DTG March Live Hangout
Added 2024-03-12 06:18:42 +0000 UTCIf you at the Galaxy Brain tier and want to come ask us about Houthi pirates and One Piece or AG1 advertising, now is your chance.
The timing will be 2 pm JST on Friday... which can be converted to your local timezone by just clicking the link above!
Hope to speak to some of you on Friday.
Comments
Yeah, I think their arguments are interesting but like a lot of scholars they have a conclusion they want to reach and are marshalling evidence to support the conclusion. That does not mean they do not make valid points or interesting criticisms. They do but I think some people read works like this and because of the density and tone, take it as offering a definitive view that supersedes all the previous (incorrect) ones. I see it more like two skilled researchers with a very particular agenda marshalling their skills to argue for their perspective. They do raise many valid points.
Christopher Kavanagh
2024-03-18 03:14:20 +0000 UTCThanks a lot for the pointers! I got started on the pdf and will definitely finish it. It's good for me to learn about the difference between public discourse and scholarly discourse. So Graeber and Wengrow are an improvement over Diamond and Harari, but still fall short. Looking forward to the Harari decoding even more now.😃 Also, I'm going to watch Dune 2 once more, in about two hours. This time with a cynical spectator's attitude, as suggested by Matt.😈 If I had expected the conversation to turn towards movies, I definitely would have brought up "Poor Things". It's currently my favourite.
Roland Weber
2024-03-17 16:59:03 +0000 UTCI don’t recall having any issue with the title? Also, I think I’ve read it? Or at least some of the chapters. At least it’s in my digital library 😉. If you want to see some of the reasons I’m critical of (some) of the claims they make, see: https://escholarship.org/content/qt3wc3p3hf/qt3wc3p3hf.pdf or https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5907061#.YfFv2KME804.twitter.
Christopher Kavanagh
2024-03-16 22:22:36 +0000 UTCThanks for the Hang-Out! 😄 Too bad that so few people joined. The previous one you scheduled at this time had a much higher participation. @Chris, regarding "The Dawn of Everything"... if I remember episode 60 correctly, you hadn't read the book and/because you resented the title as presumptuous? Just wanted to point out that the title is the author's translation of the term "illo tempore" coined by Mircea Eliade. The whole book is pretty much written to contradict that viewpoint. I get that people dislike the book, the authors are ranting quite a lot. (Including two or three darts thrown at Yuval Noah Harari :-) I don't have any background in the fields they cover, so I found it quite educational. One thing I took away is that there were communally organised cities. That's why I mentioned the book when Matt talked about cities implying hierarchies. If you ever see it lying around while you're in a forgiving mood, please read a few paragraphs into chapter 11 (of 12). It's where the authors lay out their line of reasoning with little ranting.
Roland Weber
2024-03-16 20:41:49 +0000 UTCNot for me as I will be in bed. 🛌 😢
Linda Sears
2024-03-12 15:29:52 +0000 UTCI suppose I should add a brief bit on what I think might be of interest. First I think that gurus fall more into the propagation mode rather than the propaganda one. That they are seeking communion with their audience, not solidarity against the hated Dems/Libs (e.g. Rufo, who is a classic propagandist, imo). Unlike established religions, where the communion is managed through doctrine & dogma and the hierarchy/apparatus that manages and disseminates them, gurus are specifically looking for a personally-mediated communion - where their audience finds their common through parasocial identification with them - the guru. Because they are online gurus, the behavioural "ask" is much lower than traditional high-demand groups (cults), limited to a "like & subscribe (and buy my merch/supplements)". But because they are online they also have to interact with the judgemental flows of "effusion", by engaging in culture war topics and hot takery.
Paul Bowman
2024-03-12 14:18:56 +0000 UTCExcuse the cheek, I think you might find this paper interesting https://psr.iscte-iul.pt/index.php/PSR/article/view/613
Paul Bowman
2024-03-12 13:05:09 +0000 UTCOMG a reasonable Eurzone time praise Allah
Diane Morrison
2024-03-12 09:04:48 +0000 UTC
