Diogenes the polyskeptic
@shaunphilly.bsky.social
Here to witness the continuing balkanization of online culture. Echo chambers galore!
Trump sucks, voted for Kamala, and I'm critical of much of progressive and leftist spaces for...so many reasons
https://shaunphilly.substack.com/
Polyskeptic.com
Trump sucks, voted for Kamala, and I'm critical of much of progressive and leftist spaces for...so many reasons
https://shaunphilly.substack.com/
Polyskeptic.com
Pinned
PSA: Being for neither MAGA nor for the Dem/progressive sets of politics doesn't make you necessarily a centrist.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
We need to do a better jo of allowing our ideas to be scrutinized, starting with ourselves
Reactionary Ideological Momentum of Pendulums
re-taking political control is not the time for retaliation
shaunphilly.substack.com
June 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
We need to do a better jo of allowing our ideas to be scrutinized, starting with ourselves
"I think it's better to have one's own opinion,even if that means a split, than to avoid a split by giving up one's own point of view"
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
May 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
"I think it's better to have one's own opinion,even if that means a split, than to avoid a split by giving up one's own point of view"
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
"You can't go on expecting hope to come from professional suppliers, you have to find it first of all in yourselves.
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
May 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
"You can't go on expecting hope to come from professional suppliers, you have to find it first of all in yourselves.
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
"Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous: anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not"
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
May 1, 2025 at 10:56 PM
"Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous: anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not"
-Vaclav Havel
-Vaclav Havel
Reposted by Diogenes the polyskeptic
Joseph Heath, who once wrote a post I genuinely liked a lot where he said I was a tiresome British academic who thinks everything is about class - he's right and he should say it, I am cliché! -- has another banger. I too hate this bloody meme image!
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Why philosophers hate that ‘equity’ meme
If you want to annoy your favorite philosopher, one of the best ways to do it these days is to mention the “kids standing on boxes equity meme.” To call it the bane of our existence would be something...
substack.com
April 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Joseph Heath, who once wrote a post I genuinely liked a lot where he said I was a tiresome British academic who thinks everything is about class - he's right and he should say it, I am cliché! -- has another banger. I too hate this bloody meme image!
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
A new political secularism is required for a time where cultural and political tribes vie for authoritarian power.
If we are unable to rise in this moment of continued going low, then we may not like the consequences.
Let's learn from history once again
If we are unable to rise in this moment of continued going low, then we may not like the consequences.
Let's learn from history once again
Kendi, Trump, and our new Kulturkampf
Why Platonic disinterest is essential especially right now
shaunphilly.substack.com
April 15, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A new political secularism is required for a time where cultural and political tribes vie for authoritarian power.
If we are unable to rise in this moment of continued going low, then we may not like the consequences.
Let's learn from history once again
If we are unable to rise in this moment of continued going low, then we may not like the consequences.
Let's learn from history once again
Are you ready to actually earn your revolution? We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Vaclav Havel and the Rouge Revolution
On the need to earn a revolution
shaunphilly.substack.com
April 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Are you ready to actually earn your revolution? We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
If you're less concerned about whether is something is true than if it is righteous, then pardon me for not taking you seriously.
April 10, 2025 at 12:15 AM
If you're less concerned about whether is something is true than if it is righteous, then pardon me for not taking you seriously.
A note to fellow progressives/liberals:
The reason I began questioning aspects of progressive discourse was because I was trained in critical thinking. Friends kept telling me to avoid certain sites and writers due to them being "problematic"
But I had to understand for myself, and so I read them
The reason I began questioning aspects of progressive discourse was because I was trained in critical thinking. Friends kept telling me to avoid certain sites and writers due to them being "problematic"
But I had to understand for myself, and so I read them
April 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A note to fellow progressives/liberals:
The reason I began questioning aspects of progressive discourse was because I was trained in critical thinking. Friends kept telling me to avoid certain sites and writers due to them being "problematic"
But I had to understand for myself, and so I read them
The reason I began questioning aspects of progressive discourse was because I was trained in critical thinking. Friends kept telling me to avoid certain sites and writers due to them being "problematic"
But I had to understand for myself, and so I read them
Hey progressives! The fact that criticism from Left, Right AND center are dismissed as problematic seems to imply that you just can't be bothered to consider that the problem is you.
Any person who won't consider that they might be wrong are dangerous even if they are right.
Any person who won't consider that they might be wrong are dangerous even if they are right.
Michelle Goldberg is wrong, even though I agree with her
Why progressive commentariat responses to Trump continues to be wrong-headed
substack.com
March 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Hey progressives! The fact that criticism from Left, Right AND center are dismissed as problematic seems to imply that you just can't be bothered to consider that the problem is you.
Any person who won't consider that they might be wrong are dangerous even if they are right.
Any person who won't consider that they might be wrong are dangerous even if they are right.
OMG I literally laughed out loud. Snorted, actually.
I'm not a parody account, you're a parody species.
March 3, 2025 at 5:12 PM
OMG I literally laughed out loud. Snorted, actually.
This one is for Blusky. You inspire me so.
The Cultishness of "Normie" culture
And the disappointment in pretty much everyone
shaunphilly.substack.com
February 28, 2025 at 7:46 PM
This one is for Blusky. You inspire me so.
This is also my philosophy. If what I believe is right, being exposed to other ideas won't hurt. Also, I might be wrong. I have been before, after all.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. I follow people I disagree with deliberately, as it teaches me different points of view and opinions. For some reason, this is a minority position and most prefer an echo chamber. We see, with devastating consequences, the damage echo chambers brings.
January 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This is also my philosophy. If what I believe is right, being exposed to other ideas won't hurt. Also, I might be wrong. I have been before, after all.
@danwphilosophy.bsky.social writes another insightful piece about the Lippmann-Dewey debate about public opinion, expertise, and things such as the larger "discourse" which we all have to parse with our own lenses.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
The world outside and the pictures in our heads
Walter Lippmann, John Dewey, and the fundamental question of political epistemology: Can anybody understand modern society?
www.conspicuouscognition.com
January 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
@danwphilosophy.bsky.social writes another insightful piece about the Lippmann-Dewey debate about public opinion, expertise, and things such as the larger "discourse" which we all have to parse with our own lenses.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
OK, I hate to post this here, for a lot of reasons, but if you still don't get this then you absolutely need to read this. Especially if you are an online lefty who hates trump (as I am).
Why People Like Trump
The president’s appeal explained in a meme.
open.substack.com
January 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
OK, I hate to post this here, for a lot of reasons, but if you still don't get this then you absolutely need to read this. Especially if you are an online lefty who hates trump (as I am).
PSA: Being for neither MAGA nor for the Dem/progressive sets of politics doesn't make you necessarily a centrist.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
January 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
PSA: Being for neither MAGA nor for the Dem/progressive sets of politics doesn't make you necessarily a centrist.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
One can be a Leftist and not be for the current trend of critical theory or the toxic end of social justice, for example. I am one such person and there are many of us out here.
Interesting.
realizing i never posted it here….but too long have we been limited by the 2-dimensional political alignment chart. i think by using my new tool we can truly map another person's politics. here it is: The Ideology Cube
December 28, 2024 at 11:22 AM
Interesting.
A thing that continues to amuse and perplex me is the phenomenon, by people of many political and philosophical perspectives, to conflate disagreement with something else, such as bigotry or brainwashing.
Some people don't seem capable of seeing that they might possibly just be wrong.
Some people don't seem capable of seeing that they might possibly just be wrong.
December 23, 2024 at 12:58 AM
A thing that continues to amuse and perplex me is the phenomenon, by people of many political and philosophical perspectives, to conflate disagreement with something else, such as bigotry or brainwashing.
Some people don't seem capable of seeing that they might possibly just be wrong.
Some people don't seem capable of seeing that they might possibly just be wrong.
Skepticism means waiting for the evidence. As a person who is in favor of science as the best method, it's true that often actual science institutions get caught up in activism when actual research should be paid attention to. Well said @helenlewis.bsky.social
I wrote about the Supreme Court ruling on banning puberty blockers. In this case, when liberals talk about “trusting the science,” what they actually mean is that they trust the American medical establishment: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Push for Puberty Blockers Got Ahead of the Research
Gender care for minors should be a question of evidence, not politics.
www.theatlantic.com
December 18, 2024 at 3:52 PM
Skepticism means waiting for the evidence. As a person who is in favor of science as the best method, it's true that often actual science institutions get caught up in activism when actual research should be paid attention to. Well said @helenlewis.bsky.social
If waking up at 5am and reading Dostoevsky is the wrong decision on a Wednesday, then perhaps today is just one of those days where I make poor decisions.
December 18, 2024 at 1:45 PM
If waking up at 5am and reading Dostoevsky is the wrong decision on a Wednesday, then perhaps today is just one of those days where I make poor decisions.
One of the most depressing realizations I've had in my life is that some of the worst people live their daily lives surrounded by an illusion of calm and rational support mechanisms. They live within quasi-real evidence of being the good people. This is why they can't see their own faults.
December 18, 2024 at 11:14 AM
One of the most depressing realizations I've had in my life is that some of the worst people live their daily lives surrounded by an illusion of calm and rational support mechanisms. They live within quasi-real evidence of being the good people. This is why they can't see their own faults.
Nancy has a way with words.
I'll add that I understand, and share, much of the anger towards how healthcare is seriously fucked for many people, myself included. I also understand rage. I am perpetually learning that it isn't healthy nor is it especially helpful, practically or emotionally.
I'll add that I understand, and share, much of the anger towards how healthcare is seriously fucked for many people, myself included. I also understand rage. I am perpetually learning that it isn't healthy nor is it especially helpful, practically or emotionally.
Confronting the Enemy: CEO Murder Edition
Tweet-haters, have a seat. Class is called to order
open.substack.com
December 8, 2024 at 7:58 PM
Nancy has a way with words.
I'll add that I understand, and share, much of the anger towards how healthcare is seriously fucked for many people, myself included. I also understand rage. I am perpetually learning that it isn't healthy nor is it especially helpful, practically or emotionally.
I'll add that I understand, and share, much of the anger towards how healthcare is seriously fucked for many people, myself included. I also understand rage. I am perpetually learning that it isn't healthy nor is it especially helpful, practically or emotionally.
Periodically throughout my life, I try to believe that it's possible to make connections through rational discourse.
Then, actual attempts to talk to people smack me back into reality. I guess I'll just continue to find beauty, sublimity, and depth where it lives and try to ignore the rest.
Then, actual attempts to talk to people smack me back into reality. I guess I'll just continue to find beauty, sublimity, and depth where it lives and try to ignore the rest.
December 7, 2024 at 5:32 PM
Periodically throughout my life, I try to believe that it's possible to make connections through rational discourse.
Then, actual attempts to talk to people smack me back into reality. I guess I'll just continue to find beauty, sublimity, and depth where it lives and try to ignore the rest.
Then, actual attempts to talk to people smack me back into reality. I guess I'll just continue to find beauty, sublimity, and depth where it lives and try to ignore the rest.