A tipping point

From Discord:

Yeah, expect medium levels of trouble.
Have a plan.
A simple one.
There is nothing more offensive to people than a new normal.
Probably most will lurk, so we have to put on a good show.
Persuasion by demonstration, lead from the front.
I expect it will be an underwhelming success, but with repetition and practice this group of incredibly high IQs will become an unstoppable force.

That was last Saturday. I’ll now explain why I was predicting people would act out under stress, and why that means everything’s gonna be fine.

Why do people want to give the finger to police officers and not people in comparable professions, like EMTs or firemen? The answer is really simple: giving the finger to an authority is an symbolic expression of defiance. But merely by selecting the cop as a fulcrum for their feelings, defiant people are implicitly playing within his frame. This is why extremists and edgelords are merely the high end of normie, peacocking as autonomous agents with bumper stickers, course language, and ironic combat boots.

No one ever kicked against goads they couldn’t feel. What would be the point of that? Bitching is the most primitive form of self-advocacy—a submission to the frame of a person we recognize as superior. It’s literally the first thing we do when we exit our mother’s womb. So…there’s no question I have the power to set this house in order because the reality distortion field is obviously working. Your timely misbehavior is an acknowledgment of my influence. All that remains is to apply an unreasonable effort of will, above and beyond the strength of your collective personality dysfunctions to withstand. And my intuition says I’ll succeed, with a confidence I don’t entirely understand.

So what a wonderful coincidence that we are now at the halfway mark of my little observational experiment! You’d almost think I’m some kind of genius.

Adults can hold their tongues. Self-restraint is the tiniest possible sort of self-sacrifice. You’re all adults.

We’re going to do a trial period in the comments where I don’t moderate, but I will be grading your interactions. Those of you who demonstrate you can get along with others and JUST IGNORE direct insults (as in: not even responding to point out you aren’t responding) will be invited to to help with some small projects I’ve been toying with in my head.

I promised you that some of us would be winning this thing.

Extreme ownership also means taking responsibility for what you say

The halfway mark is a great place to reflect because you’ve got a running average built up, and exactly as many days ahead as behind. So now you have a very simple choice: are you going to do better and bring that running average up, or are you going to do worse and bring that running average down?

Regardless, I’ll be out in front, as always, because it’s my job. You can get on this train or look for one that’s more to your taste, but I’d advise against standing astride the tracks yelling “Stop!” I will make this community into something that glorifies God and Jesus because I own it and I said so. You can fight me on this but you’ll lose every time.