MichaelAnissimov comments on Neo-reactionaries, why are you neo-reactionary? - Less Wrong

10 Post author: Capla 17 November 2014 10:31PM

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Comment author: CellBioGuy 20 November 2014 02:40:41AM *  21 points [-]

And I quote:

"Another trend is the rapidly falling testosterone among American men, which has gone so far as to cause some men to dress up and pretend they are women. They might even get surgery to mutilate their genital organs. This behavior is destructive, a form of self-indulgence and escape which contributes to the breakdown of societal fabric. If communities are going to reap the benefits of strong families, they will have to reject and condemn these behaviors. Otherwise, the demographic suffers from below replacement births and has no future. A shrinking demographic is a dying demographic."

Michael Anissimov, May 27 2014. http://www.moreright.net/the-purpose-of-reactionaries/

Comment author: MichaelAnissimov 20 November 2014 09:09:26AM 1 point [-]

Yes. In communities where the strength of the family is irrelevant and the only focus is on the self, such behaviors are common. These communities are slowly being replaced by others due to their failure to reproduce.

Comment author: KaceyNow 20 November 2014 06:35:05PM 8 points [-]

I don't know which communities you're talking about, but anecdotally I have to say I've found trans bars and support groups to have a much broader range in race, class, and origin than any other places I typically go.

Also, low testosterone you describe in that paragraph is not implicated as a cause of transgender behavior, with people generally being in the typical range for their birth sex before transition, which includes outliers with very high testosterone levels. Giving people additional testosterone has been tried and not been found to "cure" transgender behavior.

Relying on made-up facts for an entire paragraph of your purpose statement is not very encouraging.

Comment author: MichaelAnissimov 20 November 2014 06:52:05PM 4 points [-]

Citation on the testosterone business?

Comment author: skeptical_lurker 21 November 2014 09:09:10AM 1 point [-]

According to wikipedia:

The androgen receptor (AR), also known as NR3C4, is activated by the binding of testosterone or dihydrotestosterone, where it plays a critical role in the forming of primary and secondary male sex characteristics. Hare et al. found that male-to-female transsexuals were found to have longer repetitions of the gene, which reduced its effectiveness at binding testosterone.[18]

So maybe the amount of testosterone would be normal but it would have less effect?

Comment author: skeptical_lurker 20 November 2014 08:37:08PM 0 points [-]

low testosterone you describe in that paragraph is not implicated as a cause of transgender behavior

What about low testosterone in utero (or high testosterone for f->m)?

What do you think the most probable cause of transgender behavior is?

Comment author: Azathoth123 21 November 2014 12:23:21AM 3 points [-]

I'm not sure about KaceyNow, I suspect transgender behavior is basically a culture bound syndrome.

Comment author: skeptical_lurker 21 November 2014 09:14:27AM 5 points [-]

Wikipedia lists a large amount of evidence for differences in genetics and brain volume. I know its possible that culture could cause changes in brain structure to some extent, but it can't influence genetics.

Comment author: Azathoth123 21 November 2014 09:26:04AM 3 points [-]

Given Wikipedia's editorial biases (and academia's publication biases) on these kinds of topics, it's almost certainly filtered evidence.

Comment author: skeptical_lurker 20 November 2014 08:35:00PM 4 points [-]

If I understand you correctly, transsexuals are not the problem, lack of family values and low testosterone are the problem, and transexuals are one symptom.

Assuming, for sake of argument, that this is true:

1) A lot of people are pro traditional family values. What do you think the marginal utility of one more advocate is? Or is advocating it amoung certain groups (e.g. LW) more important because we need intelligent people to keep breeding?

2) You say "These communities are slowly being replaced by others" - has your estimate for when the singularity occurs moved far back in time? Concerns about family values seem of little importance if non-biological intelligence is likly to turn up soon.

Comment author: MichaelAnissimov 20 November 2014 08:54:29PM 7 points [-]

In reference to your first comment, basically yes.

1) The only reason I joined this thread in the first place is because someone attacked me, I don't particularly advocate neoreaction among LW groups, because I understand the community is hyper-liberalized to the point of absurdity.

2) Yes, my estimates of when the Singularity will occur moved from 2030-2040 to 2070-2080 over the last five years. This change is partially what has caused the neoreaction thing. I think there is a real risk that Western civilization will fall apart before we get there.

Comment author: [deleted] 22 November 2014 08:06:47PM 5 points [-]

Is it really useful to give one numerical answer here? "2070-2080" doesn't capture the same amount of information as "if not before (say) 2050, not for a few centuries".

(Of course, the standard LW memeplex hardly has a reason to look forward to a non-Western singularity -- wouldn't it be almost certainly unfriendly by Western standards?)

Comment author: skeptical_lurker 20 November 2014 09:08:44PM 2 points [-]

1) I would agree that its probably best to keep NRx and LW separate. Still, this leaves the question of what is the marginal utility of advocating traditional family values?

2) I see, this does make your NRx position more understandable. I too have moved my estimates somewhat backwards.

Comment author: MichaelAnissimov 20 November 2014 09:14:13PM 5 points [-]

1) Way too many to list here.

2) I still consider a near-future Singularity possible but not likely.

Comment author: HBDfan 21 November 2014 12:52:55AM 0 points [-]

The LW tone has improved this year and this post is refreshing.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 21 November 2014 01:03:52PM 6 points [-]

Alternate suggestions for making families stronger-- oppose whatever tends to weaken family ties.

Make divorce more difficult and/or more discouraged. Teach people how to be good companions.

http://www.businessinsider.com/lasting-relationships-rely-on-2-traits-2014-11

Discourage people from throwing their children out. This means discouraging homophobia and transphobia.

Support telecommuting. Being geographically scattered is hard on families.

Comment author: Lumifer 21 November 2014 04:05:13PM 3 points [-]

Make divorce more difficult and/or more discouraged.

That doesn't make families stronger -- that makes people who hate each other live together (usually with pretty bad results).

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 21 November 2014 04:08:13PM 2 points [-]

It does, but less divorce might still make for more stability in extended families. I don't know whether the effects of divorce on extended families has been studied.

Comment author: Lumifer 21 November 2014 04:29:57PM 0 points [-]

I think that in this context stability is the wrong thing to optimize for.

Comment author: Azathoth123 22 November 2014 04:41:58AM *  2 points [-]

Make divorce more difficult and/or more discouraged.

Yes, NRx's are trying to do that too.

Discourage people from throwing their children out. This means discouraging homophobia and transphobia.

Is there an actual logical connection between those two sentences that isn't a fully general argument against parents insisting on any ethical standards from children?

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 22 November 2014 08:53:17AM 2 points [-]

You could distinguish between behavior which is clearly dangerous to other members of the family, and behavior which isn't.

Comment author: polymathwannabe 20 November 2014 01:17:23PM 3 points [-]

being replaced

Do you have evidence for that? The family is not the main unit for transmission of information. Professional educators took over that function long ago.