Malady

Photo

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:07:12 -0700

abhortion: biyuti: lightspeedsound: one-bite-at-a-time: aka...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:45:06 -0700

biyuti:

lightspeedsound:

one-bite-at-a-time:

aka 99% of Fox News programming.

EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET SHOULD HAVE THIS AT THE READY.

I’ve been meaning to write something on this for a while now, but just didn’t have the time/focus.

This has been going around on tumblr for a while now, with people mostly happy/pleased that all of this is fairly clearly laid out.

Except no one has taken the time to actually critique the ways that this photoset (and similar calls for ‘logic’ in discourse) only serve to ratify the frankly racist and sexist and, yes, arbitrary rules that a bunch of white men have placed on argument/debate/discussion.

These fallacies aren’t universal. Nor do they represent the rules of some logic that is inherent in the world. Rather, they represent the rules of one system of logic. A system of logic that has historical roots (thus, context) and is embedded in a particular culture. The expectation that all people must abide by these rules not only erases the other historical and cultural traditions of argument and logic, but serves to normalize and reify the myth that there is just one logic. Or one way to do arguments.

There isn’t.

Nor should we be looking at a photoset like this and go, ‘yes, these rules are clearly the best and anyone who doesn’t follow them should be silenced because their words/voice are invalid.’ This is the exact reasoning that has been used to discredit and silence the voices of IaoPoC. Because in a system created by whiteness, we can literally never actually meet all of these requirements, by default. It isn’t by accident that the Chinese are labelled ‘mysterious and poetic’ in such a way as their system of argument is completely discredited. So too with Indian logic. Too magical and filled with superstition for most of the world to take it seriously.

More to the point: a photoset like this leads you to the false belief that if you were to use a 100% sound and valid argument, that you’d finally be able to convince your oppressor that what you say is truth.

However, what most of liberatory ‘debate’ comes down to, is actually disagreements over matters of fact. White mythology has such a strong grip on most white people that you literally cannot get them to accept that (from a personal example) the modern white traditions of tattooing were all appropriated from Polynesians. You can’t get them to accept this, despite the piles of historical evidence. Or, a woman will say ‘1 in 6 women in the usa will experience rape’ but men, despite all the evidence to the contrary, just won’t accept this basic fact.

These things don’t come down to how good your argument is. Because it also doesn’t deal well with the fact that logic is about form (or syntax and semantics if we want to get super technical). You can also have flawless arguments while making the most oppressive point possible. In fact, whitesplaining and/or mansplaining is fond of this tactic. So too are abusers.

Take the ad hominem fallacy for example. Not too long ago there was a nazi on tumblr who got mad at everyone for judging them solely on their character as a nazi, rather than engaging their ideas. Classic ad hominem. Except…

Anyone who seriously expects me or anyone else to engage the ideas of nazism and fascism out of some absurd need to follow arbitrary rhetorical rules deserves to step on a lego. This is also a great example for how white discourse attempts to absolve people from accountability for the ideologies they adhere to. It puts a space between the ideas and the person. Between the harms that idea causes and the person upholding those ideas.

Quite frankly: if you are a nazi, you are a terrible fucking human being and I will never sit around and engage your ideas when I can simply point to the large moral defects in your character. Because it is a monstrous ideology held by monsters.

As the fallacy fallacy notes: what matters here is truth. Using logic as a means to descredite true statements is a common practise. And something remains true regardless of how sound the argument for/against it is.

this is actually the most ridiculous thing I’ve read in a while.

patrickt: I recreated Piet Mondrian’s Trafalgar Square in...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:58:40 -0700

patrickt:

I recreated Piet Mondrian’s Trafalgar Square in Excel. Check out the original here.

reevar: ♥_♥”

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:03:21 -0700

reevar:

♥_♥”

theartofanimation: Herve Groussin

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 08:10:48 -0700

theartofanimation:

Herve Groussin

Depression Quest Is Out!

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:18:39 -0800

ohdeargodbees:

We’ve finally loosed Depression Quest out in to the wilds after a couple of the longest, most difficult months of my life.

www.depressionquest.com

It’s all pay what you want because making it be unavailable to people without the cash to pay for it would semidefeat the awareness raising goal that we’d started out with. It’s not “fun”, but it’s honest.

And now I am going to go sleep for a year.

theartofanimation: Kelley Harris

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:36:41 -0800

theartofanimation:

Kelley Harris

theartofanimation: Shadow Chen

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:50:02 -0800

theartofanimation:

Shadow Chen

sosuperawesome: Wandering in the Woods, Oer-Wout

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:54:16 -0800

sosuperawesome:

Wandering in the Woods, Oer-Wout

theartofanimation: Shawn Koo

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:44:29 -0800

theartofanimation:

Shawn Koo

theartofanimation: Kirill Bran

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:23:28 -0800

theartofanimation:

Kirill Bran

lucid-form: penelopesloom: The Blue Lagoon, Iceland, 11.11.09

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:21:54 -0800

lucid-form:

penelopesloom:

The Blue Lagoon, Iceland, 11.11.09

theartofanimation: Vladimir manyuhin

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:44:08 -0800

theartofanimation:

Vladimir manyuhin

theartofanimation: Maxim Revin

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 02:44:55 -0800

theartofanimation:

Maxim Revin

theartofanimation: Sshigure

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:51:33 -0800

theartofanimation:

Sshigure

theartofanimation: Saitama

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:50:48 -0800

theartofanimation:

Saitama

Photo

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:42:48 -0800

erickimberlinbowley: The Loneliest Whale in the World. In 2004,...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 05:35:15 -0800

erickimberlinbowley:

The Loneliest Whale in the World.

In 2004, The New York Times wrote an article about the loneliest whale in the world. Scientists have been tracking her since 1992 and they discovered the problem:

She isn’t like any other baleen whale. Unlike all other whales, she doesn’t have friends. She doesn’t have a family. She doesn’t belong to any tribe, pack or gang. She doesn’t have a lover. She never had one. Her songs come in groups of two to six calls, lasting for five to six seconds each. But her voice is unlike any other baleen whale. It is unique—while the rest of her kind communicate between 12 and 25hz, she sings at 52hz. You see, that’s precisely the problem. No other whales can hear her. Every one of her desperate calls to communicate remains unanswered. Each cry ignored. And, with every lonely song, she becomes sadder and more frustrated, her notes going deeper in despair as the years go by.

Just imagine that massive mammal, floating alone and singing—too big to connect with any of the beings it passes, feeling paradoxically small in the vast stretches of empty, open ocean.

lacigreen: brute-reason: (via The Varieties of Intimate...

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:17:06 -0800

lacigreen:

brute-reason:

(via The Varieties of Intimate Relationship)

a nice little chart touching on different relationship styles!

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the..."

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:06:02 -0800

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

- Oscar Wilde