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A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

news.rapgenius.com

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Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#31

Post by tptacek »

I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary.

Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy.

RG's style of annotation works extremely well for some kinds of writing --- song lyrics, The Great Gatsby, TS Eliot poems. What I think those things have in common is that they're hospitable to "riffing" and cross-linking; for instance, the lyrics to the ICP song where they come out of the closet as religious are totally incongruous until RG annotations inform you that they're reprised lyrics from previous ICP songs.

But riffing on Rodgers diary doesn't serve the same purpose, at least so close to the event. It is instead a minefield; almost anything you can say risks diminishing the tragedy, or misapprehending how the mind of a deeply mentally ill person functions, or, god help us, using the output of that mind as a platform on which to build suggestions on changing our culture.

There may be some point at which RG annotations will add value to this terribly sad artifact of Elliot Rodgers, but it probably won't be in 2014.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#32

Post by DoubleMalt »

minimaxir wrote: post #27
darkrabbi wrote: post #14

Apparently this guy had a brain tumor and this wasn't the first time he's publicly embarrassed the company. He tweeted from the RapGenius account "WARREN BUFFETT CAN SUCK MY DICK". http://www.fastcompany.com/3021564/most-creative-people/how-... http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/02/22/rap_genius_wa...

The brain tumor was removed...and the public behavior was unchanged. http://valleywag.gawker.com/rap-genius-frontman-blames-brain...

Sad but the brain tumour could still be the reason for his behaviour.

We don't know nearly enough about the brain to argue that the removal must restore the previous personality.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#33

Post by brador »

tptacek wrote: post #31

I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…

"It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy."

That's exactly why it should be studied.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#34

Post by tptacek »

brador wrote: post #33
tptacek wrote: post #31

I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…

"It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy." That's exactly why it should be studied.

I'm not suggesting it not be studied.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#37

Post by nailer »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #6

Context: http://gawker.com/rap-genius-co-founders-creepy-comments-on-... Mahbod compliments several of Rodger's sentences as "artful" and/or "beautifully written". That is okay, if ill-timed. One can make a stylistic statement about Mein Kampf without endorsing its message. He also, however, speculates that Rodger's "sister is smokin' hot." That is violently inappropriate, particularly given the misogynistic nature o…

Speculating Rodger's sister was attractive might be mildly inappropriate, but, it's also relevant to understanding the nature of his killings, particularly as they seem to be based around sexual frustration.

I think 'violently inappropriate' is being used by the internet echo chamber to draw attention to themselves.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#39

Post by nightpool »

tptacek wrote: post #31

I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…

As someone who was on the forums when the decision was made, I can give you some of the background. Last February, News Genius transcribed and annotated the Dorner manifesto, and got a lot of positive press. You can see the page at http://news.rapgenius.com/Christopher-dorner-manifesto-annot... and the press from Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/02/13/christoph...

The thought was very similar in this case, in that News Genius could help annotate and pull out important sections, things that could help people understand the text. In retrospect, I believe we didn't consider fully how hard it would be to annotate, or how much more of a minefield it would be with the additional dimensions of misogyny and mental illness to consider. (Well, personally, I voted against its inclusion. But that's neither here nor there.)

I'm not sure what the right response is in this case. But that's the context.

Re: A Statement About Mahbod’s Annotations on Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto

#40

Post by riggins »

tptacek wrote: post #31

I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…

the diary is not particularly well-written

depends on your standards. He's not a professional author but I think he's probably better than your average college grad.

studded with evidence of psychopathy

genuinely interested. could you point to some of these. I've been skimming it and haven't really seen that.

in fact, this struck me as empathetic

James’s mother, Kim Ellis, had just passed away from breast cancer. I cried for a bit. Kim was a very kind-hearted person, and the mother of my best friend. She had been suffering from breast cancer for several years, but I never thought she would die from it. I immediately thought of how James must be feeling. He just lost his own mother!Annotate It made me think of how horrible I would feel if the same thing happened to my own mother, just the thought alone filled me with pain.

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