One thing I'm surprised isn't getting more commentary, and which might explain the sudden disappearing act, is the source of the article Mohammad admits to having taken much of his wording and format from. It's from a "men's rights" subreddit, as Trace mentioned but doesn't really emphasize. Here Mo is trying, however clumsily, to make a point that's very friendly to the SocJus/Woke (or whatever we're allowed to call it this week, cf https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/please-just-fucking-tell-me-what ) memeplex, but he's admitting to drawing inspiration and even wording from an MRA.
Now granted, technically feminism and anti-racism, along with trans rights and other causes that sometimes fly that flag, are separate things, and it's possible in principle to support some of them and not others. But let's be real. The vast majority of the time, these things are encountered as a package deal (the very need for those verboten terms is proof enough). Maybe there's some internal divisions, but they are almost always presented publicly with a united front. There appears to be a very strong expectation by both people in that movement and its audience that people who support one will also (publicly at least) support all the rest.
Indeed, one way to identify people who accept some of these 'isms' and not others is that they - far more than people genuinely on the right who are more clearly their ideological enemies! - are precisely the ones "cancel culture" (yet another term we're apparently not allowed to use) sinks its claws into. Witness JK Rowling, or even Scott. Even with the most solid anti-racist credentials this side of Ibrahim X Kendi, admitting to having MRA sympathies would have put Mohammad into that bucket and been career suicide to at least the same degree as being caught fabricating an experiment like this. Likely as not, he realized this at the last minute, panicked, and burned down as much of the evidence as he could.
Good points. That's a car crash of intersectionality nobody would want to touch: men who think they are victims of racism AND that uppity women are taking all the jobs ...
Maybe everyone got something they wanted, but at the cost of a perceived world further untethered from reality.
I greatly enjoyed the article, but I think you're being too credulous despite your skepticism: it seems unlikely the post was authored by a genuine academic.
Why do you say it seems unlikely? The author has pages on research websites and is listed as a first author on several peer-reviewed publications in his field. That's not really the sort of thing that can be faked straightforwardly.
This is not harmless. It’s exactly the opposite of harmless. This ‘just putting it out there’ kind of social arson is why we see outsized and irrational responses to precipitating events that loom large in the public imagination despite being statistically infrequent occurrences in reality. Oh, don’t mind the conflagration—just wanted to start a conversation.
This has good vibes. Maybe because it confirms my world view. It put into words the feeling that I, like my most people, just like the vibes and don't check further if the story confirms my worldview.
See I think you are being a bit too nice. This sort of thing has real large measurable negative impacts in the world. People see society as this funhouse of oppression and bigotry it just is not. Which leads to more fake stories and more bad policy.
Just over a decade ago, there was a run of published studies that followed this model: Common resume > swapped names > different response rates. None of them passed my methodological sniff test, but they were all vibe-appropriate and the authors got lots of attention.
Now, each time a colleague brings up a “Look they found bias!” study, I ask them, “Do you really think the authors would ever submit - or that the editors would ever publish - a no-bias finding?”
Kind of amazing that being the victim of racist mistreatment became such an interesting identity trait that people would lie about it for prestige. If folks did this with less politicized forms of victimization, it would be hilarious and insane; “A guy punched me in the nuts on the subway today” - 10,000 new followers!
Hacker News is a great vector for spreading misinformation and, ironically, racism. It's a very odd slice of the population. Younger people who want to be the next Elon and Jobs and Bezos and Gates and think that they are better than everyone because they can program a computer.
The people there want a lot of money, but also want to show how "altruistic" they are. "Make walkable cities! Guaranteed minimum income". They love crypto. ("SMH wasn't a real crypto bro!" They hate unions. They call themselves libertarians, but they love student loan forgiveness. It seems odd, but after a few weeks, you could accurately predict how they will come down on any issue. Just think like a 20-something with a college degree who has never seen failure (yet).
It's a horrific place for antisemitism, usually disguised as "anti-zionism" probably because their leader, Paul Graham, sets the tone.
One thing I'm surprised isn't getting more commentary, and which might explain the sudden disappearing act, is the source of the article Mohammad admits to having taken much of his wording and format from. It's from a "men's rights" subreddit, as Trace mentioned but doesn't really emphasize. Here Mo is trying, however clumsily, to make a point that's very friendly to the SocJus/Woke (or whatever we're allowed to call it this week, cf https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/please-just-fucking-tell-me-what ) memeplex, but he's admitting to drawing inspiration and even wording from an MRA.
Now granted, technically feminism and anti-racism, along with trans rights and other causes that sometimes fly that flag, are separate things, and it's possible in principle to support some of them and not others. But let's be real. The vast majority of the time, these things are encountered as a package deal (the very need for those verboten terms is proof enough). Maybe there's some internal divisions, but they are almost always presented publicly with a united front. There appears to be a very strong expectation by both people in that movement and its audience that people who support one will also (publicly at least) support all the rest.
Indeed, one way to identify people who accept some of these 'isms' and not others is that they - far more than people genuinely on the right who are more clearly their ideological enemies! - are precisely the ones "cancel culture" (yet another term we're apparently not allowed to use) sinks its claws into. Witness JK Rowling, or even Scott. Even with the most solid anti-racist credentials this side of Ibrahim X Kendi, admitting to having MRA sympathies would have put Mohammad into that bucket and been career suicide to at least the same degree as being caught fabricating an experiment like this. Likely as not, he realized this at the last minute, panicked, and burned down as much of the evidence as he could.
Good points. That's a car crash of intersectionality nobody would want to touch: men who think they are victims of racism AND that uppity women are taking all the jobs ...
Maybe everyone got something they wanted, but at the cost of a perceived world further untethered from reality.
I greatly enjoyed the article, but I think you're being too credulous despite your skepticism: it seems unlikely the post was authored by a genuine academic.
Why do you say it seems unlikely? The author has pages on research websites and is listed as a first author on several peer-reviewed publications in his field. That's not really the sort of thing that can be faked straightforwardly.
Brilliant read, as always :)
Thanks for reading! Glad you appreciated it.
This is not harmless. It’s exactly the opposite of harmless. This ‘just putting it out there’ kind of social arson is why we see outsized and irrational responses to precipitating events that loom large in the public imagination despite being statistically infrequent occurrences in reality. Oh, don’t mind the conflagration—just wanted to start a conversation.
This has good vibes. Maybe because it confirms my world view. It put into words the feeling that I, like my most people, just like the vibes and don't check further if the story confirms my worldview.
See I think you are being a bit too nice. This sort of thing has real large measurable negative impacts in the world. People see society as this funhouse of oppression and bigotry it just is not. Which leads to more fake stories and more bad policy.
Just over a decade ago, there was a run of published studies that followed this model: Common resume > swapped names > different response rates. None of them passed my methodological sniff test, but they were all vibe-appropriate and the authors got lots of attention.
Now, each time a colleague brings up a “Look they found bias!” study, I ask them, “Do you really think the authors would ever submit - or that the editors would ever publish - a no-bias finding?”
Keep it up, Trace. Good boy!
This sounds like something @Amir Khan would agree with (even after the lie is exposed). Also @Mike Casey, and a few other malcontents on Substack.
Rage is all the rage. Until a truth seeker spoils that trippy ecstasy with a coitus interuptus of curiosity.
The deviousness and spineless nature of that false narrative of victimhood should be called out at every turn.
In fact, we should proactively start looking for it as a possibility before endorsing it with a thumbs up or the like.
Kind of amazing that being the victim of racist mistreatment became such an interesting identity trait that people would lie about it for prestige. If folks did this with less politicized forms of victimization, it would be hilarious and insane; “A guy punched me in the nuts on the subway today” - 10,000 new followers!
Hacker News is a great vector for spreading misinformation and, ironically, racism. It's a very odd slice of the population. Younger people who want to be the next Elon and Jobs and Bezos and Gates and think that they are better than everyone because they can program a computer.
The people there want a lot of money, but also want to show how "altruistic" they are. "Make walkable cities! Guaranteed minimum income". They love crypto. ("SMH wasn't a real crypto bro!" They hate unions. They call themselves libertarians, but they love student loan forgiveness. It seems odd, but after a few weeks, you could accurately predict how they will come down on any issue. Just think like a 20-something with a college degree who has never seen failure (yet).
It's a horrific place for antisemitism, usually disguised as "anti-zionism" probably because their leader, Paul Graham, sets the tone.