I think it forces us all to ask an important introspective question -- if I were to become the target of a national manhunt, would my posting history look cringe?

Oh yeah to be clear: I also find this kind of reporting to be disingenuous and disgusting.

Also, it easily morphs into the proposition that attempting to fight injustice or make the world a better place beyond improving one’s own lot (and ability to tune out annoyances beyond one’s control) is a fool’s errand, and can be a call to renounce responsibilities and retreat into an internal exile. Which is a useful ideology for the unfree, but antithetical to the propositions of democratic society.

I don't think there is a real stoic writer out there suggesting you supress your emotions. My interpretation was that it's easy to be swayed by your own emotions, that it happens to everyone and is very human, and it's egotistical to think otherwise.

Yeah i think this kind stoicism can also be used as an abusive tactic. Im not trying to armchair psych your rel btw, it also is just a really common mistake people make (mostly men) I certainly have made mistakes like that. And yeah repression is not good.

A lot of “I can control my emotions and choose how I act, you should try that” - yeah stop. We’re human. Emotions are normal.

Ye, that's the point? The point is not to suppress emotions but to recognise them as they're happening to you. It's not even that there's objective value assigned to the emotions, it's simply so that you yourself can perform introspection of the kind "I did that action because I was furious. Now is that good or bad?". But it's still entirely okay to make a conscious decision of the form:

1. I'm gonna punch that motherfucker
2. Okay, stop, I am feeling fury right now, I shouldn't allow just the emotion to guide me. Let's think.
3. Okay, I thought this through, I'm gonna punch that motherfucker with purpose.

when I asked him if jewish people in WWII concentration camps were just choosing to be unhappy he was like yes

oof.

that whole strain of "it's only in your mind" motherfuckers who just outright disregard varieties of concrete evidence.... whether from biochemically-etc originated body- and being-related problems all the way through things like the example you gave.. I've had to deal with a couple of them myself (my can of brainworms include some choice seasonal unfun things) and good god do I often want to boop them on the nose

🧐

Effective altruisim is fine on paper, and I'm sure there's people effectively effective altruisim, but most people who champion it are...well...Sam Bankman-Fried and friends. Wearing a mask of doing it for the unfortunate and spending everything on a beachfront mansion robbing Peter to pay Paul, with absolutely no real intention of helping the folk that "effective" altruisim is meant to help.

I liked Luigi, and this is gonna sound a bit rough, because he shot a useless piece of shit drain on society. Effective altruisim is nice on paper, but it's almost always used to fleece the stupid so the rich can get richer.

yeah, until they pull out their machine god they absolutely have to build, because otherwise trillions of simulated humans will be tortured forever and that's not mathing in their sum of all happiness. also it never occurred to them that maybe billionaires shouldn't exist and instead post things like this:

totally not a cult btw

No, if you're from the same socioeconomic sphere as him and haven't lived long enough. The only people I've ever met or heard of that are effective altruists are "upper middle class" or properly wealthy.....and younger than 50.....