Bill Gates Recommends Four Books That 'Make Sense of the World' (gatesnotes.com) 130
This month Bill Gates recommended four books about making sense of the world, including The Coming Wave, by Mustafa Suleyman. Gates calls it "the book I recommend more than any other on AI — to heads of state, business leaders, and anyone else who asks — because it offers something rare: a clear-eyed view of both the extraordinary opportunities and genuine risks ahead."
After helping build DeepMind from a small startup into one of the most important AI companies of the past decade, [Suleyman] went on to found Inflection AI and now leads Microsoft's AI division. But what makes this book special isn't just Mustafa's firsthand experience — it's his deep understanding of scientific history and how technological revolutions unfold. He's a serious intellectual who can draw meaningful parallels across centuries of scientific advancement. Most of the coverage of The Coming Wave has focused on what it has to say about artificial intelligence — which makes sense, given that it's one of the most important books on AI ever written. And there is probably no one as qualified as Mustafa to write it...
But what sets his book apart from others is Mustafa's insight that AI is only one part of an unprecedented convergence of scientific breakthroughs. Gene editing, DNA synthesis, and other advances in biotechnology are racing forward in parallel. As the title suggests, these changes are building like a wave far out at sea — invisible to many but gathering force. Each would be game-changing on its own; together, they're poised to reshape every aspect of society... [P]rogress is already accelerating as costs plummet and computing power grows. Then there are the incentives for profit and power that are driving development. Countries compete with countries, companies compete with companies, and individuals compete for glory and leadership. These forces make technological advancement essentially unstoppable — and they also make it harder to control...
How do we limit the dangers of these technologies while harnessing their benefits? This is the question at the heart of The Coming Wave, because containment is foundational to everything else. Without it, the risks of AI and biotechnology become even more acute. By solving for it first, we create the stability and trust needed to tackle everything else... [Suleyman] lays out an agenda that's appropriately ambitious for the scale of the challenge — ranging from technical solutions (like building an emergency off switch for AI systems) to sweeping institutional changes, including new global treaties, modernized regulatory frameworks, and historic cooperation among governments, companies, and scientists...
In an accompanying Christmas-themed video, Gates adds that "Of all the books on AI, that's the one I recommend the most."
Gates also recommends The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, saying it "made me reflect on how much of my younger years — which were often spent running around outside without parental supervision, sometimes getting into trouble — helped shape who I am today. Haidt explains how the shift from play-based childhoods to phone-based childhoods is transforming how kids develop and process emotions." (In the video Gates describes it as "kind of a scary book, but very convincing. [Haidt] writes about the rise of mental illness, and anxiety in children. He, unlike some books, actually has some prescriptions, like kids not using phones until much later, parenting style differences. I think it's a super-important book.")
Gates goes into the book's thesis in a longer blog post: that "we're actually facing two distinct crises: digital under-parenting (giving kids unlimited and unsupervised access to devices and social media) and real-world over-parenting (protecting kids from every possible harm in the real world). The result is young people who are suffering from addiction-like behaviors — and suffering, period — while struggling to handle challenges and setbacks that are part of everyday life." [Haidt] makes a strong case for better age verification on social media platforms and delaying smartphone access until kids are older. Literally and figuratively, he argues, we also need to rebuild the infrastructure of childhood itself — from creating more engaging playgrounds that encourage reasonable risk-taking, to establishing phone-free zones in schools, to helping young people rediscover the joy of in-person interaction.
Gates also recommends Engineering in Plain Sight, by Grady Hillhouse, a book which he says "encourages curiosity." ("Hillhouse takes all of the mysterious structures we see every day, from cable boxes to transformers to cell phone towers, and explains what they are and how they work. It's the kind of read that will reward your curiosity and answer questions you didn't even know you had.")
And finally, Gates recommends an autobiography by 81-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/biographer/former sports journalist Doris Kearns Goodwin, who assesses the impact of President Lyndon Johnson's policies in a surprising "personal history of the 1960s."
But what sets his book apart from others is Mustafa's insight that AI is only one part of an unprecedented convergence of scientific breakthroughs. Gene editing, DNA synthesis, and other advances in biotechnology are racing forward in parallel. As the title suggests, these changes are building like a wave far out at sea — invisible to many but gathering force. Each would be game-changing on its own; together, they're poised to reshape every aspect of society... [P]rogress is already accelerating as costs plummet and computing power grows. Then there are the incentives for profit and power that are driving development. Countries compete with countries, companies compete with companies, and individuals compete for glory and leadership. These forces make technological advancement essentially unstoppable — and they also make it harder to control...
How do we limit the dangers of these technologies while harnessing their benefits? This is the question at the heart of The Coming Wave, because containment is foundational to everything else. Without it, the risks of AI and biotechnology become even more acute. By solving for it first, we create the stability and trust needed to tackle everything else... [Suleyman] lays out an agenda that's appropriately ambitious for the scale of the challenge — ranging from technical solutions (like building an emergency off switch for AI systems) to sweeping institutional changes, including new global treaties, modernized regulatory frameworks, and historic cooperation among governments, companies, and scientists...
In an accompanying Christmas-themed video, Gates adds that "Of all the books on AI, that's the one I recommend the most."
Gates also recommends The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, saying it "made me reflect on how much of my younger years — which were often spent running around outside without parental supervision, sometimes getting into trouble — helped shape who I am today. Haidt explains how the shift from play-based childhoods to phone-based childhoods is transforming how kids develop and process emotions." (In the video Gates describes it as "kind of a scary book, but very convincing. [Haidt] writes about the rise of mental illness, and anxiety in children. He, unlike some books, actually has some prescriptions, like kids not using phones until much later, parenting style differences. I think it's a super-important book.")
Gates goes into the book's thesis in a longer blog post: that "we're actually facing two distinct crises: digital under-parenting (giving kids unlimited and unsupervised access to devices and social media) and real-world over-parenting (protecting kids from every possible harm in the real world). The result is young people who are suffering from addiction-like behaviors — and suffering, period — while struggling to handle challenges and setbacks that are part of everyday life." [Haidt] makes a strong case for better age verification on social media platforms and delaying smartphone access until kids are older. Literally and figuratively, he argues, we also need to rebuild the infrastructure of childhood itself — from creating more engaging playgrounds that encourage reasonable risk-taking, to establishing phone-free zones in schools, to helping young people rediscover the joy of in-person interaction.
Gates also recommends Engineering in Plain Sight, by Grady Hillhouse, a book which he says "encourages curiosity." ("Hillhouse takes all of the mysterious structures we see every day, from cable boxes to transformers to cell phone towers, and explains what they are and how they work. It's the kind of read that will reward your curiosity and answer questions you didn't even know you had.")
And finally, Gates recommends an autobiography by 81-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/biographer/former sports journalist Doris Kearns Goodwin, who assesses the impact of President Lyndon Johnson's policies in a surprising "personal history of the 1960s."
Does not make sense (Score:5, Insightful)
If you really want to make sense of the world, read about human psychology.
Besides that, I ignore people like Gates.
Re:Does not make sense (Score:5, Insightful)
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What's woke with my previous post? Do you even know what "woke" is?
Re:Does not make sense (Score:5, Insightful)
If you really want to make sense of the world, read about human psychology.
Besides that, I ignore people like Gates.
The list makes no sense regardless. One of the worlds wealthiest humans, holds the latest sales gimmick as the centerpiece of a handful of books that make “sense” of our (for-profit) world? Sounds just a bit too convenient there, Bill.
Tell me what his list was 5 years ago. Then tell me why it’s so unfashionable by comparison.
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“These Truths,”
“Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities,”
“Prepared: What Kids Need for a Fulfilled Life,”
“Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dream,”
It's a decent list, and he reviews as a thoughtful person. Which makes him at least as good as the New York Times. Generally I like things explained in more technical detail, but I understand most people don't. https://www.cnbc.co [cnbc.com]
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Re: Does not make sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe he distrusts Gates because his head is not completely up his ass.
Anyone who has been paying attention to his actual actions as opposed to what he says, and the disparity between the two, distrusts Gates.
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Re: Does not make sense (Score:2)
You think you're part of the elite? If you are, how sad that you are posting here.
I'm looking forward to his own books (Score:5, Funny)
Please, no more calls for censorship (Score:2)
No more calls for censorship to "save the children". Their small, fragile minds must only contain the information that you want to put into them, or they might grow up to have thoughts. This is a truly ugly concept. Not thoughts! Noooooo!
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We need parents to parent and schools to teach academics. Toss the rest.
You mean history? It's important.
Jay M. Feinman? (Score:3, Informative)
“Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,” by Jay M. Feinman.
If not, he can take his 640kBooks and defrag them.
the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:2)
thanks to the unsustainable greed of Bill Gates and the upper class, the rest of us are in the lower class now
it cannot be capitalism when 85% of all our capital is being hoarded by an irresponsible upper class, that only leaves 15% of all capital for the rest of us to manage with, it's not enough
and these selfish people aren't letting up either
Re:the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:4, Informative)
it cannot be capitalism when 85% of all our capital is being hoarded
That is exactly what it is.
Capitalism means "capital controls the means of production" and nothing else.
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Not that I disagree with you in principle, but you do realize that's a bit of a tautology, right?
"Captial" here is being defined by being the "ownership class". So if you define a group by owning the means of production, then say "hey look, they own the means of production" it's kinda... duh?
A more cohesive theory needs to understand why someone is a member of the group that owns everything, and why someone else isn't.
Re: the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:2)
""Captial" here is being defined by being the "ownership class"."
No, it's defined as money.
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That is exactly what it is.
Capitalism means "capital controls the means of production" and nothing else.
it's a noun that means:
1. An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
2. An economic system based on predominantly private (individual or corporate) investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of goods and wealth; contrasted with socialism or especially communism, in which the state has the predominant role in
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hahahahahahhahahahahaha
AHED is fun, they have good notes on etymology, but that is NOT what capitalism means.
You also don't know how dictionaries work. ANY of those things can be what people mean when they say capitalism. It doesn't have to be all of them.
But followup, some of those people are wrong. For example, when people think that capitalism means there is a free market, they are demonstrating that they are brain damaged, since there never has been a perfectly free market. There never can be, because a
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which is the same reason this is not really capitalism, because some people have seized all the capital
without adequate capitalization, the system is classist and explorative, this is effectively economic slavery
Re: the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:2)
"which is the same reason this is not really capitalism, because some people have seized all the capital"
That is the natural operation of capital and therefore capitalism. Capital accrues capital. It's only when you have substantial intervention that this is not true. Ironically, in order to have the freest market possible, you must have controls to prevent this natural occurrence.
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there's nothing natural about greed or hoarding, we never see greedy animals or animals hoarding far more than they need
all I see is unethical abusive people desperate to justify themselves when they really know deep down they can't
it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the gates of heaven
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there's nothing natural about greed or hoarding
There's nothing natural about currency. Greed and hoarding are based on fear, which is natural.
all I see is unethical abusive people desperate to justify themselves when they really know deep down they can't
They're desperate to fill the hole. It doesn't matter that they can't. Their attempts will have the same effects as their success would.
it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the gates of heaven
Heaven is a myth and a camel can get through the eye of the needle by being slaughtered and packed for retail sale.
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more denial, try operating any kind of modern economy without some form of currency, and no, greed isn't normal or natural, but you can claim it is all you want
what I see is selfishness and irresponsibility, and from you, i see trolling
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and from you, i see trolling
That's because you're a noob who doesn't know what trolling is.
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go ahead argue with a dictionary definition, that speaks volumes about you ... that you're a classist person
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it's not just fair pay either, it's fair prices, not corrupting our governments, public institutions and private markets, not to mention all the environmental degradation and human rights abuses
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Re: the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:1)
How is it not capitalism? They have the capital, so we do what they want.
I wonder if peasants used to complain that clearly they arenâ(TM)t living under True Monarchism, because they are not the king.
Re:the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:5, Interesting)
it cannot be capitalism when 85% of all our capital is being hoarded by an irresponsible upper class
Loaded language aside ("hoard"), these types of statistics are universally true of all businesses and industries.
Even if you look at something as trivial as OnlyFans, as an example, according to OF itself the top 1% of creators account for 33% of the total platform's earnings. Source: https://social-rise.com/blog/onlyfans-statistics
I know that a lot of people like to call Google a "monopoly", and I don't care to nit-pick over definitions, but in the search engine market you see 90% of search traffic in the hands of a single company that dominated that market. Amazon for online retail. Walmart for in-store retail. These are contemporary examples but there are historical examples as well that have come and gone. IBM was the Google of yesteryear. Woolworth was a huge American institution for 145 years before it went under in 1997.
No matter what business or industry, and no matter what time period post-industrial-revolution you look at, the bulk of revenue always has and always will be concentrated in the hands of a few hyper-successful performers.
What you should care about, if you're worried that your personal financial destiny is not in your hands, is how mobile and fluid are these demographics and if THAT has changed. And while there is a ton of talk about "wealth transfer", no one to my knowledge has made as compelling case, supported with data, that suggests that social mobility has declined in the past few generations.
And here's where things get really eye-opening. I'm a Gen X'er. And I have two Gen Z daughters who are in their mid twenties. My daughters like to repeat a claim that I've heard repeated lots about Gen Z. It goes something like this: "Gen Z is the FIRST generation in the USA that enjoys a lower standard of living than their parents did."
I actually started to believe that for a little bit. Then a YouTube video popped up in my recommendations that was about the history of Gen X, and I clicked on it because I was in the mood for a bit of nostalgia. Source: https://youtu.be/kuILG795Zow?si=lqdXw5am9aCHKOza
What were my contemporaries in the late 1980s / early 90s saying in news clips at the time, shown in that video?
"Gen X is the FIRST generation in USA history that enjoys a lower standard of living than their parents did."
hmmm ... seems like maybe our takes on the economy have more to do with human psychology and ideology than they do with actual empirical data. Because the same crap that is said about the "haves vs the have nots" were being said by workers in the 19th century. They were said by young adult boomers in the 1970s during the recession. They were repeated by my contemporaries in the 80s and 90s following the crash in the 80s. They were repeated by Occupy Wall-Street following the 2008 crash. They're repeated today in light of the housing crisis.
"Capitalism", as I perceive it, is not an architected, planned "system." It's the natural result of recognizing certain basic rights and then leaving people to their own devices. When you have the right to acquire and own property, to dispose of that property as you see fit, to think and express your ideas freely and to associate freely then a few things happen organically: people accumulate wealth, invent things, start businesses and trade amongst each other. This is going to happen organically because it's what people do. We think, we discover, we create and we trade. That's my working definition of "capitalism" anyway.
And I don't personally care how much wealthier someone is vs myself, as long as there is no application of force that prevents me from being able to pursue my own financial interests and climb the wealth ladder. Gates himself, whether you love him or hate him (I'm personally not a fan) is a rags to riches story himself. As long as I have the ability to save money, to make my own decisions regarding that money,
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it's hoarding, no one needs or deserves that much capital, capital is supposed to be tied to the producer, not the owner of the producer
this is economic slavery, obviously
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in the real world, all those who create capital should keep the capital they created,
anything else is theft and exploitation
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Don't call it "capitalism", that is Marxist terminology, call it "free society with market economy", that is freedom of contract and rule of law.
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I don't personally care how much wealthier someone is vs myself, as long as there is no application of force that prevents me from being able to pursue my own financial interests and climb the wealth ladder.
The ultra-wealthy buy laws which keep you down.
Gates himself, whether you love him or hate him (I'm personally not a fan) is a rags to riches story himself.
AhaHahAHAHHAhaHaHAHAHAHHA
Gates comes from a wealthy family and was able to succeed because of the influence of members of that wealthy family.
If you're not his fan, don't tell lies on his behalf.
If you don't know the story, then don't purport to, that's a different kind of lie.
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And here's where things get really eye-opening. I'm a Gen X'er. And I have two Gen Z daughters who are in their mid twenties. My daughters like to repeat a claim that I've heard repeated lots about Gen Z. It goes something like this: "Gen Z is the FIRST generation in the USA that enjoys a lower standard of living than their parents did."
I actually started to believe that for a little bit. Then a YouTube video popped up in my recommendations that was about the history of Gen X, and I clicked on it because I was in the mood for a bit of nostalgia. Source: https://youtu.be/kuILG795Zow?s... [youtu.be]
What were my contemporaries in the late 1980s / early 90s saying in news clips at the time, shown in that video?
"Gen X is the FIRST generation in USA history that enjoys a lower standard of living than their parents did."
What the fuck dude? Really? It does not appear to be materially harder to make rent and food than it was when you were younger? Seriously? Sure, it is MUCH easier for me now than it was then because I am being paid significantly more than when I was 20; however, even I can recognize that there is no way I would make rent on minimum wage now like I did (barely, lots of starving) then.
Younger people are materially worse off now than they were when I was born. My young parents experienced the first of the down
Re: the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:1)
You think the lower class has 15%?
You're optimistic. According to a recent Harvard study, the lower 80% of the US population has 7% of the national wealth.
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the lower classes includes the middle class, however, your point is true and this is getting worse and it will continue to get worse until our economy collapses from inequality once again
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There are certain people, who, if they get access to capital, will tend to turn that into more wealth. Then there's the rest of us. When you give an average Joe Worker extra money, they never invest it in self improvement or increasing their efficiency, or their own education. They blow it on short term hedonistic pursuits. I know it sucks, but this is just reality. That's why capitalism works, to the extent that it does, because it accumulates wealth in the hands of people who create more wealth. Tha
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more pseudo-capitalistic propaganda, the real truth is capital comes from us, when we produce and from nowhere else
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We tried communism multiple times in the 20th century (that's the years that start with 19 by the way) and it was a massive disaster every single time. Why would you want to impose those horrors on our nation?
As if you even know what communism is. Communism is like the Hutterites, the Kibbutz movement or the hippies. Sadly what pseudo-conservative people often call ‘communism’ is really despotism, as in the USSR, North Korea and China. These are not communistic, they are ‘command economies’ run by ‘tyrants’ which are closer to fascism than they are to communism. Or perhaps people are referring to the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, which is a one hundred year o
Re: the real crisis is massive undercapitalization (Score:2)
"There are certain people, who, if they get access to capital, will tend to turn that into more wealth. Then there's the rest of us."
Yeah, we turn it into even more wealth than the wealthy. The difference is that we turn it into more wealth for OTHER PEOPLE IN GENERAL while the wealthy turn it into less than half as much wealth, and mostly for other WEALTHY people.
When the poor get money then it gets passed around and spent about five times before it ends up in a wealthy person's pocket.
When the wealthy do
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Sounds like an idiot designed the part making machine. I assume it is stamping two different parts out of a single blank source at once. So making it two different machines may not be possible - but it's the simplest solution. Removes the decision.
There are many solutions - modify the machine so it stamps one part type with a red circle (for instance). All red circles go here, everything else goes there. Close to eliminates the decision.
There are automated, camera based systems that could sort them.
I dunno about you... (Score:2)
We're doomed anyway (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: We're doomed anyway (Score:2)
"I would never let a child touch a phone or computer until they are at least in high school"
The only reason I became employable as other than a burger flipper given the unaffordability of education is that I was computing from an early age. You would destroy opportunity to satisfy your prejudices.
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Right, put your kids at a huge disadvantage in the modern world. Might as well not teach them to read or write either. Don't let them damn evil printing presses infect their minds! Should work out great.
The problem is nobody is being taught how to exist in a digital world. Mainly because the people that should be passing on that knowledge were never taught either. So basically we have a bunch of morons running around with high power tools and no training.
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Leaders should read more than one book about AI (Score:2)
Every tech advance comes with a flaw baked in (Score:3)
The problem is that whenever there's a significant technological advance, it is immediately pounced on by wealthy, greedy opportunists whose number one priority is to get as much money out of it as possible. Social costs, environmental costs, danger to average people...none of it matters if there's money to be made.
Containment of the rest (Score:2)
Technology is "unstoppable" and "containment is foundational to everything else" sounds like a recipe for a dystopian nightmare to me.
Interesting no serious thought or consideration seems to ever be given to simply not going there in the first place invoking the age old if we don't someone else will argument. It is merely presumed impossible to stop "progress" but apparently not so impossible to prevent software from being executed, information from being spread or trustworthy AIs to be developed. Nobody
Surprised (Score:1)
I actually agree with two - Jon Haidt presents some compelling insights and Grady makes fun YouTube videos
"Spot sees AI and wags his widdo tail!" (Score:2)
The Road Ahead (Score:3)
Let's remember, this is the same person who barely mentioned the web [arstechnica.com] in his 1995 book, The Road Ahead...
Epstein Island (Score:1)
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Well, see, they only asked for four books - and The Isle of Earthly Delights is #5 on Gates' list...
Re: Why in the HECK (Score:2)
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The reason they recommend the book is so people can learn from the past. How to recognize when one side says the other side must be gotten rid of (such as is happening in Palestine by Israel), how words can be twisted to get a point across, and logical fallacies.
They are not saying it's a good book. They are saying people should understand how we got to the next step after the book.
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most of his wealth comes from monopolizing free markets and overcharging people as a result, Micro$oft has a long history of predatory and criminal behavior
Re: Why in the HECK (Score:1)
Almost all of which affected other billion dollar corporations. He wasn't skewering everyday consumers, and while MS pulled some really dirty shenanigans in the browser wars and in contract securing, you'd be hard pressed to find every day consumers who actually meaningfully suffered as a result. Not defending him, just pointing out that MS is not in the same league as Amazon or United HealthCare.
Re: Why in the HECK (Score:3)
"Almost all of which affected other billion dollar corporations."
Microsoft is considered to have set back computing by about a decade, in large part due to its war on Linux (which includes funding the completely unwarranted SCO lawsuits.) That has significant real world effects.
"The Coming Wave" is timely and relevant (Score:3)
Yours was the first visible comment in AC's vacuous FP branch. Why did you propagate the vacuous Subject? And why would I look at the trash before your visible comment to figure out what you are mumbling about? (That's a rhetorical question. The ONLY persuasive answer would be something like "But AC convinced me he's a personal friend of Bill Gates and he's really a whistleblower who is revealing that Gates was bribed to recommend these books." And AC convinced you that Gates can be bribed? ROFLMAO.)
I do fi
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We have made significant improvements. It wasn't that long ago when we would send passwords over the network in plain text, or store them, unencrypted, in known locations on our computers. Session hijacking could be as simple as changing the user id visible in the address bar. Anonymous FTP with write permissions was common. Default passwords were a thing, and they often remained unchanged. A search bot, blindly following links, could delete records [thedailywtf.com]
There is a specific threat I'm looking for and so far he hasn't mentioned it. A rampaging AI could attack the stock markets and other "FinTech" monuments.
That's not a threat. That's silly science fiction.
I want to read Stolen Focus by Johann Hari before Haidt, and his book isn't available around here. At least I haven't been able to find it in a couple of years of searching.
I
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NAK
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Windows Millenium Edition
Windows Vista
Microsoft Access
Clippy
Not a single everyday consumer ever had to suffer anything because they all bought Macs, right?
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I could say the same about your sig.
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How do you feel about Carly Fiorina?
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"This is going to take along time to return to any sort of normalcy."
You mean it is going to take a long time before a toxic male dominance is re-established and men can go about abusing females at their whim.
All of your statements are skewed stupid:
"Raising children requires two parents, usually one male, and usually one female." No it doesn't. Families with two fathers and two mothers do just fine. What are you smoking?
"Today, the male input is largely subjugated, while the female is elevated." In what al
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"This is going to take along time to return to any sort of normalcy."
You mean it is going to take a long time before a toxic male dominance is re-established and men can go about abusing females at their whim.
All you are doing is illustrating that in today's world, expression of an opinion that is not yours gets an attack, which for some reason you believe is an appropriate response.
You simply must point out to me where I said anything like that.
All of your statements are skewed stupid:
"Raising children requires two parents, usually one male, and usually one female." No it doesn't. Families with two fathers and two mothers do just fine.
Sorry there homie - did you notice that I wrote "Usually one male and on
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Your opinions are often incredibly stupid, and the ones you showed up above are certainly true to form. People are correct to call out how idiotic you are.
Off to your safe room gtall!
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How about the toxic women who change partners like they change outfits, all while dragging the kids and the alimony along for a free ride?
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How about the toxic women who change partners like they change outfits, all while dragging the kids and the alimony along for a free ride?
There are bad people in the world, no matter them sporting a vagina or a penis. That we are shouted down if we dare to criticize those that possess a vagina is evidence of a systemic problem.
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You're not being shouted down. People are pointing out that you're an idiot and you're posting idiocy.
u mad gtall? Protip - when you decide to be an ac, you should use a different style of writing.
Re: For all the GatesHate (Score:2)
Traditional family structures work, and calling them toxic, patriarchal, or whatever won't change the fact that what feminism and fundamentalist liberalism had brought upon us an age of social disaster.
There's a reason that the claimed "solution to patriarchy" has coincided with an explosion in mental health disorders. Sure, there's other factors, and you could jump on the correlation logical fallacy bandwagon if you want. But hysterical denial by feminists won't change the biological reality that the human
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Re: For all the GatesHate (Score:1)
You're laying the problems of consumerism at the feet of traditional family structures? That's some pretty weird ideology right there.
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No, mostly just pointing out that what is broadly considered a 'traditional family structure' is a one off fluke, and not particularly traditional nor effective.
You are going to have to provide some citations that traditional families with a man, wife, and children is not effective.
You think that is something the boomers invented? Show your work.
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Yes but what most people think of as traditional is the 'single income nuclear family' that made boomers toxic consumerists and their parents alcoholics, I don't think you'd get a return to something legit traditional with a multigenerational household in the West again until you can get rid of the stigma that its something only Asians or poor people do.
That is pretty prejudiced don't you think? Peopel who believe that all boomers are that are as prejudiced as a person who thinks that all dark skinned people of African descent are inferior. I utterly reject that as much as I do people who are in the KKK.
If you are correct, "most people" are utterly stupid and use their prejudice as a bludgeon.
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Speaking in broad generalities about men, women, or generations is always somewhat prejudicial unless you insert enough qualifiers to make it opaque. The salient point is more than what is perceived now as a traditional family structure (e.g. a Norman Rockwell painting) is not traditional and wasn't particularly effective.
Conversely, speaking in absolutes is exactly prejudiced.
You are certainly correct in that eventually you cannot derive any generalities is out of say 400 million people which means you have to have 400 million qualifiers.
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Traditional family structures work, and calling them toxic, patriarchal, or whatever won't change the fact that what feminism and fundamentalist liberalism had brought upon us an age of social disaster.
I agree 100 percent with most of what you said. There are some powerful biological forces at work here. It is fascinating that after retirement, my wife has taken total control of the household, no small change for a true "Boss Babe" who matched me in salary, and who by the way, was loved by the men who worked for her. Not so much by the women. (tall slender, and attractive) who were assholes. She says it is reversion to natural roles. She's the CEO of the domestic duties.
There's a reason that the claimed "solution to patriarchy" has coincided with an explosion in mental health disorders.
For certain. Those biological fac
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I'm an elder millennial so can't say I understand all of what young men face, I met everyone I dated at school or work without using apps and so on. But I have noticed my daughters seem to get along best with first generation immigrant boys so the disconnect of the American raised boys is going both ways.
Yes. There is a problem with how the boys are raised.
I'll probably piss off the guy who was busy deliberately altering what I wrote, but since I have a firm grasp on the third rail already, here we go.
A word of warning - these are generalizations. A whole lot of young males simply will not approach women today. Now older males don't either in many cases, but let's just talk about the young guys.
The statistics are telling us that in just a few years, around half of women of childbearing age will be
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The Coddling of the American Mind is also good.
See also Bad Therapy.
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The Coddling of the American Mind is also good.
See also Bad Therapy.
I find that the fine fragile person who went off the rails on my original post here is a perfect example of the way people try to shout people down. Making up things I supposedly said, insulting me. Trying to shout me down. Unfortunately for gtall, I don't play that game. Gtall ends up being ignored, a fitting reaction.
Although I occasionally enjoy what I call a Saturday Night curb stomping. A conceit of mine to hone my own insult skills as needed. Here's one for gtall https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Ah, you'll also enjoy What's Our Problem if you haven't read it yet. It's theory is that you have the political spectrum left-to-right, but then you also have the fanaticism spectrum that goes from 'pure logic' to 'pure zealotry.'
And it posits that what we're seeing now is a lot of zealous left, with 'you're with us or you're against us' and 'to question is here
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The Coddling of the American Mind is also good.
See also Bad Therapy.
I just watched his Youtube presentation of that.
Chilling. While the fragiles are demanding feelings over facts, he laid out facts that show that they are very damaged people. Suicide in little girls? That bullshit did not happen until the Genz's with their dreadfully screwed up parenting came onto the scene.
The inability of the Genz's to withstand other ideas is abysmal. His example of 2 lesbians arguing, and the need for those surrounding them to retreat to safe spaces - on both sides of the argume
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We have raised a couple generations now that were over parented, protected from adversity while growing, never having a moment to grow, always adults lording over the kids to prevent any problem or harm. Where a mother is arrested for allowing her child to walk without an adult ensuring their safety. Where "free range" children are considered prima facie evidence of a crime and child abuse. But allowed to watch shemale midget scat pR0n on the Smartphone they got when they turn 5 years old.
That's an interesting point, if there are scary/violent movies all over the internet, and a child is unable to see what the real world is like because of helicopter parenting, they might end up with a very confused idea of what the world is like.
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"Been a slashdot user from the first weeks of its existance in the 90's and over the years especially the last decade I have seen it transform into a far left propaganda site"
This site is more right wing than it has ever been in the past. Stop trolling.
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