Author: elenloth

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Citogenesis, starring Dostoyevsky

Here is the XKCD comic explaining citogenesis: the process by which a made-up “fact” gets cited and becomes widely believed.

https://xkcd.com/978/

And here is an Instagram video wherein a creator tries to track down the source of an allegedly fabricated quote attributed to Dostoyevsky.

I haven’t checked myself to see if the quote has been found; you should also treat this creator with skepticism.

But think hard about the things you quote, and the authority you lend them due solely to their alleged origin. A quote can be no less true or thoughtful or poignant for being attributed to Nancy Schmoe from Des Moines than to Dostoyevsky; but claiming that someone said something they did not say is a bad road to start down.

This already happens in spades to historical figures like Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln, leading to the great meme:

Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

Abraham Lincoln

But we (mostly) know to be skeptical of it when it’s one of those two. Lesser known quotes, like the one from “A Canticle for Leibowitz” about being vs. having a soul, or the one from Chesterton about slaying dragons, are more likely to pass unchallenged.

Stay skeptical. Don’t be afraid to push back when people say things that don’t quite line up. Don’t be an asshole about it, sure, but it’s okay to say “huh, I haven’t heard that before! Where did you say it was from?” Or “Hey, did you know CS Lewis never said that? It’s actually Walter M. Miller Jr!”

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Disentanglement

A few years back, I read this essay about “The Most Skipped Step” (when opening up a monogamous relationship).

The post itself is specifically about the context of Non-Monogamy or Polyamory. However, I find it useful even for monogamous contexts, because it’s very important for the members of a couple to retain their autonomy and identity as individuals, even when they are exclusively having sex and romantic relationships with each other and no one else.

Our society prioritizes and elevates sexual and romantic relationships above all else; but our platonic connections with our friends are also important, and can be just as (or more) important than our romantic/sexual ones. If you fall ill, your spouse is likely to be your primary caretaker; but caregiving is hard work, and should never fall on just one person. This is where The Village comes in. And having strong loving friendships is so important for that kind of resilience and endurance.

So, without further ado: the essay!

https://medium.com/@PolyamorySchool/the-most-skipped-step-when-opening-a-relationship-f1f67abbbd49

I have been informed that the author of this essay is Problematic. I do not know the details; I’m just noting this as a reminder that we should read everything with a critical eye and really try to analyze it, not absorb it uncritically. (I expect you all to read my posts critically as well.)

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Elf

I realized the other day that Elf is a backwards manic pixie dream girl movie and they cast Zoey Deschanel perfectly because of it

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Luxuries vs Necessities

Saw this video today, and thought it was worth sharing. Tl;dw : in the past, luxuries were relatively much more expensive than they are now.

This also reminds me of how, when I was a high schooler (late 90’s) making a prospective budget for when I moved out, I put down $2500/mo for food and $500/mo for rent. My mom saw it, laughed, and told me to swap those two numbers. Rent wasn’t $2500 bad at that time (my first crappy apartment was $1000/mo in 2006) but it wasn’t $500, either.

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Dystopia Creep, the Torment Nexus, and Repo Man

Today I saw this skeet and thought I would share it.

Petition to call this Dystopia Creep. Torment Nexus is when media illiterate techbros make something from fiction and completely miss the point that the cool thing is bad. Dystopia Creep should be when late stage capitalism gets more evil than writers thought possible.

— Deny Defend Decrow (@corbinbelasco.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T02:59:38.890Z

I don’t believe I can embed Bluesky posts yet, so here’s the text:

Petition to call this Dystopia Creep. Torment Nexus is when media illiterate techbros make something from fiction and completely miss the point that the cool thing is bad. Dystopia Creep should be when late stage capitalism gets more evil than writers thought possible.

Here is the origin of the term Torment Nexus.