Philosophy Tube

One of the big leftist youtubers that recently gained popularity, Oliver Thorn started out in 2013 as a modest youtuber making short videos about philosophical subjects, before his videos gradually got more sophisticated, more humorous and also more political − recent ones include "Brexit: What Is Democracy?", "Why Does Britain Still Have a Queen?", "Is Philosophy Just White Guys Jerking Off?", "When Will Security Go Back to Normal?", or the more personal "Suicide and Mental Health". Unsurprisingly, he has done some collabs with Contra Points or fellow Britton H-Bomber Guy.

His latest outing is about the philosophy of anime, through the lens of Tenchi Muyo!. Warning, it's trippy.

Yes, I start this thread with the April's Fool video that ends with an ahegao t-shirt. What are you gonna do.

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After Tenchi Muyo, this month Olly tackles the delicate subject of sex work.

…It was quite enlightening. The left in my country very much supports the "Nordic model" of punishing clients rather than prostitutes, but there are a lot of aspects I hadn't really thought about. Notably regarding the broader definition of sex work and its relation to other fields of work.

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Great video.

I too have been, for a long time, a supporter of the "Nordic model". It just seemed like the "default good/liberal position" to have. But recently, because of all the Tumblr nonsense, I started hearing a bit more from the actual sex worker perspective, and how thinking of them solely as poor defenseless victims is rather limiting. Worse, that many actions created supposedly to defend them actually hurt them the most.

The whole video was really informative, but the part that blew my mind the most was the part talking about sex trafficking. It never crossed my mind that some people choose to be trafficked consciously. And that even if they have been duped and/or are being explored, the consequences of them being "saved" can still fucking suck. Like, if you just describe someone being imprisoned, losing their income and being deported it is clear this likely is a very negative outcome for a lot of people, even if the position they were previously was abusive.

My main take away is that the most important thing is to think through the perspective of those being most effected. If you want to support a law, a position, moral guideline, whatever, it is important to think who is being effected by it through their lens, not yours. This is not only valid for when thinking about the legality of sex work, but about pretty much anything.

Todaywetalkaboutthesubjectofabortion, withtwospecialguests.

…And now I have a headache.

Edited by Lyendith on Jun 29th 2019 at 9:37:12 PM

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Now I have a few questions:

• What is the font used for the Patreon names? I'm interested in Art Deco fonts.
• Will there be a continuation to this. I'm interested in whether or not Gentley's pride will prevent him from saving himself (and if the Arsonist burns the place down).
• What are the odds that Shapiro will call Oliver's bluff? I want to see Shapiro get knocked down a peg by real Facts and Knowledge.

Absolutely zero. Shapiro, like every other reactionary right-wing douchebag, hates the idea of actual, honest debate and crumbles under the slightest amount of pressure, as seen on his interview on the BBC. It's why they much prefer going after underinformed, underprepared young college students (see also Crowder, Steven).

My various fanfics.

Honestly, I'm not sure Shapiro even needed to be in the video (although the parody was hilarious)… It's become like a bad habit of leftwing youtubers to present their arguments as a response to some trendy ARD (Alt-Right Douchebag) like Shapiro, Peterson or Crowder. I get why − reactionaries have a tremendous headstart on Youtube − but the left will have to grow out of that eventually.

Regarding abortion, I'm torn on the issue… On one hand I get that some would say, "Hey, if you knowingly had unprotected sex and fell pregnant, you only have yourself to blame, take responsibility" (which is a part of the argument Olly didn't really address?) It's douchey, but it has its logic.

On the other, the compromise position of "banning abortion except in case of rape" would mean forcing women who want to abort to say or even prove that they have been raped, which is… an assholish thing to do, to put it lightly. Besides, it's weird to consider that human rights start at conception… except in that one specific case?

So the current policy of considering abortion okay only up to a certain stage of pregnancy is the only one that really works in the end, even if the stage in question is decided arbitrarily. =[

Edited by Lyendith on Jun 30th 2019 at 6:38:55 PM

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wow this is my favorite A Series of Unfortunate Events fanfic series (I first got that impression with the Steve Bannon episode and this latest ep has cemented my thought that the Arsonist can be seen as fighting for the fire-starting side of the Schism)

The operation story was incredibly visceral but I think it's deft in proving the point about arguments from disgust and the ways bodily autonomy in relation with death can express itself. It's definitely the part most likely to occupy my thoughts for the next few days.

That video was... absolutely correct. It somehow seems truer than most true things I've heard. It just makes so much sense...

Edited by Tharkun140 on Jul 3rd 2019 at 9:24:15 PM

Apathy is Death. Worse than Death, because at least a rotting corpse feeds beasts and insects.

In what ways?

On a completely different note, I must say I burst out laughing when I saw Olly's ahegao t-shirt (the one in the Tenchi Muyou video) sold at the Japan Expo this week. Like, the exact same.

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Men. Abuse. Trauma

"A French philosopher, and a bit of a pretentious asshole."

So, a French philosopher.

Anyway, it's a sort of sequel to the Mental Health video, where he describes his abusive relationship, how he got out of it and how he realized it was abusive at all after the fact. Almost no theatrics this time, but it makes the video more impactful if anything.

I don't know how much Shakespeare I can sit through, but I might give it a try. In any case, I hope he reads it in Shakespeare pronunciation.

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The minimalistic style of a a single panning shot with no cuts and a basic backdrop is mimicking the style of how No Exit is oft staged.

Which is subtly brilliant.

Edited by PippingFool on Jul 30th 2019 at 10:18:31 PM

I'm having to learn to pay the price

New video is out and extremely timely what with the amazon being burned down by Jair

As a conservationist this video is addressing a lot of stuff tied directly to my vocation and history of academic study. The native population perspective on conservation has a long tragic history of being rejected by policy makers.

Me and my friends have long criticised XR for their relationship to cops and capitalism, so I was really pleasantly surprised to see Olly talking about this; it wasn't an issue I'd expected to get much recognition.

I'm just glad I'm not the only one who ponders about the "bad timeline" aspect of morality.

Apathy is Death. Worse than Death, because at least a rotting corpse feeds beasts and insects.

What are Extinction Rebels exactly? First time I've heard of them…

The Dakota pipeline example he used was very instructive, and there are many, many similar examples around the world − even recently in France with protesters against an airport project near Nantes or a nuclear waste burial site in Bure being… handled roughly, to put it lightly.

Partly answers the question of "why don't people try things without waiting for the governments?" − when they do try something, they're met with flashballs and tear gas (or outright assassinations like in Honduras). Makes the task a tad more difficult.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 22nd 2019 at 1:03:57 PM

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I think this is a video where I'm definitely going to take a look at the bibliography to educate myself on a deeper level, especially with the indigenous writings on climate change.

The 'hyperproblem' really does define why it's so difficult to come to grips at times with what's happening as a whole.

HBO's Chernobyl and Personal Responsibility.

"We Live in a Society"… but what is society, and how do we decide who's to blame when large-scale shit happens?

By the way, that pause just before "content creator Stefan Molyneux" was just perfect.

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Okay, where the hell did this "we live in a society" meme come from and why am I hearing it all the damn time?

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

It's from the new Joker movie.

wasn't it The Dark Knight that gave rise to the meme?

---

Regarding the video itself, great as usual as I liked the balance between ethics and reviewing the miniseries, and applying the Steamed Hams meme to Chernobyl of all things just caught me so off guard.

The way Olly geeked out on the great acting for a couple minutes was seriously adorable.

I remember Lindsay Ellis using it way before Joker came out…

Edited by Lyendith on Oct 6th 2019 at 11:28:35 AM

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Know Your Meme has two related entries about this: Gamer Joker/Gamers Rise Up and We Live In a Society. From what I can gather, the former is the relevant one here.

Reddit also discusses it here.

Edited by TompaDompa on Oct 6th 2019 at 12:21:44 PM

Ceterum censeo Morbillivirum esse eradicandum.

TLDR its basically a shorthand for "Pseudointellectual Attempts At Hot Takes or Critique".

IE: the new Joker movie, the last seasons of game of thrones etc

Holy wow this new video is very high concept compared to his recent stuff

My friance (who is bi and is crazy for Olly) has been really emotional about this, despite being very visuablly attracted to women, she never had to actually confront that fact about herself until her twenties when I came out as transgender. Even now, four years into dating a woman, she struggles to view her self as queer enough, because she was raised in a insulatingly-safe grey area.

Meanwhile this discussion about queer time is echoing almost verbatim a conversation I had with my girlfriend (who is 8 years older than me, but transitioned at the same time as me) and my friend Robin who was the first out trans person I ever met, who came out some four or more years before me and Sammi did, and even though she's the same age as me, she feels older than both me and even my girlfriend, but mean while, my girlfriend and I have never really struggle to relate across our age gap.