this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
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Want to wade into the rainbow-ridden surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid.

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The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this, and happy 4th July in advance.)

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[–] corbin@awful.systems 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

This self-own from the comments is amazing:

Suppose you are a selfish CDT agent, and I am considering whether to hire you to clean my house. Once you're inside my house, you might steal my stuff instead of cleaning my house. Suppose that California Labour Laws require that I pay you up-front and I know I have no chance of getting my money or stuff back.
Say your preference order is "Steal" > "Do the job" > "Don't get hired".

This is a racist dog-whistle which attacks ESL housekeepers; this sort of meme's frustratingly common on the West Coast.

[–] YourNetworkIsHaunted@awful.systems 1 points 14 minutes ago

It's also fascinating because I thought the OP was pretty clear that there's a difference between decision theory and "desirable dispositions" which I interpret as covering the kind of counterfactual preferences indicated here. Actually there's an even more fundamental issue with this as a decision theory problem which is that it misidentifies who is actually making a decision. Changing the applicant's decision theory (while leaving their preference for thievery intact) doesn't matter to the person actually deciding here.

Don't get me wrong, it's also a wildly racist example to put forward, it's just also a bad example and where there is an argument it's addressed in the OP.