Philosophical Lessons from Twitter

Disagreement necessitates humanity to change. The new status quo will not always be desirable, but the mechanism is the same regardless of particular circumstances. The Magna Carta, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, most scientific discoveries, technological innovation and so much more all fundamentally started with someone dissenting from commonly held beliefs about the world. Yet, a majority human civilizations enforced extreme conformity. Dialogue was limited to certain subjects and punishments for questioning cultural or intellectual taboos were severe. This is why we—folks in the west—are blessed to be intellectual descendants of Enlightenment Era thinking.

Focus on individual freedoms, institution protections for citizens and intellectual exploration broke the shackles of the past. I genuinely believe the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were a pivotal period for human progression. People conceptualized a future where rationality, education, understanding, tolerance and freedom could flourish. Ideologies may have stood in opposition to one another, but they were allowed to co-exist. Complete conformity should have become a relic of the past; yet, barely three hundred years later and we’re already starting to regress back.

In the last century, western culture has made amazing leaps in social equality. At least on paper, people are treated the same regardless of race, sex, politics and intellectual leanings. Unfortunately, words are easier than actions. I suppose this why social justice advocates still exist because they feel the “good fight” isn’t over. Historically, these groups were the impetus behind social change. People of this inclination must view themselves as political/social descendants of famous radicals from the past. After all, people like Galileo, Lincoln, and Sojourner Truth fought to make the world a better place. One might call historical dissenters—with good intentions—progressives or liberals of their respective eras. A projection modern society likes to place on the past. But, justice was always determined by the winners and social advocacy has changed drastically from its origins.

The cloud of ideas and tolerance for disagreement must be protected in order for a genuinely free society to exist. People should be encouraged to question everything in their lives. My Christian faith and political views developed by processing opposing beliefs. Friends and strangers challenged me to defend my worldview. In the process of building that defense, I gained a deeper understanding of those beliefs and opinions. I have reconsidered opinions through this methodology as well. Discourse happens when all sides of an issue meet one another as equals. Elements within western culture no longer seems concerned about preserving these proud traditions.

Tolerance has been replaced with conformity. Most “progressive” groups now function within varying levels of authoritarian parameters. Two unfortunate consequences of my brief exposure to #GamerGate was becoming aware of Social Justice Warriors and then being placed on the ggautoblocker list. Granted this is on twitter so easily dismissed right? Maybe not. Social media indirectly reflects our culture and has become the medium where culture wars occur. Autoblockers are an effective way to end harassment over social media, but unintended consequences manifest. Users of the ggautoblocker will cite avoiding harassment, but cynicism got the better of me. This particular autoblocker doesn’t asses individual accounts. Instead association with certain groups—GamerGate being the most obvious—or stating opinions opposing “progressive” ideas determine whether one should be blocked. Anyone else see a problem there?

I was placed on this list for using #GamerGate less than ten times, #areyoublocked once and (probably not famous enough for this one) opposing Internet feminism. My account is devoid of harassment and no, snarky comments don’t count. Pope Francis was on the list (really?), but he has been removed. KFC is on the blocklist which is absurd. Game developers and journalists can be blocked if they say something “offensive.” Anyone following Mark Kern is blocked. I’ll give Randi and her team credit where it’s due: a white-list appeal system has been created for people who were blocked unnecessarily. My appeal was placed early yesterday, we’ll see if it’s approved.

Even if Randi made this blocker with a genuine intention to keep harassment away, I can’t endorse it. Autoblockers fail on a conceptual level. They create echo chambers and potentially silence legitimate criticism. Famous Internet personalities deal with shitty youtube comments all the time and they don’t shut people down. Constructive dialogue about journalism and potential sexism in gaming has ceased and this autoblocker contributes to that stalemate. A puny ideological fight on twitter is surprisingly analogous to the political polarization occurring in West Culture. In the United Sates most liberals only watch and read news that lean towards their bias. Conservatives create their own political spaces and do the same. Actual progress demands the coexistence of differing worldviews while acknowledging the importance of common ground. That process begins by actually speaking to one another. If you’re a social justice warrior or a progressive, please step out of your “safe spaces” and engage the rest of us. Everyone else, please respond to radicalism with kindness and compassion. I know it’s hard with some of these folks, but hateful ideologies with clever disguises will always show their true natures. Let us fight to move forward, not backwards. 

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Poisonous Abundance

I’m comfortable writing about almost anything, unless it involves shameful activities in my life. Suddenly, reluctance turns my fingers to stone and strangles my cognitive process. A majority of my readers are people I know since Lady Luck hasn’t bestowed me with the fedora of fame. Anonymity can no longer shield me unless I disregard personal details; however, that would be disingenuous. My advice to young writers: avoid confessional pieces, they’re a pain in the ass.

Pornographic addiction has afflicted me for over a decade (not always consistent in frequency) and is one my greatest failures as a person. Today, I’ll share my experience with this increasingly present commodity in our society. No moral statements will be made in this post. One is not a “terrible human being” for looking at porn—unless it’s child porn—or being a porn star. Framing this issue in such a manner is counter-productive and encourages judgment on the people who are involved. Many claim that in moderation pornography is harmless or potentially beneficial, but both are misleading conclusions.

Like other forms of fiction, watching porn will not turn a reasonable person into a rapist, sexist, sexual deviant or anything similar. Fiction, even in massive quantity, can’t rewrite peoples’ personalities. Virtually no studies have found a substantial connection between pornography use and sex-related crimes. Some researchers postulate the 85% decrease of rapes in United States since 1990 is inversely proportional to availability of pornography. However, I reject this notion since other factors might not be considered and violent crimes have similarly declined.

Freudian thinking presents porn as a conduit for a person’s repressed sexual desires. An example: Bob discovers he has a propensity towards rough or even violent sex. Instead of repressing these desires which could cause him to commit these actions in reality, certain fetish porn provides him with a safe and fictional outlet. He might even find a community of people with similar tendencies, allowing Bob to better qualify/control his urges. I find this logic faulty due to the nature of porn. Everyone handles it differently, but I never knew anyone who used ir “moderately” and that wasn’t the case for me. Bob doesn’t need porn, he needs a therapist.

Understand that an addiction to porn differs greatly from drug addition so the two should never be equated with each other. Yet, people shouldn’t dismiss the negative influence porn can have on a person. My first glance into this dark, erotic world occurred during my freshman year in high school. An innocent curiosity turned into a monster I can’t seem to slay, mostly due to self-sabotage. The toll this “beneficial” or “harmless” activity has taken on my life is hard to qualify. Before my own experience is discussed, I don’t claim my life as definitive proof. There are always exceptions.


1. Young people shouldn’t be exposed to porn, but the Internet has made exposure an inevitability. Porn creates unrealistic expectations for sex, perpetuates outrageous standards of female beauty and offers a corrupted vision of real intimacy. Adults generally understand this is fiction, but young boys don’t have the same clarity. My intellectual grasp of intimacy is fine, but years of addiction have crippled my ability to be intimate with anyone. Let’s slay another myth: pornography isn’t education in any way. Want to spice up your sex life or performance in bed? There’s a myriad of sites about sex toys and positions, go there.


2. Often Porn is used as a surrogate for real women. I’ve fallen into this trap in the past. In this regard, most experts agree that pornography is harmful. The rate of rape and murders is extremely low in Japan and porn advocates use this country as an example of pornography’s “positive” aspects. The Japanese are very open about sexuality, but not gender roles. They have similar rating systems for porn, but it’s probably less of a taboo for teens to read it. A strong endorsement right? Well, not necessary. Anime and Hentai (pornographic anime/manga) share the same cultural space. An Otaku (a derogatory term for someone who is obsessed with anime culture) will watch and read both kinds of media. Certain men and boys are contributing a shrinking population because they don’t interact with women at all. They literally prefer “2D girls” over real ones. Porn isn’t the sole cause of this phenomenon, but I think it’s a factor. We’re starting to see a similar culture, revolving around porn stars, emerging in the States.


3. Porn wastes massive amounts of time. In the past, half my day would be wasted looking at porn. I could have been bettering my life by doing any number of alternative activities. Granted, a similar amount of my days has been devoted to video games or reading, but those times were spent increasing my knowledge or socializing with friends who I don’t see often.

4. While there are healthy ways to masturbate, pornography doesn’t encourage that behavior. Chronic over-masturbation has some nasty side effects which can lead to Erectile Dysfunction, premature ejaculation and other unpleasant conditions.


5. Relationships will suffer because of porn. Referencing back to point three, binging on porn definitely discourages one from leaving the house. I’ve lied to friends, claiming to be doing another activity when really I was jerking off. That’s shameful. Marriages suffer as well. Turning to porn when you have a wife will alienate her. People often wonder why the divorce rate has increased, care to guess? What if both spouses watch porn together? Same problem still exists. My addiction blinded me when I needed clarity which resulted in me initiating the destruction of a close friendship. Another regret I get to nail on my mental wall.


6. I don’t want to sound like a feminist, but porn objectifies the people in it. There’s nothing empowering about having fake sex for money. We should value our bodies more than that. Otherwise, it’s just depressing because our cultural beliefs are reflected in this attitude.

Pornography has altered my life forever. It makes me a hypocrite and separates me from my God. Where is my credibility on this subject when I am no where close to conquering my problem? If I could go back in time to that day twelve years ago, drastic measures would be taken to ensure my younger self never clicked that first link, brutal and devastating measures. Young boys and girls don’t be deceived. Pornography offers nothing but temporary pleasure, emptiness and regret. I’m not advocating for puritanical authoritarianism. Nudity and sexuality has a place in fiction, just not in a media that serves only to titillate its audience.

Side note: My prayers go out to porn star “Cytherea” and her family. Their house was broken into last month and she was raped. Thankfully, the culprits were caught and have been sentenced.

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