iNow

The fact that scientific knowledge is always provisional. It doesn’t deal with universal or objective truths chiseled into stone tablets. It deals instead with our current best models of the universe, but those models are forever subject to change as we learn new things. Hence, everything in science… except perhaps for some rare exceptions at the margins… is open for debate.

Didn’t realize you were teetotaler 😂

Slight correction: Support was for the right of protest and need for systemic improvements, not for destruction of property nor rioting. Comments were made that focusing on the marginal few who harmed property was a smokescreen and distraction to avoid focus on and discussion of the core issues. Made this exact distinction clear over 20+ times in those various threads, but alas… our actual stance gets once more maligned for purposes of scoring points.

With practical exceptions only at the margins, technically everything is

Knob for cabinet, desk drawer, or something similar

If someone tells you they identify as a man and request you refer to them as such, yet you then refuse to accept this and persist in referring them as a woman, then it seems highly likely to me that you’re acting in a manner which is best described as BOTH discourteous and bigoted… especially if that individual has asked you repeatedly and you repeatedly disregarded their perfectly valid request. That is my answer, whether you like it not.

You’re neither, because koti was just acting childishly, arguing in bad faith, and doesn’t actually identify as “thou.”

I know that I often lead by example, but you missed the key part. I explained in my own post where I used this word why I did. You, however, used it in isolation and moved on as if it alone was somehow sufficient. It will surely be a loss for everyone if you take your ball and go home, what with your calm, well reasoned, dispassionate and inclusive approach to hot button topics. No. Stop. Please. You’re like a lighthouse in the storm and we’ll all simply be lost at sea. Without your clear inclusive leadership, our boats will be battered upon the cliffs. Our chances of survival will fall to nearly zero if you should follow through on this dying swan threat and should you choose to extinguish your bright illuminating bulb and collaborative posting style. No. Stop. Please. 🙄

Why doth thou feel comments about your own mental health are in any way relevant as a reply to my comment regarding thou’s claims of having insights into the minds of others?

I find your claims of telepathic and mind reading abilities quite remarkable. Have you considered using them for personal gain? What else would you be willing to tell us and others about what we do and do not know? Am quite eager to learn more about just how deeply you’ve managed to penetrate the minds of others!

Like to think I've been trying to see the situation in 4-dimensions, actually. My posts and replies to you, however, are being intentionally simplified since we seem to be so far apart on this. It's generally better to seek and find alignment on the basics before moving to the deeper complexities, IMO. I'd love to know which of my specific comments lead you to hyperbolically assert I'm behaving "like a dick," but then I'd be inclined to counter with quotes of your own which very much suggest your own guilt under this charge, and that seems unproductive for everyone.

Thank you for the response. I see that you've now conflated our current discussion about gender pronouns with the BLM movement and subsequent protests. I also see that you and I attribute these reactions in BLM last year to different things. You appear to think the social reaction to these events is a misguided attempt to atone for the historical sin of slavery. While that certainly plays a background role, IMO the passion in the responses is much more about people who are being paid by our tax dollars to protect and serve our neighborhoods and communities... people who are present where we live... with our families... in uniform and as authorized agents of the state (aka: police)... murdering people with dark skin without consequence at an alarming an unacceptable rate. But that's all off-topic, anyway. There's an existing George Floyd thread (a few, in fact) where you can share your dismissal and disregard for his life and diminish the pain felt from his loss by his surviving family and friends... how his is not an exception, but a common occurrence and where you can blatantly suggest that his life somehow lacked worth and deserved to be taken being taken by police because he had some minor background of drug use. I don't know who needs to hear this, but cops aren't supposed to murder guilty people, either.

I do not understand either of these points, but I would like to. Will you please elaborate?

That Ze really isn't Koti's preferred pronoun... That it's all an attempt to belittle and diminish and dismiss the very real lived experiences of millions in the trans community that Koti considers to be an outgroup not worthy of basic decency and respect nor to be a part of the Koti tribe.

And that's fine. You clearly see yourself as perfect already. No worries. I simply won't count you as a willing ally when trying to leave things better than how we found them and when seeking to minimize needless ostracization and social reinforcement of traditional outgroups. In which case your stated claim that you attempt to be kind and courteous is specious. You signal with words that you're kind and courteous, but then fail when it matters to actually act in a manner which is either of those things... Instead, you dismiss people and their requests as "ridiculous." That's neither kind, nor courteous despite your claims of being both. Your view is pretty irrelevant when it comes to how strangers identify themselves, but even so... Nobody is asking that you change it. You can keep any views you hold or want. People are simply asking that when their name is James you stop insisting on calling them Sally. They're not even asking that you be kind. They're just asking that you be courteous. No changes in personal views required. Society is not stationary nor stagnant. We are ALWAYS evolving culturally, and hopefully getting better as we do. Personally, I see that as a good thing. One might even argue that it will NEVER end. We ALL will be asked someday to adjust our views and choices of words. You. Me. Everyone... and when that happens, we can either choose to be good neighbors and accept our personal roles in expanding inclusivity for others who have traditionally been scorned and ostracized and targeted for violence, or we can instead hold firm for arbitrary reasons to legacy words and pigeonholes that are exclusionary, hurtful, and often downright dehumanizing. If someone brands you as a bigot or suggests you're being offensive toward them, then IMO that shouldn't trigger fear. It should trigger self-reflection and a willingness to improve... to close a blind spot in your mental model of the world that you maybe didn't even realize existed... but YMMV.

Okay, fine with that, Ze. Should I accidently forget to use this new pronoun after you eventually stop posting then return a year later after absence, I preemptively request that you please remind me politely of your preffered pronoun and desire not to be referred to as He/Him. I assure you that once you do I will gladly correct myself if by accident I apply the wrong pronoun... the one you JUST YESTERDAY demanded be applied, but which TODAY you suddenly feel is insulting and unacceptable. It's a damned shame you can't bring yourself to stop belittling the very real experience of millions of your peers in society, and also that you're clearly not here to argue in good faith nor have anything even remotely resembling a mature discussion. Again, bad faith. Thanks for consistently reinforcing why your views are to be taken with a grain of salt (especially after repeatedly failing to properly represent what is happening with the law and in the articles cited)... even after being repeatedly corrected by other members.

Horseshit. All I did was call HIM out for running away and ceasing participation after ignoring at least 4 direct requests for an answer. HE obviously couldn’t answer so took HIS ball and went home like a snot nosed child after realizing HE had picked a fight HE couldn’t win.

And then run away and failed to respond with anything beyond emotional outbursts

I'm totally fine with this. Why aren't others is, I believe, the actual question under discussion.

You appear to be arguing against an pretty obvious strawman here. I'll chalk it up to lack of valid comprehension, not intentional malice. Precisely. Why can't the trans community have that same decision making authority for pronouns applied to them?

What am I dodging, exactly? What specifically are you dismissing outright as ridiculous?

I think you need to be a bit more PC by recognizing that you're not the sole arbiter of what is "ridiculous." Opinions are like buttholes... we've all got one and most of them stink. And when he corrects me, I'll respect that this is THEIR choice to make, not mine.

When it comes to biology, strong desires to do things often aren't sufficient, and you likely have to accept that. YOU: Hi everyone! I want your honest opinions. US: Okay, this is what I think. YOU: No, that's not the opinion I want!!

“My friend MigL went to the store today. While there, THEY bought food and supplies. I told THEM it would’ve been better to wait until next week when the sale began.” I’m just not seeing why this is a problem for so very many people (well actually, I kinda am… but am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope I’m simply mistaken).

Perhaps you are. Perhaps you aren’t. I have no idea, and I truly don’t care… but No. That is not what I’m saying. I’m saying psychological therapy is more likely to lead you to a better more sustainable outcome than this (frankly ludicrous and ignorant) idea of yours that you can change all your genes from XY to XX and start menstruating and have a baby. ‘It’s so ridiculous, in fact, that I consider you to be trolling and will feed you no longer.