We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote of the day We have discarded Occam’s Razor (the explanation which uses the fewest assumptions is best) for Occam’s Nail File (if there is a gender difference that reflects unfavourably upon women, discrimination is the only allowable explanation).
– Ferox Ludum, commenting on Samizdata.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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Very well put. I shall now propagate this phrase liberally.
Trouble is, they will think it is a fair point.
That’s a nice, in the Elizabethan sense of the word, aphorism.
By Occam’s nail file, it requires an impossibly high standard of proof to refute the presumption that a disproportionately bad outcome for women is due to oppression. And by Occam’s vibrator, it requires an impossibly high standard of proof to refute the presumption that a disproportionately bad outcome for men is due to the inherent superiority of women.
In the NY Times there is an article about women in engineering professions. It is estimated that only 17% of engineering jobs are held by women. They, of course, state this as a problem, and seek ways to increase that proportion.
I, for one, don’t see what the problem is, and why we need more women in engineering. We need good engineers, not women engineers. Let women choose whatever profession they like.
…but the fact that 98% of the people working in garbage disposal are men is “Just Fine”.
Occam’s Afro-pick (if there is a racial difference that reflects unfavourably upon minorities, racism is the only allowable explanation).
What is needed is affirmative discrimination- tell women what career they are going to pursue! Fill up the quotas with conscripted workerettes! It doesn’t matter what their individualistic wants are, sovciety comes first! then we could have a law about Affirmative Relationships- why should women born with good looks be allowed to exploit such undeserved luck? Dates and couplings should be randomly assigned, so as to do away with unfairness. (Turn me down, would you?)
‘sovciety’ was a mistake, but it seems serendipitous, so I think it should be more widely used for any over-bearing culture.
We’re getting into Harrison Bergeron territory again.
Also, I assume that the fact that I have no idea what an “Afro-pick” is merely indicates that I am insensitive to the issues affecting oppressed minorities. (Oppressed by me, of course.)
The next time a woman asks you to fix something just say you are not prepared to perpetuate the patriarchy
John Galt wrote:
“…but the fact that 98% of the people working in garbage disposal are men is “Just Fine”.”
Here in the sticks, many people rely on a septic tank and leach field for wastewater disposal. From time to time, the septic tank needs to be pumped to remove the accumulated non-digestable solids.
My friendly local septage hauler tells me that his wife and (for a time) one of his daughters would drive one of the tank trucks and do pump-outs. Apparently, there is a sub-set of female customers who prefer that this task be performed beyond the gaze of male workers, for fear that either would have to acknowledge in any way to the other that women poop.
So it seems that there is a place for a subset of female workers in the traditionally-male trades that involve Dealing with Yucky Stuff.
llater,
llamas
llamas”…for fear that either would have to acknowledge in any way to the other that women poop.”
Mmmmm…I think that it’s not so much denial that “Everybody poops”, but denial that Girl poop doesn’t stink.
Occam’s nail file: Well, it’s…..COMPLICATED!
Occam’s Razor: No, it is NOT!
I have read a fair bit of feminist junk [including the Feminine Mystique which was positively referenced – sort of- by Ayn Rand!] – Greer, Steinham, Dworkin, Wolff – it’s all schoolgirl tosh – Mercy Otis Warren they ain’t.
Feminists are just Marxists who substitute ‘gender’ for ‘class’ – it’s the same epistemology, the same terms of discourse, the same psychological techniques – what can you say about women who consider the burqa to be liberating but the bra and the bikini to be oppressive?
Once you understand the nature of their ideology their smears and insults mean nothing – when they see their childish name-calling has no effect it’s the same old story, fear, anger, hysteria.
…but the fact that 98% of the people working in garbage disposal are men is “Just Fine”.
I work in an area of publishing that is almost entirely female, and middle class to boot.
A recent (very gentle) criticism of this status quo was greeted with howls of protest and calls for the (admittedly very left-wing) gentleman who suggested it to be sacked. Several people I have worked with made the kind of outrageous insults that would have seen them prosecuted if made by a man against a woman. And they made them openly.
This is a clear plagiarism of Steve Sailer’s original concept of Occam’s Butterknife! It’s an outrage!
Just kidding. 😉
Yep. Occam’s Butterknife seems like a more general statement of the principle. I yield to the criticism of peers. Occam’s Butterknife it is 🙂
On a related subject, here’s a professional marketing take on that Protein World ad.
CaptDMO:
Occam’s nail file: Well, it’s…..COMPLICATED!
Occam’s Razor: No, it is NOT!
Occam’s Chainsaw?: “Reality is a Bitch!”