Disqus - Latest Comments for fncll

Re: Have you heard the news that you're dead? (on the edtech angst)

Chris L — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:22:30 -0000

You ask "Is this what blogging in 2008 was like?" Yes, except in 2008 it was more vibrant, creative, generative...simply put, it wasn't anemic nor mostly animated only in pulses of posts comparing the old days to the new. Frankly, as glad as I am to see the signs of life, even from some of the old folks, there's little comparison between the larger picture of 2008 and now.

But that shouldn't hold you or anyone else back. You have to do you.

Re: The Wright Show - May 3, 2022 - Robert Wright & Bernardo Kastrup

Chris L — Wed, 04 May 2022 09:16:46 -0000

I can’t figure out how the commenters here were able to listen to this person for two hours without stabbing themselves in the ears. Just for reasons of presentation. On top of drifting off into the kind of gibberish that establishes him solidly in the camp of cranks. And then when he tried to use the story of his partner’s relative while still claiming parsimonious explanation…how does he not hear his own mocking voice putting himself in his place?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 22, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 17:32:12 -0000

OK, Jonathan Swift.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 22, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 17:31:05 -0000

Of course Lorenz is subject to that judgment. But is she supposed to not report on this TikTok, which has enormous sway in significant, Trump-ian Right circles because the person running that account and sharing that information will have to own it? Would it be ok in your view if reported by someone else who doesn't have the history (which I believe you are mischaracterizing, but we can just assume you are correct for these purposes) Lorenz does? How is it creepy to find the person purveying and influencing the discourse to this degree? Do you think the ownership and identity don't matter?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 22, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 13:54:05 -0000

I wouldn't let some Conservative pundits watch my dog. What's the point of Matt going out of his way to insult teachers? Could it be that recognizing how vanishingly rare the kind of teaching acts he draw attention to are (not to mention that the teachers he mentions apparently all faced consequences with no new law needed) or recognizing how hard, under-compensated, and under-appreciated a much greater number of teachers are, reveal how shallow his position is?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 22, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 13:38:32 -0000

No one was doxxed or outed by Lorenz's story...she used public information and tracked the person down. No one has a right to anonymity when working in the public sphere. And the reporter's motivations are irrelevant...it's not like she chose to explore some site no one had ever heard of!

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 15:19:21 -0000

But if the outcomes, at least based on rates of detransitioning, are greatly positive (assuming, for the moment, the 8% who detransition), then is 'e' really a problem?

And you continue to make an assumption about cause and effect that can easily be turned around (again, why I ask for research): perhaps the changes in language and self-conception aren't causing gender identity questions, but rather those existing gender identity questions are finally able to be expressed more often and are more often representative of a psychological state that is more common than previously believed. We are, after all, ultimately still talking about a very small percentage of the population for whom any of this is a serious question.

E also shows that you are coming to this with a conceptual framework of gender and identity that is rather different than mine, and a difference that might just be irresolvable.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:46:35 -0000

I agree, and such things add to the importance of multi-faceted approaches to psychological care to determine if the dysphoric feelings are a cause or an effect (or, likely, in different ways, some of each).

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:28:32 -0000

I'm not sure I understand the relevance of your second paragraph. Are the characteristics you list items you see as in opposition to transition?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:27:52 -0000

Yes, testimonials are important. But so are numbers, and detransitioning happens 8% of the time as far as I can tell from the research I've found. How many of those were treated without attention to those other issues? I agree that supporting transition without consideration of other factors is bad (it's also exceedingly strange given both my own experience with psychiatric and medical care as well as everything I know about the educational curriculum in the former field), but even if all 8% had this issue, what is the value of an approach that has a 92% "success" rate?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 14:19:55 -0000

We are all in bubbles. I am talking about my experience in communities that aren't about trans identity or gender, but happen to have a higher number proportionally than any others I've been part of. It would be a bit different if the communities were organized around gender identity, transition, etc. That's why I continue to ask for research (or something) that looks into this because, based on my *experience*, the choice to transition doesn't appear to be being commonly made as a means to fight depression. How are you arriving at your believe that it is?

As someone who has fought depression and suicidal ideation since I was a young teen, such a choice of de-facto treatment seems unwise, but the causal chain here can work both ways, and the context contains a lot more than "depression." So, even in cases where fighting depression was the operating principle, if the percentages of detransitioners I have seen (around 8%) are true, then there is a value proposition to be considered, and I'm not sure what I would conclude.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:52:22 -0000

Note: as one who has fought depression and suicidal ideation (and two serious attempts) since my early teens, I am absolutely in agreement that going through an arduous process of transitioning to battle depression doesn't seem like a healthy path and I would certainly advocate against it if I witnessed it. But it is difficult to disentangle depression and gender dysphoria because the causal chain can work both ways. So, again, I've asked for research, but all I receive is accusation and equivocation rather than evidence.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:48:14 -0000

The existence of detransitioners is only a support if there are proportionally many of them. That doesn't seem to be the case. Do you know otherwise?

You can accuse me all you want, but I have yet to see the research you claim is out there, and I have been looking. It sounds like your accusation of bad faith is just a way of hiding a lack of evidence.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:46:39 -0000

How is your contention different? I can only base what I know on my experience (note: these groups are not focused around sexuality or gender identity, they just happen to have a higher proportion than I see elsewhere) and research. You not being in such a "bubble" makes your reasoning just as suspect (and not) as mine, since we are all talking about the bubbles we live in. So, again: where is the research or anything else that supports the idea that people are changing their sex to fight depression?

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:41:46 -0000

It is very closely following those contours with the idea that kids are now being "turned trans" in the same way that people were once worried (and many who are behind this kind of legislation still worry/believe, I suspect) about kids being "turned gay." And the issue under discussion isn't about puberty blockers or the age at which medical intervention is taking place, it is about talking about gender dysphoria and trans identity in the classroom. The question of medical intervention is a different one. It doen't seem at all obvious to me that this is a trend we are creating, it is a trend in recognition.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:36:09 -0000

It's not my job to research claims that are presented without evidence. Nor am I finding the research you believe there is "plenty of." Most likely because it doesn't exist.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:35:20 -0000

I don't see this "changing sex to fight depression" as the phenomenon you are, at least not in the communities I am part of that include a relatively high proportion of trans folks. What is right in front of my eyes are a lot of people that have chosen an arduous path that, if anything, adds more social stigmas and difficulties.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:26:17 -0000

Bzzzt. That's not the problem. The problem is decontextualizing the quote (or not understanding the context in the first place).

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:25:31 -0000

Not really. Not sure what you are positing as "first" here or why you think I gloated. If you are referring to Bork, I'm with Bill that the rejection of his nomination was different in kind from the machinations to prevent Garland and then the abandoning of the "principles" that McConnell had created when it was convenient.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:20:57 -0000

I don't know about the playbook. What Matt described would not be a good thing. I am simply asking for some kind of pointer to where this has actually happened.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:34:09 -0000

I enjoyed Bill casually dismantling R hypocrisy and Matt’s sad ducking with “I guess both sides suck.” Bill didn’t even have to invoke the nuclear option of bringing up Merrick Garland to do so. The enfeebled intellect of the conservative once again on full display.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:15:09 -0000

So the growth in numbers of people identifying as trans is due to suggestibility? Please share the work and differentiate suggestibility from feeling less chastened by fear, more aware of what existing feelings might mean, etc. This trans panic is following the same countours as gay panic not that long ago.

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:07:42 -0000

You really think you are clever, don’t you. Guess what: you aren’t. Also, that’s not a sufficient definition of what systemic means (which you’d also understand if you were even half as clever as you seem to think you are).

Re: The DMZ - Apr 6, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:05:20 -0000

Please show us the case Matt refers to where a teacher secretly counseled a student to transition.

Re: The DMZ - Mar 16, 2022 - Bill Scher & Matt K. Lewis

Chris L — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 11:52:41 -0000

Not to get too far away from the serious here, but it's just not that hard to deal with the changes of light and dark. I raised two kids in Alaska, where seasonal changes make Daylight Saving look like a minor clock adjustment. I'm a proponent of ditching Daylight Saving Time, but let's not get too dramatic about it.