Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

[Empress]

TW? So now they can't even be bothered to spell it out? Seems like a rather cavalier attitude. Someone could miss it (as I did) and be scarred for life.

Not to mention, someone might think that TW stood for Taiwan, and might have been abused there at some point in their lives, causing them serious trauma and stirring up terrifying memories. Not a safe space for the anti-Taiwainese.

 

[Wildy]

So A+ is still around huh?

 

[squealpiggy]

So the plussers call themselves skeptics and critical thinkers.

It would seem that the want to whine about SJ issues overrides any desire to do any sort of proper research on a topic before posting about it.

An event happened, in this case a press conference. One of those "alternative" news sites grabs a small piece of what was said, and Setar, after reading that small piece, embellishes it with his own particular brand of stupid. Aplussers eat it up.

Mental health activists have spent a lot of time and money trying to re-educate the public so that they see mental illness in the same way as any other illness. People who are mentally ill require treatment in the same way people who are physically ill need treatment, and mentally ill people should not be stigmatised just like you wouldn't stigmatise a cancer patient or someone with Parkinson's disease.

Somewhere along the way mental illness seems to have been turned into a victim badge by SJW types and attempts to treat mental illness are considered to be a means of oppressing the mentally ill. That means that any attempt to treat mental illness is just the mental health privileged attempting to victimise people with mental health concerns.

Hence the utterly stupid reaction.

 

[Stout]

Somewhere along the way mental illness seems to have been turned into a victim badge by SJW types and attempts to treat mental illness are considered to be a means of oppressing the mentally ill. That means that any attempt to treat mental illness is just the mental health privileged attempting to victimise people with mental health concerns.

Hence the utterly stupid reaction.

I hadn't thought of it like that and from what I've seen on A+ I wouldn't disagree with it either.

What I was seeing was a plusser focusing in on the policing aspect of the mental health issue while willfully ignoring all the other agencies that are involved with what's going on in Vancouver.

It's more of a lesson in searching out multiple sources for a story rather than just relying on a few "alternative" sites.

But if they're opposed to treatment of illness, then I'm speachless.

 

[Humes fork]

For what it's worth, Richard Dawkins is no longer following PZ Myers on Twitter. I guess he got fed up with Myers' postmodernism and general attention-whoring.

I think it's safe to dismiss aplus as yet another Internet-based crackpot cult that would evaporate quickly if the Internet disappeared.

It's rather sad how Myers switched from running the world's most popular science blog to this mess.

 

[Humes fork]

For what it's worth, Richard Dawkins is no longer following PZ Myers on Twitter. I guess he got fed up with Myers' postmodernism and general attention-whoring.

I think it's safe to dismiss aplus as yet another Internet-based crackpot cult that would evaporate quickly if the Internet disappeared.

It's rather sad how Myers switched from running the world's most popular science blog to this mess.

 

[Diogenes]

...
It's more of a lesson in searching out multiple sources for a story rather than just relying on a few "alternative" sites.

But if they're opposed to treatment of illness, then I'm speachless.

If we can just teach that to all the faithful devotees of naturalnews.com.

Therapy for autism had been labeled "ableist" on the a+ forum in the past....by who I suspect might be "self-identified" aspies. (I have a couple of acquaintances who are "self-identified" aspies.)

 

[Mr. Scott]

For what it's worth, Richard Dawkins is no longer following PZ Myers on Twitter. I guess he got fed up with Myers' postmodernism and general attention-whoring.

I think it's safe to dismiss aplus as yet another Internet-based crackpot cult that would evaporate quickly if the Internet disappeared.

It's rather sad how Myers switched from running the world's most popular science blog to this mess.

Dawkins was interviewed in the current TIME Magazine where he was asked some FTB/A-plus-typical questions.

OMFSM here's a link to it: "Ten Questions with Richard Dawkins"

There are FTB/A-Plussers who are foaming at the mouth that Dawkins survived sexual abused unscathed, and that he thinks there's validity to evolutionary psychology.

 

[Stout]

Therapy for autism had been labeled "ableist" on the a+ forum in the past....by who I suspect might be "self-identified" aspies. (I have a couple of acquaintances who are "self-identified" aspies.)

Does aspergers, or autism for that matter, qualify as a mental illness ?

What the City of Vancouver was holding a press conference about was mental illness caused by/coupled with drug addiction. I dunno whether Setar went off due to being anti police or whether he feels "targeted" due to his anxiety disorder. He need not worry unless he's planning on going on a cocaine bender and developing psychosis.

Yea, I remember that A+ thread. I tend to agree the alternative treatments for autism look horrifying, bleach enemas and all but their resident atuism activist does little to instill any confidence in the effectiveness of the social model especially when she makes posts like the second one down in this thread. First sentence specifically.

 

[luchog]

Does aspergers, or autism for that matter, qualify as a mental illness ?

A developmental disability. And "Asperger's" is no longer a valid term, since it is no longer considered a separate disorders. The correct name would be Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

I have heard some Autists insist that it is not a disability, simply a different and equally "normal" neurological structure; and a few even claim to be superior to the neurotypical.

 

[Humes fork]

A developmental disability. And "Asperger's" is no longer a valid term, since it is no longer considered a separate disorders. The correct name would be Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

I have heard some Autists insist that it is not a disability, simply a different and equally "normal" neurological structure; and a few even claim to be superior to the neurotypical.

I'm diagnosed with Asperger (not by myself, but by people with actual credentials), I think it's still considered separate from autism in my country.

Whether it is a disability or not differs from every person I suppose. Reportedly some very successful and wealthy people have it, like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Reportedly also some famous historical persons are reumored to have had it, like Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Jeremy Bentham. However it is a curse in the sense that you are socially hopeless. I'm sitting here, having no friends, never had a relationship. And it's unlikely to change.

 

[Humes fork]

Dawkins was interviewed in the current TIME Magazine where he was asked some FTB/A-plus-typical questions.

OMFSM here's a link to it: "Ten Questions with Richard Dawkins"

There are FTB/A-Plussers who are foaming at the mouth that Dawkins survived sexual abused unscathed, and that he thinks there's validity to evolutionary psychology.

Unfortunately it's behind a paywall. But yeah I can imagine they go crazy over Dawkins' life history.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Yes, it really should have been hiddentexted. Good thing *I* read it rather than my headmate, who just happens to be a raving street lunatic.

Now, there's a lovely idea for some street theater. Do they have anyone there, yet (there's sure to be one sooner or later) claiming to be a split personality? This has wonderful possibilities. How could they moderate or ban the person if it was the evil side that was doing the JAQing off and arguing. It would be the worst sort of privileged neurotypical bullying.

"Introduce Yourself"

Hi, we're Puff-n-Stuff. Puff is neurotypical and a bit of a stick in the mud with misogynistic tendencies and Stuff is a transgendered blind illegal immigrant from Yemen. We share the same brain and body and will post according to whomever is in charge of the neural impulses at the time of posting. Meanwhile could one of you chicks get me a cup of coffee?

Stuff: Sorry, that was Puff cutting in at the end of my thoughts there. Dontcha hate it when your other personalities do that? Sometimes I just want to bore him out of my brain with a Skil 3/4" drill and then pour caustic soda in there.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Statistical anomaly time, once again:

Okay, this is NOT activity in the sooper sekret sanctuary forums... it simply cannot be. From the 19th until today (my time - it's currently 1845 hrs on the 22nd) the forum shows 158 new threads in the forum statistics.

There are not more than 20 new threads in the public areas during that period. This has to be an adjustment of the software, somehow. If it's not, then they're having some wild parties in the secret forums.

 

[Diogenes]

I'm diagnosed with Asperger (not by myself, but by people with actual credentials), I think it's still considered separate from autism in my country...

The latest DSM folded Asperger's into the spectrum. While I'm not a mental health professional I disagree with that inclusion as the language use is very different between Asperger's and the vast majority of the rest of the spectrum. We'd be ecstatic if our 9 year-old was an aspie vice being on the mostly non-verbal side of the high functioning line.

The self-diagnosed people I know tend to use that self-diagnosis, apparently, in a very enabling way.

 

[Atwill]

Therapy for autism had been labeled "ableist" on the a+ forum in the past

To me, this is one of the few legitimately worrying aspects of A+ and the new social justice movement in general. When FTB had their ConScience web conferences, one of the speakers was high-functioning autistic (with a very long clinical history, so no self-diagnosis here), and she took huge offense to the notion of treating children with autism spectrum disorders, making the case that her form of autism is something more akin to a personality quirk that shouldn't be classified as a disease. Now, this notion of less clinical labeling/overdiagnosing when it comes to the high functioning types, who are perfectly comfortable with themselves, is absolutely fine by me, but the reality of the situation is that this is just one end of the spectrum. There are autism patients who are completely unable to live anything close to an autonomous life, who are fully dependent on the care of others, because their condition is simply so horrifically debilitating, and to oppose the development of better treatments for and the research into potential causes of such conditions on the basis of nothing but this self-righteous "Don't tread on my quirks, bro" attitude is something that seriously disgusts and disturbs me.

 

[Diogenes]

...Now, this notion of less clinical labeling/overdiagnosing when it comes to the high functioning types, who are perfectly comfortable with themselves, is absolutely fine by me, but the reality of the situation is that this is just one end of the spectrum. There are autism patients who are completely unable to live anything close to an autonomous life, who are fully dependent on the care of others, because their condition is simply so horrifically debilitating, and to oppose the development of better treatments for and the research into potential causes of such conditions on the basis of nothing but this self-righteous "Don't tread on my quirks, bro" attitude is something that seriously disgusts and disturbs me.

Completely agree. We still don't know if our son will ever be able to live independently, if he'll have the same kind of break-through like Carly Fleischmann. We engage every real therapy (ABA and the like) and work towards it...and already have to wade through a cloud of anti-vaxxers, woo therapy drivers I'd as soon not have to add SJWs who want to make my son's treatment all about them. (which is what happened during my brief foray into the A+ forum...though I did hit them with a doozy...our son used to reach into strangers' armpits and sometimes caught boobs on the way...we worked to extinguish that behavior despite how that meant we were "oppressing" him)

 

[Stout]

A developmental disability. And "Asperger's" is no longer a valid term, since it is no longer considered a separate disorders. The correct name would be Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

I have heard some Autists insist that it is not a disability, simply a different and equally "normal" neurological structure; and a few even claim to be superior to the neurotypical.

Gotcha. We have a seven year old son who had to be run through the process ( occupational therapists, pediatricians, psychiatrists school counselors ) because he committed what can only be described as vicious assaults on a few other children and the word aspergers never came up.

They preferred to go with ADHD and were unanimous in their recommendations that we treat him with drugs. My wife and I refused to go down that road this early in the game and. luckily for us, the disruptive behavior went away all on it's own. At least it's gone away for now, it's been 6 months and there's been nothing that's indicative of anything other than boredom.

Whew.

I gather this sort of behavior is what led to the bullying the aplussers obviously experienced when they were growing up and they embrace their eccentricities as part of their character and tend to seek emotional revenge on the society that shunned them for those behaviors.

 

[Stout]

I'm sitting here, having no friends, never had a relationship. And it's unlikely to change.

Dude, I'm sorry to hear that. FWIW I read a story in our local paper a couple of months ago and it was all about people who were socially awkward ( ASD ) who had found each other and formed a group. It sounded like they were pretty happy having done that.

I'd written more but in rereading it just sounded like I was firing platitudes your way.

 

[Stout]

Now, there's a lovely idea for some street theater. Do they have anyone there, yet (there's sure to be one sooner or later) claiming to be a split personality? This has wonderful possibilities. How could they moderate or ban the person if it was the evil side that was doing the JAQing off and arguing. It would be the worst sort of privileged neurotypical bullying.

"Introduce Yourself"

Hi, we're Puff-n-Stuff. Puff is neurotypical and a bit of a stick in the mud with misogynistic tendencies and Stuff is a transgendered blind illegal immigrant from Yemen. We share the same brain and body and will post according to whomever is in charge of the neural impulses at the time of posting. Meanwhile could one of you chicks get me a cup of coffee?

Stuff: Sorry, that was Puff cutting in at the end of my thoughts there. Dontcha hate it when your other personalities do that? Sometimes I just want to bore him out of my brain with a Skil 3/4" drill and then pour caustic soda in there.

I don't know if it would actually fly. I've seen people with obvious mental health issues enter SJ forums before only to be banned because they didn't follow the script, the dogma, correctly.

It would fly if you presented yourself as someone who had lost their job due to Mr. Hyde saying/doing problematic things at the office with the result that you couldn't get a reference to continue working in your field. I know it would fly, as I'm watching it happen on another SJ forum as we speak only I don't know what the specific issue was, only it was a mental health issue involving all aspects of the system, Police, forced incarceration in a mental institution etc. The poster actually started a thread on the Straight Dope, one of those ask a..... types that they tend to do over there. In this case it was an ask a mental patient and she was posting from the mental health facility.

I've seen Setar come down hard on the otherkin concept.

Regardless of "who" posts, if there's a deviation from the accepted culture, banhammer at a+