108894136692009-09-15T19:22:46.869-04:002009-09-15T19:22:46.869-04:00I think her insistance on superiority is proof of ...I think her insistance on superiority is proof of self-doubt, but like I said I'm guessing here.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-41194544902529463062009-09-15T19:18:45.884-04:002009-09-15T19:18:45.884-04:00I don't thikn she's a narcissist. She doe...I don't thikn she's a narcissist. She doesn't hold idiolized notions of love and she never expresses any selfdoubt, which is at the root of narcissism and usually manifests in some way.<br /><br />Her seeming lack of close relationships, but social adroitness in more superficial settings are common in people with sociopathic tendencies.<br /><br />Really, it cfould be either though. There is much overlap.NutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-72042533528895540572009-09-15T18:59:09.658-04:002009-09-15T18:59:09.658-04:00Yes it is, but it's not just sociopaths who la...Yes it is, but it's not just sociopaths who lack empathy. My understanding is that sociopathy has biological roots as well, which the "mere" lack of empathy does not. <br /><br />Authoritarianism isn't either/or, it's more like a continuum. Some have a little, some more, depending on basic personality, the severity of abuse as a child, and the mitigating factors, if any. Liberals can be authoritarian too, although usually they are not extremely so. We've seen a lot of people show complete and utter faith in Obama for no logical reason, ignoring what he says and does in favor of the image they prefer to hold in their head of their authority. And we've seen a lot of authoritarian people with just a little empathy in circumstances that affect them personally, like McArdle or Cheney. <br /><br />McArdle is definitely a narcissist. I'm no health care professional, but it's pretty obvious. I am guessing that her parents both told her that she was superior and that she must be grateful that they gave her so many advantages, without which she would have nothing. You can her her mother's voice echo in her words--the world is not here to please you--and her father's voice--the rest of the world is lazy scum out to cheat the world (like unions). <br /><br />She probably was made to feel excessively grateful for what they gave up to educate her at a ludicrously expensive school, making her afraid she couldn't live up to it (as indeed she can't; she is mediocre intellectually). But they also probably told her that she was superior to others, which she clings to to ease her conscience and her fears of inadequacy.<br /><br />I could be totally wrong, of course, but it's not too hard to figure out people when you've read a great deal of their words and/or words about them. We reveal a <i>tremendous</i> amount about ourselves when we write.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-19963916373410716342009-09-15T17:47:41.993-04:002009-09-15T17:47:41.993-04:00I thought a lack of empathy was a characteristic o...I thought a lack of empathy was a characteristic of either sociopathy or narcissism. I think the latter might have some genesis in rearing, but I thought that the former was seemingly inherent.NutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-85613349480009359582009-09-15T17:27:39.910-04:002009-09-15T17:27:39.910-04:00I think the absence of empathy is usually due to c...I think the absence of empathy is usually due to child abuse, but some people do manage to come out of it with their mind and soul intact. Either they're stronger or they had some kind of outlet (a friend or relative, or maybe even a love of art or books or animals).Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-73812442902676497852009-09-15T15:49:20.790-04:002009-09-15T15:49:20.790-04:00Wait, so we have epic income stratification, with ...Wait, so we have epic income stratification, with rich people throwing Caligula-style parties and poor people dying in the streets, because these idiots were subjected to petty child abuse? My childhood gave me PTSD, and the lesson I take from it is that *someone* ought to be watching the powerful every minute of every day or they're apt to abuse anyone they can get close to. <br /><br />Makes you wonder if we'd have decent health care industry regulation now if their folks had just hit them harder.D. Sidhenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-1382415338656144722009-09-15T13:14:02.895-04:002009-09-15T13:14:02.895-04:00my favorite part is when she has hundreds of peopl...my favorite part is when she has hundreds of people die in a train crash but then says they all deserved it because they weren't Ayn Rand (or one of her followers).NutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-20503859711615398472009-09-15T11:56:57.972-04:002009-09-15T11:56:57.972-04:00As I never tire of saying to extort admiration/sym...As I never tire of saying to extort admiration/sympathy, I read Atlas Shrugged last year. The whole thing. It's worse than you think, although AR's descriptions of inanimate objects have some oomph. The rest is pure crap on every level--like a fractal, you can zoom in or out and the crappiness is precisely replicated.<br /><br />(Gore Vidal called it "nearly perfect in its immorality.")<br /><br />The only reason to read it is, once you have, you need never take anyone who admires it seriously, about anything, ever again.Mr. Wonderfulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-66299677226352016752009-09-15T11:54:20.247-04:002009-09-15T11:54:20.247-04:00Still sounds better than yet another McArdle post ...Still sounds better than yet another McArdle post making arguments backed up by imaginary numbers.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-15918052968818770062009-09-15T11:52:26.565-04:002009-09-15T11:52:26.565-04:00I've read it. I can synopsis it right now.
7...I've read it. I can synopsis it right now.<br /><br />700 pages of hollow characters explaining how everyone should be selfish as hell. The villains are shallower than a 2-D caricature and provide something flimsier than a straw man for our "heroes" to knock over. The protagonists win via tortured twists of the plot as directed by the omniscient author that have no bearing on what could, would or should ever happen anywhere ever including in other solar systems, galaxies and universes. Also, if you disagree with Ayn, you deserve to die.<br /><br />The end.NutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-89435778290954977512009-09-15T11:46:04.314-04:002009-09-15T11:46:04.314-04:00I'll do it. Or rather, I'll try to do it u...I'll do it. Or rather, I'll try to do it until I end up rolled up in a ball in the closet, sobbing. I'm burnt out on Jane Galt.<br /><br />Which reminds me, <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janegalt.2286743#" rel="nofollow">she was full of it</a> when she said she chose the name to gig liberals.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-6880199246536712982009-09-15T11:23:36.726-04:002009-09-15T11:23:36.726-04:00brad tried but we got sick of the late night, cryi...brad tried but we got sick of the late night, crying phone calls. Eventually we had to have an intervention.NutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-22889936490880336072009-09-15T11:19:43.430-04:002009-09-15T11:19:43.430-04:00Not to be a dick, but whatever happened to reading...Not to be a dick, but whatever happened to reading Atlas Shrugged?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-6300468236536651912009-09-15T10:02:15.964-04:002009-09-15T10:02:15.964-04:00Shit, I'd love to put this to the test and can...Shit, I'd love to put this to the test and can think of three suitable test subjects right now. The only problem is that I'd have to actually, y'know, talk to the fuckers...bulbulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14505565281151328789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-30066399919520337612009-09-15T07:52:16.930-04:002009-09-15T07:52:16.930-04:00Are all philosophers crazy? I ask that in all seri...Are all philosophers crazy? I ask that in all seriousness, because every time I read about a philosopher the bio ends with "and oh by-the-way they were crazy."<br /><br />You just have to look at what Rand did to the people in her life to know that she had some very serious problems--she was manipulative and cruel, just for starters.<br /><br />Half of America is just begging to be subservient and under someone's control. They want to be told that someone is better than them, so that someone will take care of them. God, Rick Santorum, Ayn Rand--they don't really care.Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-29442325268512102702009-09-15T01:00:49.516-04:002009-09-15T01:00:49.516-04:00That's funny, if it's true. Rand's pa...That's funny, if it's true. Rand's path to libertarianism started when someone gave her something then took it away. Wasn't her mother just doing what was right to prevent Rand from being a moocher?<br /><br />Also, this is hilarious:<br /><br />http://michaelprescott.net/hickman.htmNutellaonToasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524357022370926931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2048715035467766557.post-74684051803625490772009-09-15T00:53:25.331-04:002009-09-15T00:53:25.331-04:00And it's not necessarily aimed at the name in ...<i>And it's not necessarily aimed at the name in our title, who can't really be called an "extreme libertarian." She's more of a LINO, or, as they say, "a squish."</i><br /><br />Or as I like to (virtually) say, a "Republican."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com