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To forget is an ethical act

emilygorcenski.com

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Re: To forget is an ethical act

#41

Post by seanhunter »

ryandv wrote: post #16
Yodel0914 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With no representations of yourself on the net, you may as well not exist, and people are free to project anything whatsoever unto the tabula rasa of your nonexistent persona I think this is only as issue if you are a “known” person in some regard. For most of us plebs, receding into anonymous nonexistence is likely a very healthy thing.

Even while writing pseudonymously and innocuously you are at risk of being doxxed and subjected to mob "justice;" as an example of this see Scott Alexander's writings on Slate Star Codex. In light of this the safest recourse is to simply not post anything online at all, for fear of being doxxed at some point in the future (an inevitability given modern standards for and cultural attitudes towards privacy) and subject…

The Scott Alexander thing is interesting to me in terms of how online dramas work because the drama assumes its own momentum and the facts struggle to maintain the pace.

Scott Alexander was not in fact doxxed. He said in his final post before deleting his blog that the NYT planned to reveal his name, deleted his blog and the NYT published their article three weeks after he had already revealed his own name.[1]

The pros and cons of whether they would have revealed his name became this massive hoo-hah and maybe they would have revealed his name given the chance but the fact is he was not in reality doxxed by anyone other than himself.

[1] eg this article cites an anonymous source saying that none of the proposed article about him had yet been written at the time he took his blog down https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/16/21325678/venture-capitali...

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#43

Post by dijit »

jltsiren wrote: post #38
matrix87 wrote: post #13

I don't understand how people who are into their late 20s and 30s have time for all of this online drama If you have to work, manage relationships, and have to cook and clean up after yourself, where is the extra time for it? Not only that, but with what little free time that's left, people would choose to spend it on engaging in online drama instead of doing something actually pleasant It's one of those things that…

There are around 6000 waking hours in a year. A full-time job is 1/3 of that. Maybe managing your life is another 1/3. That still leaves 2000 hours, which is plenty for hobbies, vacations, doing silly things, and feeling bored. Some people are busy because they need multiple jobs or have unexpected caretaker responsibilities. But many who feel busy are busy because they choose to be busy. They have made so many commi…

5840 hrs awake, based on 16hours per day.

2080 hrs at work, based on a 40hr work week - of course not counting days off.

Math seems to be mathing (mostly) but it feels wrong, work definitely feels like it takes up much more than 1/3rd of our waking hours.

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#44

Post by paganel »

> Eventually, trolling right wingers just became who I was. I was good at it—I still laugh at how I got Zuby banned for saying “ok dude” to me and then him writing his most popular song about it

Somehow this person (hope this doesn't get me banned as well) felt that that was ok to put down into words. Twitter brain-rot at its finest, Musk did these people a lot of good when acquiring said company because it has allowed some of them to try and get some sort of normal life back.

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#45

Post by DavidPiper »

dijit wrote: post #43
jltsiren wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are around 6000 waking hours in a year. A full-time job is 1/3 of that. Maybe managing your life is another 1/3. That still leaves 2000 hours, which is plenty for hobbies, vacations, doing silly things, and feeling bored. Some people are busy because they need multiple jobs or have unexpected caretaker responsibilities. But many who feel busy are busy because they choose to be busy. They have made so many commi…

5840 hrs awake, based on 16hours per day. 2080 hrs at work, based on a 40hr work week - of course not counting days off. Math seems to be mathing (mostly) but it feels wrong, work definitely feels like it takes up much more than 1/3rd of our waking hours.

Things get murky because you have to include commuting and preparation/returning home time. But I also like to distinguish physical time and mental time. Sure physically I'm at work for 40 hours a week, but the mental space it takes up is far more.

If anyone has good tips on how to mentally separate from work after hours I would love to hear them. I know some people can literally switch it on and off like a light but I've never been able to.

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#48

Post by interludead »

matrix87 wrote: post #13

I don't understand how people who are into their late 20s and 30s have time for all of this online drama If you have to work, manage relationships, and have to cook and clean up after yourself, where is the extra time for it? Not only that, but with what little free time that's left, people would choose to spend it on engaging in online drama instead of doing something actually pleasant It's one of those things that…

Online drama can be a way to escape

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#49

Post by [deleted] »

saurik wrote: post #36
matrix87 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You've spent the time to go on Hacker News, read about the online drama, and then comment on the online drama. it's usually easier to read about something after the fact than it is to participate in it as it's unfolding. Especially if there are strong emotions involved > social activism It's less about the end goal than the way she goes about accomplishing it. Taking the time to seek out alt-right troll accounts to…

But, this is the drama... you are part of the drama ;P (as am I! and we are both doing this--"instead of doing something actually pleasant"--because, what? FWIW, I can see the argument that it is maybe being justified mentally as "social activism"--for both of us, though in different ways--but I actually think, at least for me, that it is a form of escapism and addiction).

[deleted]

Re: To forget is an ethical act

#50

Post by matrix87 »

saurik wrote: post #36
matrix87 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You've spent the time to go on Hacker News, read about the online drama, and then comment on the online drama. it's usually easier to read about something after the fact than it is to participate in it as it's unfolding. Especially if there are strong emotions involved > social activism It's less about the end goal than the way she goes about accomplishing it. Taking the time to seek out alt-right troll accounts to…

But, this is the drama... you are part of the drama ;P (as am I! and we are both doing this--"instead of doing something actually pleasant"--because, what? FWIW, I can see the argument that it is maybe being justified mentally as "social activism"--for both of us, though in different ways--but I actually think, at least for me, that it is a form of escapism and addiction).

Well as far as drama goes, this community is about as dramatic as a box of cereal

On the one hand for me, it's escapism. On the other, there's a lot of novelty available, new things that we'd never encounter irl. Which gives us new ideas for things to try irl. Sort of like the printing press spreading information faster

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