So we’ve defined the broad limits of what an asshole is: someone who can’t natively anticipate the consequences of their actions. If you happen to look at the news, you’ll see a lot of examples, naturally, given that Shitler and MAGA are all over the place. Of recent note are the MAGA idiots in the
Asshole Mitigation Plan, Part 10: Black and White thinking Read More »
After the last section, I spent some time writing and rewriting what I wanted to say next about assholes. What are assholes…why are assholes…and then I wanted to write about how assholes do what they do. But the more I wrote, the more I realized that it’s probably too soon to write about the overall
Okay, so now I’ve defined what an asshole is. The next thing to define is why. Why assholes? If they’re so bad, so insidious, and so destructive, why do they even exist? Isn’t natural selection supposed to get rid of traits that are bad for the survival of the species?!? (No, by the way; natural
What is an asshole? So far, I’ve mostly discussed low-scale manipulative and controlling behavior, stuff with low social stakes that’s pretty easy to overlook. I’ve touched on domestic abuse, systemic abuses—like pushy marketing emails and the health insurance industry in general—and catastrophic abuses, specifically the current Shitler dictatorship and his bootlicking shock troops, ICE. Basically,
Asshole Mitigation Plan, Part 7: What IS an Asshole? Read More »
I don’t wanna write about this: as soon as I knew what I was gonna choose to write about next, I started trying to avoid it. When I did start writing, I ranted for a while because I didn’t want to think about how bad I felt thinking about it. I deleted the rant, started
Asshole Mitigation Plan, Part 6: Micromanagement Read More »
ICE is out murdering people in the streets of Minnesota today (and other locations, including detention facilities) around the nation. So fuck it, let’s talk about “doing enough” and despair. “What can I do?” “Am I doing enough?” “Why aren’t other people doing more?” “I can’t fix everything, so I might as well give up.”
Asshole Mitigation Plan, Part 5: “Doing Enough” and Despair Read More »
In the last post I did something I knew was gonna push people out: I questioned whether the screens around you were clean or not, and whether or not you knew how to clean them. That is, I questioned whether or not the solution to a very minor problem was within your control or not.
Asshole Mitigation Plan, Part 4: Cheap and Easy Fixes Read More »
POSIWID. I’d like to bring this term to your attention. It means, “[The] Purpose Of a System Is What It Does.” POSIWID is a way of looking at a system and determining its purpose by ignoring all the claims about what a system does or should do, and focusing instead on what it actually does.
(This post delayed by putting my money where my mouth is. What a pain.) Junk emails: a case study. How do you handle your busyness? I try to remind everyone I know once a year to unsubscribe from junk emails. On the one end of the email spectrum is mail you actually want; on the
The Asshole Mitigation Plan The Asshole Mitigation Plan is something I’ve been working on (and putting off working on) for a long time. And my brain says that we are writing this now. It’s always relevant. The general idea I’ll be poking at is this: ACCOMMODATING ASSHOLES IS NOT A VIABLE LONG-TERM STRATEGY. I mean,
Asshole Mitigation Plan Part 1: intro & Accommodating Assholes Read More »
