I haven't read the Captive Mind but I've heard it recommended a few times. I definitely don't think using your name is the best case for all people in all places or times.
When it comes to costs and contingencies that are built up over time, you're definitely right that those can certainly make the decision harder. I think what is underrated is the community and opportunities on the positive side that speaking honestly will attract.
Of course, you are in a better position than me to make that decision for yourself and it may very well be true that in your case, writing anonymously is still preferable.
The Captive Mind is such an awesome and relevant case study because it documents the intellectual transition of Poland from pre war Polish Nationalism to Warsaw Pact new faithism (he actually refers to communism as the new faith). Because it happens over a period of time that can be interpreted by a single person, Milosh has this unique perspective of being able to directly compare individual authors pre and post WW2 writings and show the intellectual compromises that they made for their success in the new system.
I think that, morphologically, the Soviet academics system is the best analog of ours, so the captive mind gives us a sort of unique insight into our own madness.
Interesting - sounds like the prequel to Legutko's The Demon in Democracy - Polish philosopher who noted the transition in the ex soviet countries from Communism to Liberalism, which were allegedly polar opposites but struck his curiosity why so many officials seamlessly transitioned into succeeding in the new system and documented how much it had to do with the similarities
Thanks for writing this. I post a lot of things that would make me unemployable in academia and NGOs. But using my real name helps me know what my purpose is and to never shy away from disagreeing with others.
I am past the point of caring about such things at a personal level since I am fully self sufficient in retirement, but I think you are correct. When I first started interacting with other people on the internet, I did put in a lot of thought about rather or not to use pseudonyms or my real name, and decided to go with my real name most of the time, unless I was relating certain types of personal stories that involved the people that I know in the physical world, in which case I used a pseudonym to protect their anonymity. In the last 2-3 years, though, I had been pondering what I would have done today were I still employed in corporate America since I voice many very unpolitically correct opinions on a variety of topics- certainly opinions that could easily have gotten me canned.
Counterpoints: handle names are cool, and you should change your irl name to your internet name. Having a "gamertag"-style name is ingroup signaling, like being named "Noah" or "Christopher". The content of the name field actually matters exactly zero, because it really does not matter if your name is actually $NAME, or if everyone has simply decided to call you that.
I don't know. I code for big company. I like my job. I like security. I want to have children. I keep up the Ketman.
I have a good friend. He works for a dissident company. They are currently being fucked by the SEC. It's put a lot of stress on him.
Have you ever read Milosh, the captive mind?
I haven't read the Captive Mind but I've heard it recommended a few times. I definitely don't think using your name is the best case for all people in all places or times.
When it comes to costs and contingencies that are built up over time, you're definitely right that those can certainly make the decision harder. I think what is underrated is the community and opportunities on the positive side that speaking honestly will attract.
Of course, you are in a better position than me to make that decision for yourself and it may very well be true that in your case, writing anonymously is still preferable.
The Captive Mind is such an awesome and relevant case study because it documents the intellectual transition of Poland from pre war Polish Nationalism to Warsaw Pact new faithism (he actually refers to communism as the new faith). Because it happens over a period of time that can be interpreted by a single person, Milosh has this unique perspective of being able to directly compare individual authors pre and post WW2 writings and show the intellectual compromises that they made for their success in the new system.
I think that, morphologically, the Soviet academics system is the best analog of ours, so the captive mind gives us a sort of unique insight into our own madness.
Interesting - sounds like the prequel to Legutko's The Demon in Democracy - Polish philosopher who noted the transition in the ex soviet countries from Communism to Liberalism, which were allegedly polar opposites but struck his curiosity why so many officials seamlessly transitioned into succeeding in the new system and documented how much it had to do with the similarities
Yeah, well Soviet 19th century history is the same as American history, so maybe they are branches of the same tree.
Thanks for writing this. I post a lot of things that would make me unemployable in academia and NGOs. But using my real name helps me know what my purpose is and to never shy away from disagreeing with others.
I am past the point of caring about such things at a personal level since I am fully self sufficient in retirement, but I think you are correct. When I first started interacting with other people on the internet, I did put in a lot of thought about rather or not to use pseudonyms or my real name, and decided to go with my real name most of the time, unless I was relating certain types of personal stories that involved the people that I know in the physical world, in which case I used a pseudonym to protect their anonymity. In the last 2-3 years, though, I had been pondering what I would have done today were I still employed in corporate America since I voice many very unpolitically correct opinions on a variety of topics- certainly opinions that could easily have gotten me canned.
Counterpoints: handle names are cool, and you should change your irl name to your internet name. Having a "gamertag"-style name is ingroup signaling, like being named "Noah" or "Christopher". The content of the name field actually matters exactly zero, because it really does not matter if your name is actually $NAME, or if everyone has simply decided to call you that.