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Atheism Plus/Free Thought Blogs (FTB)

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zooterkin said:
Here's the link to the specific blog post - http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/02/22/i-am-so-over-the-skeptical-movement/


If he's so over those things, why is he still going on about them?
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its not this that bothers me particularly. everyone on every "side" keeps saying the same thing. theyre trying to get the last word,you know, like when children argue in the playground.

the thing that bothers me about myers is he is always so rude and abrasive, borderline aggressive! for no constructive reason that i can see.

their will be no olive branches from him in the near future i think.

lxxx
 
s_pepys said:
its not this that bothers me particularly. everyone on every "side" keeps saying the same thing. theyre trying to get the last word,you know, like when children argue in the playground.
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That's a principle of Internet debates: the idea that the last one who posts on a topic "wins." This has bedeviled me for years -- the feeling that if I don't answer a challenge, I'll be perceived as the loser. My closer is usually, "Unless someone says something new, I'll sign off the discussion without conceding to my opponents. You can have the last word."
 
squealpiggy said:
If the term was coined by a Brit then it is almost certain to not be a reference to any body part. The term "twat" in Britain generally refers to a buffoon of a particular type: Pathetic, pretentious and arrogant. There is a meaning for the word that refers to female genitals but this would be the most vulgar and the least used definition.

Calling Watson "Twatson" is not a slur on her gender, it's a use of the other British colloquial meaning.
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Since we're not in Britain your apologetic falls flat.

In any case it's an insult, so unless you're saying that argument by insult is OK you shouldn't be defending it's use.
 
Originally Posted by squealpiggy
If the term was coined by a Brit then it is almost certain to not be a reference to any body part. The term "twat" in Britain generally refers to a buffoon of a particular type: Pathetic, pretentious and arrogant. There is a meaning for the word that refers to female genitals but this would be the most vulgar and the least used definition.

Calling Watson "Twatson" is not a slur on her gender, it's a use of the other British colloquial meaning.
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Where did you grow up ? As a Brit schoolkid in London in the 70s , twat was a relatively immature way of referring to female genitalia, when we boys had no idea specifically what we were talking about, rather than say the (more taboo among children) C word. Later twat did also come to mean a stupid person.
The same as the c word (don't think the forum censors will allow , doesn't matter) has come to mean a stupid or obnoxious (usually male) person.

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squealpiggy said:
If the term was coined by a Brit then it is almost certain to not be a reference to any body part. The term "twat" in Britain generally refers to a buffoon of a particular type: Pathetic, pretentious and arrogant. There is a meaning for the word that refers to female genitals but this would be the most vulgar and the least used definition.

Calling Watson "Twatson" is not a slur on her gender, it's a use of the other British colloquial meaning.
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It doesn't work as a Brit insult given the difference in the pronunciation between the uk and the us. In the US the a in twat and watson are pronounced the same, in the uk they ate very different. Given the vile misogynistic abuse which rebecca has suffered (alongside legitimate criticism) I dont see why we should assume that this childish insult is an innocent transatlantic misunderstanding.
 
Rrose Selavy said:
Where did you grow up ? As a Brit schoolkid in London in the 70s , twat was a relatively immature way of referring to female genitalia, when we boys had no idea specifically what we were talking about, rather than say the (more taboo among children) C word. Later twat did also come to mean a stupid person.
The same as the c word (don't think the forum censors will allow , doesn't matter) has come to mean a stupid or obnoxious (usually male) person.

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Where I grew up, in Lancashire in the 80s twat was used almost exclusively to mean "hit", to the extent that our primary school headmaster felt comfortable using it to us as seven year olds. Clout, however, was much more rude.
 
Nihilus said:
Yes, the fourth potential colloquial usage for the term in urban dictionary allows for a non-gender-based interpretation for the word.

Either there's a good bit of special pleading here or we're playing selectively naive or there was a portion of the context intended to convey both meanings 4 and 1. In any case, it substantiates the counter-argument inasmuch as psychic ability to measure internal mental intent does not exist.
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So, you are saying you aren't psychic but you can read the author's intent . . . that makes a lot of sense. :rolleyes:
 
Rrose Selavy said:
Where did you grow up ? As a Brit schoolkid in London in the 70s , twat was a relatively immature way of referring to female genitalia, when we boys had no idea specifically what we were talking about, rather than say the (more taboo among children) C word. Later twat did also come to mean a stupid person.
The same as the c word (don't think the forum censors will allow , doesn't matter) has come to mean a stupid or obnoxious (usually male) person.

-
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Same here. It was definitely a word you wouldn't say in front of your mother.
 
CynicalSkeptic said:
I didn't realize it was offensive to nor properly perform a dance when dancing (or whatever) to an eponymous song.
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The key factor is that it's not the eponymous song - the dance predates the song by 3 decades. The song has the line "then do the Harlem Shake" presumably referring to the existing dance. The meme involves people dancing to the song and generally not even attempting that particular move. I hear the reaction focusing on the ignorance of the original dance causing offense rather than the dancers' skill.

recursive prophet said:
Qwint, where are you!!? Get in here...NOW!! :p
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Still reading this thread every few days.
 
qayak said:
So, you are saying you aren't psychic but you can read the author's intent . . . that makes a lot of sense. :rolleyes:
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I'm saying I can read his words. As can anyone who doesn't have a disorder that leads to linguistic context becoming muddled or invisible.

And, based on his location being listed as in the US, he doesn't seem to be British.

The best case scenario we can paint for that choice of word is that he was too short-sighted to see how easily connected it could be to a confirmatory point-won for the other side and, instead, was more excited about how clean the humor of it was (where "Twitson" would have messily required swapping a vowel, and "Wackotson" would have added an additional syllable).

But feel free to continue offering special pleading to argue with someone who has already pointed out in preceding posts that, logically, insults don't invalidate the structure of an argument being made and who is only dealing specifically with one unspoken, underlying presumption wound within the "privilege" argument that Justicar, via naivete or not, directly fed.
 
And back to content maybe ...?

RW may or may not be a 'twat' (and really, who gives a flying ****?) but her whole schtick is so bereft of substance and credibility that it's a wonder so-called skeptics pay her air-fare, hotel bill, food and alcohol bill for the 'privilege' of listening to her whiny 1k tone.

I thought I'd give her a chance when the subject of her rant about Evolutionary Psychology came up and I thought I'd ask my fiance to join me while I watched the video. You see, my (chill) girl, who says she embraces elements of feminism but is also not a 'big f feminist', watched the video with me. It just so happens that my fiance works and has worked, for about 20 years, in an industry where her main job is to spot people with personality disorders and do it quickly.

We both watched to gauge the substance of RW's arguments. There was no pretense, but after about 10 minutes, her first comment was that RW was clearly narcissistic. I was thinking the same thing but was trying to look past it to see the arguments but that was the first thing I heard from a trained professional. No wonder since, from memory, it took that long for her to actually say anything of substance at all - unless you count "LOOK AT ME" or "AREN'T PEOPLE STOOPID?!?11?!!!!!", as things worth thinking about.

In lot's of people's considered opinions RW is nothing but an opportunistic show pony. And believe me, in the industry that I work in I can spot them a mile off.
 
qwints said:
The meme involves people dancing to the song and generally not even attempting that particular move. I hear the reaction focusing on the ignorance of the original dance causing offense rather than the dancers' skill.
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I still don't understand why anyone should/could take offense to that. They (people in the videos) are not doing the Harlem Shake dance move, they're participating in a silly meme. The meme has nothing to do with the dance move other than the song. The song, the meme, and the dance are three distinct things.
 
How to deal with hate mail.



Assuming that you are not trying to make a career from your hate mail.
 
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