# "Intellectual Dark Web" Stupidity Omnibus **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193 "2019-01-04T13:53:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/201 "2019-06-19T08:52:22Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > I just had a look at that Molyneux tweet. It’s from 2012. I had a look back to see what kind of videos Molyneux was putting out back then. Judging by the titles, they’re mostly about Libertarianism, Bitcoin, and small government, with a bit of anti-feminism stuff thrown in for good measure. What was Molyneux doing _ **seven years ago** _ that should’ve made Harris think twice before retweeting him? Okay, so back in 2012 he wasn’t yet a raging Nazi. I got the time frame wrong by 2 years (2014 at the latest is where anyone involved in the “new atheist” movement should have known he was a psycho). I have little doubt he was pretty nuts back then, too, but it was excusable to not know that. I wonder - are there any more recent examples? > **[Sam Harris, Hypocritical Coward. Allegedly.](https://freethoughtblogs.com/reprobate/2018/05/16/sam-harris-hypocritical-coward-allegedly/)** > > \[CONTENT WARNING: extreme sexism and racism\] > [@](#): > > What else changed during that podcast edit? Nothing. You’ve read all the modifications Harris made. He never recorded additional commentary to discuss the edits, never mentioned any sort of legal letter, nor even added that he thought Picciolini’s accusations were false. As of this writing, the two videos on YouTube have matching descriptions and the podcast’s description hasn’t changed at all. Your only hints of change were the existence two videos with different timestamps, plus the filename of the podcast (“Picciolini\_Re-edit\_V2.mp3“), and even then you’d have to go over several hours of audio with a fine-toothed comb to unearth what was different, and even then you’d have no idea why it was different! If it weren’t for Picciolini’s tweets, Sam Harris would have successfully memory-holed James Damore from his podcast episode and minimized what was said about Stefan Molyneux. > > Think about that: in a dispute between someone espousing white supremacist views (Molyneux), and an expert on white supremacy, Sam Harris not only sided with the former, he went out of his way to protect them by silently erasing content, then when he was called out for doing that Harris dismissed the evidence and experience of the expert in public! Hmm. Weird, that. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/202 "2019-06-19T12:47:47Z")
If Sam was who you say he is, he never would have given Picciolini such a warm reception on his “massively influential” podcast. (I am not sure what he should have done about the potentially slanderous allegations, but I agree he should have added a disclaimer at the beginning.) In fact, my alt-right (but potentially redeemable) cousin quit listening to the podcast in disgust over that episode. (Then after I cajoled him to come back, he quit again in reaction to the Rebecca Traister episode. Sigh.) > [@Monty](#): > > From **Budget Player Cadet** ’s sig: > > Note that this is the _second_ time the United States has run concentration camps. Isn’t that a lowball estimate? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/203 "2019-06-19T13:07:22Z")
Someone asked for some examples of Harris saying really dumb things. Here’s one: [Harris called Charles Murray “the intellectual who was treated most unfairly in my lifetime.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jaml-QTaOk&feature=youtu.be&t=70) Not only is that absurd hyperbole, but it’s utterly ridiculous to treat a pseudoscientist like Murray as “an intellectual”. Harris has such an egotistical victim complex that he’s convinced himself that anyone who presents their ideas without vitriolic language and is heavily criticized by the left must be a victim being unfairly treated. It never occurs to him that Murray might be a bigoted bullshitter. Probably because if Murray might be a bigoted bullshitter, then maybe some of the criticism against Harris could be legitimate too… and Harris is incapable of considering something like that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/204 "2019-06-19T13:13:57Z")
[Harris also said this:](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2017/08/28/sam-harris-black-lives-matter-identity-politics/) “I think Black Lives Matter is a dangerous and divisive and retrograde movement, and it is a dishonest movement.” What an incredibly ignorant statement. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/205 "2019-06-19T13:40:29Z")
Just the opposite. BLM can suck it. Putin loves them as much as you do though! I do think Harris l is too kind to Murray, but even there his take is closer to accurate than yours is. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/206 "2019-06-19T13:53:19Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Just the opposite. BLM can suck it. Putin loves them as much as you do though! BLM is largely responsible for all the needed advances (most notably body cams) and attention on police procedure WRT violence in the last few years. They’ve been extremely effective advocates in their short existence, even as there is much more progress to be made. But no surprise that you think they suck. I wonder if it might have something to do with your opinion of the intelligence and capability of black people? > [@](#): > > I do think Harris l is too kind to Murray, but even there his take is closer to accurate than yours is. Considering your agreement with Murray about the inherent intellectual inferiority of black people, this is also no surprise. And your opinion on these topics is only slightly more interesting or likely to have anything to do with facts than those of David Duke. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/207 "2019-06-19T14:30:12Z")
Scintillating discussion with political scientist Yascha Mounk and journalist Michael Weiss in the very latest episode (#160, “The Revenge of History”) of Sam’s massively influential Making Sense podcast: > **[Sam Harris | #160 - The Revenge of History](https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/the-revenge-of-history)** > > Sam Harris speaks with Michael Weiss and Yascha Mounk about the state of global politics. The first 46 minutes are about Trump. I’m now at minute 58, and the last twelve minutes have dealt with “wokeness” on the left. Mounk and Weiss agree that it’s a problem, with Weiss saying it reminds him of 1990s political correctness, but “on steroids”. However, Mounk cautions Sam to resist his tendency to obsess over every latest outrage that comes down the pike, and instead to focus on the larger picture. For the podcast haters in the audience, Mounk references his 2018 article in the Atlantic, “Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture”, with the subhead “Youth isn’t a good proxy for support of political correctness, and race isn’t either.” > **[Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/large-majorities-dislike-political-correctness/572581/)** > > Youth isn’t a good proxy for support of political correctness, and race isn’t either. > [@](#): > > If you look at what Americans have to say on issues such as immigration, the extent of white privilege, and the prevalence of sexual harassment, the authors argue, seven distinct clusters emerge: progressive activists, traditional liberals, passive liberals, the politically disengaged, moderates, traditional conservatives, and devoted conservatives. > > According to the report, 25 percent of Americans are traditional or devoted conservatives, and their views are far outside the American mainstream. Some 8 percent of Americans are progressive activists, and their views are even less typical. By contrast, the two-thirds of Americans who don’t belong to either extreme constitute an “exhausted majority.” Their members “share a sense of fatigue with our polarized national conversation, a willingness to be flexible in their political viewpoints, and a lack of voice in the national conversation.” > > Most members of the “exhausted majority,” and then some, dislike political correctness. Among the general population, a full 80 percent believe that “political correctness is a problem in our country.” Even young people are uncomfortable with it, including 74 percent ages 24 to 29, and 79 percent under age 24. On this particular issue, the woke are in a clear minority across all ages. It’s clear that the 8 percent make up a disproportionate share of Dopers. But for those who can’t count, 8 percent does not a majority make. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/208 "2019-06-19T14:38:27Z")
No doubt Sam’s colossal ego is fueled by a horde of fanboys like **Slacker** who help him pretend that there isn’t any legitimate criticism of anything he says. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/209 "2019-06-19T15:04:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > For the podcast haters in the audience, Well, do I have to remind you that the ones that do not hate podcasts like me also conclude that you are a cherry picker willful ignorant? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/210 "2019-06-19T15:19:37Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No doubt Sam’s colossal ego is fueled by a horde of fanboys like **Slacker** who help him pretend that there isn’t any legitimate criticism of anything he says. …says Andy, right after a post in which I acknowledged a legitimate criticism of Harris (which he didn’t even edit out!) :smack: BTW, if (as Sam might put it) your (plural) belief that he is fundamentally a figure of the right “survives contact” with this podcast episode, you are as unmoored from reality as the most unhinged Qanoner. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/211 "2019-06-19T16:01:57Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > …says Andy, right after a post in which I acknowledged a legitimate criticism of Harris (which he didn’t even edit out!) :smack: You described a criticism – you didn’t characterize it at all. If you agree with it, then good for you! The next step is to acknowledge that he’s an ass on at least a handful of subjects, having made a very common mistake – assuming that because he’s very skilled, intelligent, and knowledgeable on one subject, that means that he’s automatically intelligent on most or all others. > [@](#): > > BTW, if (as Sam might put it) your (plural) belief that he is fundamentally a figure of the right “survives contact” with this podcast episode, you are as unmoored from reality as the most unhinged Qanoner. I don’t know if he’s a “figure of the right”, but he’s certainly an enabler and tolerator of bigotry (probably because he seems to have a gross misunderstanding of the actual concept of bigotry), and an enabler of pseudoscience when it comes to race and genetics (among other topics). As are you. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/212 "2019-06-19T16:33:44Z")
I note that even though you have argued in the past that I should elaborate on what is discussed in his podcasts, provide specifics, etc., I did so here and you had absolutely nothing to say about it. The way you responded, it’s almost like you pretended that part of my post (the meat, IMO) wasn’t even there. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/213 "2019-06-19T16:40:11Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I note that even though you have argued in the past that I should elaborate on what is discussed in his podcasts, provide specifics, etc., I did so here and you had absolutely nothing to say about it. The way you responded, it’s almost like you pretended that part of my post (the meat, IMO) wasn’t even there. :dubious: I think there is a scintilla of a sliver of a real issue regarding “wokeness” and “political correctness” on the left – some small number of ignorant progressives don’t really understand these concepts and wield them as (ineffective) cudgels. But the much, much larger problem is the equivalent of PC-ness on the right – that nothing must be described as racism or bigotry or white supremacism unless it’s an explicit call for violence against black people (or equivalent), and similar phenomena. That science isn’t allowed on the right on so many topics. That any hatefulness against LGBTQ people can be excused as “religious freedom”. Harris wastes a ton of time complaining about the possibly-real but incredibly minor reflections of these problems on the left (with tons of hyperbole, exaggeration, inaccuracies, and outright lies), when they’re vastly more problematic, causing vastly more harm, on the right. Everyone says they don’t like “political correctness” – the disagreement is about what this actually is. There are tons of people on the right who think “Trump has said bigoted and misogynistic things” is a bullshit “politically correct” statement… and this is swept into the real (but pretty damn small) reasonable concerns about political correctness (i.e. that some extremely small number of progressives might have criticized a white lady who started a taco truck, or something). ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/214 "2019-06-19T16:49:37Z")
AFAICT the three requirements from being in the IDW are Believing darker skinned people are intellectually inferior Believing that everyone else deep-down believes the above, but is too PC to admit it Having a massive martyr complex I guess you could also substitute women for darker skinned to cover all bases (for the Incel Dark Web). But that’s their “deep truth” they need to bravely expose to the world. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/215 "2019-06-19T17:05:01Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > From **Budget Player Cadet** ’s sig: > > Note that this is the _second_ time the United States has run concentration camps. Third, at least. The current ones at the border, the Japanese internment, and the [Filipino camps from the early 20th century.](https://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-concentration-camps-of-americas-forgotten-war/80333) ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/216 "2019-06-19T17:06:47Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > AFAICT the three requirements from being in the IDW are > > Believing darker skinned people are intellectually inferior > > Believing that everyone else deep-down believes the above, but is too PC to admit it > > Having a massive martyr complex > I guess you could also substitute women for darker skinned to cover all bases (for the Incel Dark Web). But that’s their “deep truth” they need to bravely expose to the world. That’s really, really stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/217 "2019-06-19T17:18:04Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > That’s really, really stupid. You’re right, that was a bad typo. It should be “The three requirements FOR being in the IDW are:” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/218 "2019-06-19T17:52:04Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > AFAICT the three requirements from being in the IDW are > > Believing darker skinned people are intellectually inferior > > Believing that everyone else deep-down believes the above, but is too PC to admit it > > Having a massive martyr complex > I guess you could also substitute women for darker skinned to cover all bases (for the Incel Dark Web). But that’s their “deep truth” they need to bravely expose to the world. Well, to be fair, Number 3 is a given, the first 2 are not really requirements, but since they want to sleep next to the racists, they should not complain about the fleas they catch. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/219 "2019-06-19T17:56:40Z")
No the key component to being a part of the IDW is that they are keepers of some “taboo” truth that is anti-PC. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193/220 "2019-06-19T18:17:12Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No doubt Sam’s colossal ego is fueled by a horde of fanboys like **Slacker** who help him pretend that there isn’t any legitimate criticism of anything he says. Let’s not forget that **Slacker** also gives Harris money. Sam Harris; a literally multi-millionaire who podcasts. He just sends him money. **Slacker** is a true believer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intellectual-dark-web-stupidity-omnibus/827193.md?page=12)