SaraTonin

@SaraTonin@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Karim Diané on playing Star Trek’s first gay Klingon⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  This is what I was responding to:

  I’m arguing it should be done sparingly and only when it serves a more interesting narrative. To make a topical American culture war issue the defining characteristic of a Klingon is easily one of the laziest writing mechanics I’ve seen in Star Trek, ever.

  If my interpretation is incorrect, please clarify what you meant

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Karim Diané on playing Star Trek’s first gay Klingon⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes, you bashed out the tired old trope that if gay people are to exist in fiction then there must be a narrative reason. That’s nonsense. The fact that gay people exist IRL is all the reason that’s needed for them to exist in fiction

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Karim Diané on playing Star Trek’s first gay Klingon⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Klingons are very definitely one of the species who have always been heavily anthropomorphised

  As for “American culture war issue”…dude, gay people exist. It’s okay for gay people to exist in fiction, too

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The fact that we’re talking about this seemed to suggest to me that you felt at least some pressure to conform to what everybody else is saying.

  No, not at all. There is no pressure I’ve encountered to use the term “autist”, and if I did feel pressure to conform on this subject I wouldn’t have continued to discuss it after my initial post was downvoted

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The wheelchair folks are still disabled, they need the help of physically capable beings or things to exist in and maintain society

  …what? You think it’s literally impossible for wheelchair users to function to the point that a society created by and for wheelchair users would collapse without non-wheelchair users to look after them?

  As for the rest of it, while I certainly believe that self-diagnosis is valid (and, indeed, there is a phrase “all diagnosis is self-diagnosis”), it’s also the case that even people with diagnoses often suffer from imposter syndrome. So what I will say is that if you keep encountering people who find your views on disability and terminology to be wrong-headed, as it seems you do, then it may be to your benefit to approach such conversations with a little more openness and a little more listening to what the rest of us have to say

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Allow me to provide a thought-experiment illustration of what I mean by disability being a product of society.

  There are three workspaces.

  The first is on the 14th floor. There are no ramps and no lifts. All doors are operated via keycard above head height. All areas, work and rest, have rows of desks and chairs, all as one unit like in a fast food place or a picnic table.

  The second is on the ground floor. All doors are operated by keycard at waist height. All areas, work and rest, have large adjustable desks, movable chairs, and plenty of space.

  The third is a multi-storey office. All stories are connected only by ramps which are designed to allow fast descent of wheeled appliances and have an in-built braking mechanism at the bottom. The up ramps have a “stair-lift”-type mechanism designed for the smooth movement of wheeled appliances. All ceilings are at shoulder-height. There are no chairs at all.

  I think it’s trivial to see how wheelchair uses would be at a disadvantage in the first environment, wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users would be equal in the second, and non-wheelchair users would be at a disadvantage in the third

  In each scenario, wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users have different abilities and needs, but which one of them would be “disabled” is a product of that environment

  I would consider a person with dyslexia to have a mental disability, because there are basically only detrimental effects to one’s ability to perform a common mental task.

  The irony here is that dyslexia advocates use the exact same “superpower” language as you. In fact, there is an emerging school of thought in psychiatry and psychology that autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and OCD may all be differing presentations of the same underlying condition, in the same way that autism and Asperger’s used to be considered different conditions

  But let’s look at a different disability, for the sake of clarity. You yourself have spoken about deaf pride. Ask yourself this - would the kind of deaf person who would shun someone for getting a cochlear implant take kindly to you characterising deafness as only having a downside?

  I think a lot of disability advocates would take issue with your characterisation of disability

  It’s regressive, stigmatising, and potentially harmful given that it can discourage those who need help from asking for help, and often the only way to get help is through disability services - and legislation. The reason why it’s illegal for employers in the UK not to provide accommodations for autistic people is because of its classification as a disability under the Equalities Act of 2010

  Besides, you seem to be doing something that’s depressingly common amongst autistic people - of treating autism as if it’s just level 1 autism, while dismissing and ignoring those who have greater needs. Some people need 24/7 care because of the way their autism manifests. These people count. They are just as much “one of us” as you or me

  Also, BTW, tetrachromats exist

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Anyway, as to the linguistics of ending a word with -ist seeming awkward to you…

  All the words you cited describe what people do or believe. Not what people are

  Autism is not a disability, to me

  I think it clearly is

  There’s a saying “everybody has different abilities and needs, but ‘disability’ is a product of society”. You yourself list some of the struggles that we face. And these struggles more often than not have consequences beyond what you list - lack of employment, isolation, barriers to healthcare. Hell, our lifespans are shorter on average than allistic people. 5-10 years without any mental health comorbidities, and up to 20+ in people with comorbidities

  All from existing in a society which is built around other people’s needs and which doesn’t account for ours

  I don’t see how it can even be a question. And I say that as someone who firmly believes that if the stats were reversed and we made up 98-99% of the population and allistic people made up 1-2% of the population they would be the ones considered disabled because society would actually be built around us

  And let’s not start shrugging off the term “disability” as if that itself is something to be shunned or ashamed of. There’s enough stigma around disability - particularly mental disability - without having it also come from inside the house

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes, that’s the irony. It’s allistic people calling themselves “autists” because they have a strong interest in something and act in stupid ways

  To illustrate how it’s used there, you only need to look at the terms that it’s interchangable with: “idiots”, “smooth-brained”, and the r-word. This is not an example of positive representation

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The “American” one would suggest “an autistic”, rather than “an autist”, no? He is American, he is an American.

  You don’t need to accept a term you don’t like for yourself but others may not mind

  I’ve said repeatedly that this isn’t a settled debate within the autism community, and at no point have I suggested that other people aren’t free to use whatever terms they want

  Btw, autistic brains exist outside the UK and the US

  I understand that. I’m specifically talking about the English word “autist”. Ich rede nicht über Deutsch.

  Also, your “blindist” and “deafist” don’t exist in English which is why they sound weird

  I suppose that asks the question why is “autistic” one of (if not the) only example with a dedicated noun?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Say it was Black instead. Can you not see how describing someone as “a black” could be dehumanising?

  I am autistic. I am an autist.

  I am schizophrenic. I am a schizoid.

  I have Down’s Syndrome. I am a Down’s.

  Or just disability in general.

  I am blind. I am a blindist.

  I am deaf. I am a deafist.

  Or even just other self-describing words.

  I am old. I am an oldist.

  I am tall. I am a tallist.

  I have zero insecurities about being autistic. I also dislike coy phrases like “on the spectrum”, which have the implication that there’s something wrong with saying that someone is autistic. Like it’s something to be ashamed of. It’s fine. I am autistic. You can say I’m autistic. That’s cool.

  But that doesn’t mean that I should accept a term just because that’s what 4chan, WallStreetBets, and Gab popularised by using to put us down either by using it ironically or just by straight-up using it as an insult. You can make an argument for reclamation, perhaps, but I don’t think we’re there.

  And, and perhaps this is just me, but isn’t it a horrible word? Phonetically?

  As I’ve said, there seems to be no consensus in the autism community and one dividing line appears to be America vs. the UK

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Ron Ejaculated Loudly 💦⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Snowcrash is a satire. That name is supposed to be funny

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  As an autistic person with several autistic family members, friends, and associates, I’ve never met someone who used it or liked it

  Perhaps it’s a US vs UK thing? I’ve only seen US and Canadian people use it, in the same way that I’ve only seen US people use the term “blacks“ when referring to black people

  It has that connotation to me. And the fact that it’s the term of choice to use as an insult in places like 4chan and other edgelord spaces doesn’t help

  Seems like it’s one of those things like “autistic person be ”person with autism“ where there’s no consensus within the community

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨It makes me shudder⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Is It just be that loathes the word “autist”? Gives me real “Oriental” or “the blacks” vibes

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨a man of many minds⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I haven’t read it, but I don’t find Hitchen’s argumentative style in other venues to be better than Dawkins’

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨a man of many minds⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I am as atheist as it’s possible to be. I’ve never been even slightly religious and there’s no part of me that even vaguely believes in anything religious, supernatural, or superstitious.

  I read The God Delusion and I found it extremely weak and unconvincing

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Um.... no.... 🫩⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  What they mean is That they’ll give you “insights” and “recommendations” which they absolutely know people are going to treat as gospel and medical advice at least as good as that from a doctor, but that their legal team has advised them that having disclaimers and caning it something like “wellness” will be enough to avoid legal responsibility when people inevitably die

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why does everyone here think they're autistic or ADHD? The memes all describe normal human foibles.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Without commenting on any specific meme (if for no other reason than that imgur is booked the UK and i can’t see the image) and without meaning to disparage OP in any way, because i believe they are asking an honest question, i think that sometimes it’s a question of framing. I think of it like this:

  Say you’ve broken your leg and it’s painful for you to hobble around on crutches. You get to work and find that the lift (elevator for the yanks) is out of order. You work on the 20th floor and have no choice but to take the stairs. You talk about how unpleasant this is going to be for you, and a colleague says “yes, everybody hates taking the stairs”. Maybe they do, but it’s not the same thing.

  Which again isn’t to suggest that everybody posting memes about neurodivergence is talking about real traits, just that the idea that “everybody runs out of social battery sometimes and therefore everybody is on the spectrum somewhere” isn’t really accurate. It can be the difference between deciding to skip a party because you’d rather curl up with a book and spending 4 months not exchanging a single word with another human being. Or the difference between having a favourite film which you say you’re “obsessed” with and spending 9 days straight watching it on repeat while only sleeping 4 hours a night because the other 20 are you watching the film.

  A decade or two ago people used to say “everybody’s a little bit OCD”. That seems to have fallen out of fashion now. I’m reminded of the meme which goes something like one person saying “I’m a bit OCD, i arrange my books by colour”, and the second person saying “cool. I think that if I don’t flip the light switch 40 times all my family will die”.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are you there, God?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The sun is blowing up

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Games then vs now⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, the whole “achievement unlocked” thing is from when Flash games were king

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is the difference between an American liberal and a liberal outside the USA?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I understand what you’re saying and the political point you’re making but welfare, in political terms, is defined as state intervention via public institutions to ensure the economic and social wellbeing of its citizens.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is the difference between an American liberal and a liberal outside the USA?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  That over-simplifies the definition of neoliberalism, and the contested nature of definitions of that term. It also ignores the differences between the liberalism that Thatcher claimed and her actual policies (although I’m not claiming that Hayak, for example, wasn’t part of the then-current definition of liberalism), particularly her social policies.

  I promise you, despite what Wikipedia claims, if a British newspaper were to refer to a liberal politician, they would not include Thatcher and Johnson.

  Firstly, the social aspect of the term liberalism is more prominant than the economic. And secondly, it would be rare in the modern age to see it applied to Hayakian economics as opposed to Keyensian.

  Neoliberalism, as a term, is to liberalism as Libertarian is to liberalism. They share a root and you can point to similarites, but once you scratch beneath the surface they aren’t all that similar and have important areas of opposition.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is the difference between an American liberal and a liberal outside the USA?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  To be more specific on the capitalism front, liberals generally support a well-regulated market which also has safety nets like welfare. As opposed to positions like neoliberalism which supports As opposed to positions like neoliberalism, which supports laissez-faire markets and opposes welfare.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is the difference between an American liberal and a liberal outside the USA?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Liberal in the UK definitely doesn’t mean neoliberal

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"i can hear the difference"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  More generally, it’s not that cables are bad, it’s that audiophiles have way more money than sense. I’m not exaggerating when i say that I’ve seen short speaker cables sell for £6,000. Anything more than £5 will be of exactly the same quality as the £5 cable. You could maybe argue me up to £15-20.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What're your strong opinions from an aged / dead fandom?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  One of the writers of Freely (maybe Tim Minear?) did a blog post many moons ago where he outlined what some unresolved plot threads were and future episodes. You’re right that it was better off being cancelled. Even Nathan Fillion has said that the reason it’s so beloved is That it never had the opportunity to become bad.

  Let me give you the example that stood out to me. Remember in the pilot where Inara gets out a syringe when she hears about Reavers being nearby? Everybody assumed she was going to kill herself. Nope. There was going to be an episode where they got boarded by Reavers and Inara was left alone with them. The crew move heaven and Earth to get back on board and when they do they find Inara barely alive, surrounded by hundreds of dead Reavers. The syringe was full of a Companion drug which kills anybody who has sex with you. So Inara killed then all by letting them rape her.

  Mal would have been sweet and tender during her recovery, and that is what would have brought them together.

  Probably for the best that one never got made.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wish I was her⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This was 10+ years ago now, too, so more then

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Wish I was her⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The best half of a business conversation i ever heard was “look, the bottom line is this: give her £100,000 a year, give her a Porsche, give her her own office, give her a secretary, and she’ll bring in more than a million in profit every year.”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Whatever happened to the days when shit just...worked?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  No i never had windows 8. Unless they retroactively updated windows 7 to go fullscreen it had to be 10

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Whatever happened to the days when shit just...worked?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You did still have to install a third-party app to get the start menu not to take up the whole screen, though

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hey look, a giant sign telling you to find a different job⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Not even retail. I can’t count the number of professional emails I’ve had, including from managers with huge salaries with basic grammar and spelling mistakes.