Projection afflicts even Vox

By default, when we see anyone else doing something, we immediately fill in a "why did they do that" blank with ourselves. We assume that when other people act like us, they obviously have the same motivations as us, and acted like we do for the same reasons that we do.

http://voxday.blogspot.com/2019/01/churchianity-is-not-christianity.html

This is a phenomenon which is hardwired into us, and even greatly superior intelligence does not avert our tendency to do this.

The troubling result of this is that when other people obviously act for completely different reasons, with entirely different motivations, one is then forced to scramble for an explanation as to why the original presumptions were still correct.

Due to pride, it is hard for people to accept that they were wrong about someone, even when further evidence comes along which demonstrates that what they did was project themselves onto that someone else.

http://voxday.blogspot.com/2019/01/churchianity-is-not-christianity.html#c8073916483931721469

Vox is fallible, he's human, and such things shouldn't be so surprising or hurtful, but when such events do occur, when someone like Vox has shown himself to be less reliable than he otherwise claims, folks like me just need to calibrate how we process Vox's claims moving forward.

Vox Day is considerably smarter than me, but that intelligence isn't a superpower which makes him immune to the phenomenon of projection.

http://voxday.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-alt-right-comes-to-washington.html

This reminds me of the sports media, and the way that they constantly complain that the athletes either don't talk to them or refuse to give them anything but canned answers. Who do they think taught them to do that? The media clearly doesn't like the fact that we won't talk to them on the phone, and it won't be long before they are complaining that we don't bother responding to their emails anymore. Well, you see, Mr. Journalist Reporter, since you're obviously not going to utilize any of the answers we're giving you, there simply isn't any reason to talk to you in the first place.

This is why Stefan Molyneux doesn't bother with them at all. I may need to further alter my media policy in imitation of his. Or perhaps I'll simply tell everyone who contacts me to go talk to Milo. All they really want is quotes from him anyhow, so we might as well cut right to the chase.

http://voxday.blogspot.com/2018/11/blair-white-outs-fake-conservatives.html

If the media is promoting someone on the nominal Right, you can be all but certain that they are bought-and-paid-for Fake Right. Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, and Dave Rubin. They are fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. All of the cucks are Fake Right.

Calibrate claims with facts and data. Don't dismiss outright, that's not a useful heuristic, but understand that when Vox supports someone else, it may very well be because they've done something that Vox would have done, and he naturally defaults to the presumption that they're doing it for the same reasons he'd be doing it.

If Stefan is nominally "of the right", and claims to not talk to "the media", yet is appearing on the show of a man who is simply part of the latest effort for "the media" to rebrand itself, do we place more weight on the claims, or on the actions?

In Vox's crucifying of Jordan Peterson, he exposed how people who were fans didn't really know what Peterson was talking about at all, what he really supported, and in circumstances like this it's apparent that such oversight is not uncommon at all.

The reason folks shouldn't be embarrassed about having supported Peterson is evidenced in that some of the folks that Vox himself supports have made claims and taken stances on topics which are in stark contrast with what Vox promotes, yet because such things can be easily overlooked unless one spends time studying what others say or write, we can't be surprised if something is missed.

This isn't helped by his "private criticism, public support" mantra which, while based on good intentions, does not change that there are folks who are trying to insert themselves into the nationalist right that are fundamentally incompatible, but because many have been so busy focusing on "the left", they hadn't noticed folks of "the left" setting themselves up as #FakeRight as a means of insulating themselves from the critical examination that would expose their deceptions.

It's not "division" to point out that those who claim to be part of your tribe are not actually so at all. It's not "punching right" to go after the moderates and cucks "in the middle". It's not "punching right" to kick out the godless and the heretics, the mutants and the depraved.

It may very well be a testament to why President Trump has been so effectively framed as so ineffectual that folks tried to create a movement from collections of people who were simply the enemies of enemies. If he can see that "the right" is simply one ideological standard away from completely falling apart, what trust can be placed in The People to support him when push comes to shove?

What happens if, for reasons other than are stated, the wall literally won't change anything at all, because where it would be built now won't reflect the border of what is rebuilt from the United States after our next "civil war", wherein the various nations of people vying for control inadvertently destroy or neuter the federal government and, like Yugoslavia in the 80's/90's, the "United States" Balkanizes into much smaller regional states such that the existence of a border wall between the current Mexico and United States becomes entirely immaterial?

Stop relying on other people to think for you, to tell you when to act, or not to act. Grow the wisdom and knowledge to make that determination yourself, and while you can learn from other people, they are not responsible for making choices in your life. You are the one who chooses, you are the one whose shoulders will bear the consequences of those choices, quit pretending like there is anyone else on this planet that you can ultimately trust with your own life, your own future.

Synthetic replacements don't satisfy

I am currently playing a video game where you can breed creatures and you can try to select for certain traits to make them better at performing certain roles.

For the time and effort, I could probably be breeding castor rex rabbits instead. Selling or crafting pelts, eating their meat, and also lowering the costs in switching my dog to a raw meat diet.

I am not doing that though, and the game activity has started to drag.

From a perspective of relaxation and entertainment, there isn't an issue, the game is well made, but there won't really ever be much of a tangible legacy for all of my efforts. I can certainly pass on the game, or share stories about experiences in achieving what I do, but as far as an impact in the "real world"? Negligible at best.

So I think that, should I continue playing it, I should find a way to make it "do work" for me. Perhaps streaming, running a parallel video channel and a blog, or something like that. Presuming that people keep playing the game, folks are always searching for quality content relevant to their interests, and in this fashion a source of my entertainment could also help pay bills.

That said, I've told my bosses for years that I am not fit for a management path. I am great as the guy the manager sends off to get his hands dirty.

From a certain perspective, it is unfortunate that I need such external guidance and direction, especially on the modern beliefs that if we just realize what the root of a problem we face is we'll have the power to fix it ourselves without help.

Best I think I can do right now is to put myself in circumstances where I can try to come alongside someone who already has a direction and needs my support.

I was laughing to myself the other day when I caught myself daydreaming of being recognized as good at my job, by someone I recognize as an expert who knows what they're talking about, and without much fanfare or pomp either.

With respect to a recent Voxiversity video on the male socio-sexual hierarchy, I think that'd put me square in the "delta" camp. That said, I do have a wife and children, so I am just a very blessed delta relative to the plight of most deltas in the modern world. I haven't struggled the way some have, and perhaps that's the reason why I am struggling with motivation and priorities now.

I am trying to appreciate a synthetic replacement to actual animal husbandry with digital animal husbandry, and frankly it keeps inspiring me to just clear a portion of my land, set up a hutch and some cages, and start breeding rabbits.

It doesn't help that I frequently see wild rabbits on my walk in from the parking lot.

I've heard they taste like chicken.