Super Cereal Expose: BigThoughtContainer

Guys... I have a super cereal bunch of things to say. Ya'll better listen up, cause I'm really cranking my brain up to eleven to bring this analysis.

This is what finally got me to write this little blog...

*cue sad face* Now, that's not very nice, is it? Seems someone could use a little dose of humility, the abbreviated form of humble tea. Mmm, tea...

Have you ever thought everyone online is stupid? You aren’t alone. This is a commonly held belief. That seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Plenty of legitimately stupid people exist. But I contend that percentage of the population is smaller than people realize.

Now, I won’t generalize too much, since that is the exact thing I am arguing against. But I have seen plenty of specific people under the impression they are just leaps and bounds smarter than everyone else. And yet, I look at the work they produce; it’s usually vapid, bitter, and easy to poke holes in. I often times do poke holes in it, after which I typically get scolded or blocked. At least in my limited and anecdotal experiences, these kinds of people are not great in dealing with criticism.

But back on topic to the latest example I’ve seen of this…

To start things off, he uses the standard overly pretentious name, like BigThoughtContainer, UltraRationalist, or RhetoricalHypothetical. Screw those people, amirite? What a bunch of self important pricks. Get off your high horse and maybe visit us plebs down here on Earth once in awhile.

And take a look at this excerpt from Thinky's bio:

Minds is a Gambling website so sooth yourself ; i am not a gambler, i am just a thinker with pure original thoughts.

Pure. Original. Thoughts. Wow. I mean… sign me up. That sounds like an amazing mind with a lot to say. Please, enlighten me O Great One.

Strangely, after looking at his feed, this dude/dudette doesn’t produce much original content. The top of his feed is littered with other people’s work that he links or reminds, and most of his actual “original content” is him complaining about censorship. He doesn’t usually make a great case or a nuanced argument, and I haven’t seen much evidence for his claims beyond links to other things. You would think a big thinker would do his own research or say something fresh and original.

I also don’t usually trust the judgement of someone who conflates shadow banning and mass downvoting.

Also, some might call this nitpicking, buuut

Some synonyms to your little “swear word”: Jerk, idiot, charlatan, simpleton, platitudinous creature of ignorance lagoon… get creative, or just open a thesaurus. Anything is better than being clearly contradictory. Because, elsewhere you said the following...

Of course, my initial impression was you just didn’t want to admit you misspelled a word. That doesn’t make you look much better, though, does it?

He wrote two hard to read blogs on the Rep System, too. The fact he wrote in support of a reputation system without addressing the very vocally stated concerns people have on how the system could be abused suggests he takes sides without considering the full implications of what he vouches for. That’s the behavior of an ideologue, not an independent radical thinker. On one of these blogs, it seems that, among other things, he wants to completely remove downvotes… which is an odd design choice, to say the least

Not sure how that would improve things, especially since a reputation keeper is designed to highlight not only good actors, but bad actors.

Anyways… I also wanted to point out some things to all these pseudo-intellectual types out there. But more specifically, to Thinky; the man, the legend, the one who I am currently writing about.

1. You are not owed an audience. If people don’t like your stuff, it doesn’t mean you are oppressed. It means your content might be sub-par.

2. Shorter form content(like all the may-mays that get boosted constantly) generally gets a better reception by virtue of format, simply because it requires less effort to digest it. Even smart people can enjoy a good cat meme, and that doesn't make them superficial morons. It's a principle called public marketability.

3. If people criticize your stuff, consider the possibility that they aren’t just trolls. Maybe they have a point that you are ignoring in your haste to dismiss them.

4. Speaking of trolls… For creators capable of big thinky thoughts, I’m surprised they don’t know usually know how to deal with legit trolls. Maybe it’s internet street smarts that you can't get by book-learnin'? I dunno, but here it is; you ignore them. Don’t feed the trolls. When you make a post complaining about a specific behavior, you incentivize that behavior.

That last point might raise a very fair criticism; by my own logic, am I not incentivizing the kind of intellectual grandstanding by making this post, then? Well, yes and no. I’m making fun of this behavior, which is different than moaning and whining about them. On the flip side, if I am causing more of these people to propagate and grow… so what? I love reading their insane ramblings and watching them perform mental gymnastics as their victim complexes inherently clash with their overinflated egos. It’s also worth noting that I’m not alone in this spectator sport.

So go ahead. Keep crying about how no one takes you seriously and you are horribly oppressed for speaking truth to power, despite having not much to say other than the powers that be are stupid. I’m sure it will garner you actual respect in the long run.

I wrote this blog while half sleep deprived and nursing a headache, pls dun criticalize itsssssss. Or do. I don't really care. I'll just end this awkwardly with this last thing I found which I thought was... interesting...