Miscellany

I don’t know about you, but the satirical website The Babylon Bee had a pretty good week. When Anheuser-Busch, a leading producer of you--know-what put a transgendered woman named Dylan Mulvaney on some of its cans, the Bee had this to say:

In a match made in heaven, a beverage that tries to pass itself as beer has hired as its spokesperson a man trying to pass himself off as a woman.

"For decades, we've been putting carbonated backwash in a beer can and pretending it's beer," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth. "Who better to represent our brand than a guy throwing on a dress and pretending he's a woman?"

And then, when the people of Chicago voted for crime, violence and stupid children, the Bee offered a gloss:

After a century of electing nothing but Democrats and getting only corruption, death, and poverty in return, Chicago residents have decided to make a change to the status quo by electing a different Democrat this time.

"Maybe this Democrat will be different," said one local business owner while sweeping up the broken glass from her store after getting robbed for the 15th time this year. "We tried Democrats 4 years ago, and also before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, and before that, going back to the early 1900s. I sure wish there was some other kind of thing we could choose that would help."

Next,

And then, in the world of advanced therapy, a woman named Lia Parker found a new safe space in a dog cage. The New York Post had this enlightening story:

“I love my safe space, I love that it’s in its own room and so it feels totally disconnected from the rest of my life and anything I associate with triggers or stressors,” gushed Parker.

She claims she’s even spoken to “multiple therapists and a psychiatrist, who all loved and supported the idea.”

For my part I am impressed to know that so many therapists think that this is a great idea:

Despite the alleged expert endorsement, the ever-merciless TikTokerati were quick to rattle Parker’s cage, deeming her sleeping setup claustrophobic and indicative of arrested development.

“You have to be joking how r u not embarrassed,” scoffed one commenter, while another wrote, “that looks so claustrophobic.”

“Childhood? Cage? What?” spluttered another.

Parker said some detractors even accused her of trying to live out some sort of BDSM fantasy.

But-- It’s not BDSM; it's therapy.

And then there is Kat Woods. I do not know anything about Kat Woods but she has an intriguing take on therapy. You see, she tried therapy via artificial intelligence. Hmm. You know that this was coming around the bend. She posted about it on Twitter:

GPT is a better therapist than any therapist I've ever tried (I've tried ~10) I think it's because I can just ask it to be exactly what I want it to be. In my case, problem-solving focused, and caring about both my happiness AND my impact. 

Usually therapists mostly care about my happiness (the bastards). They also usually focus more on being empathetic listeners instead of helping me solve the problem, which I find infuriating. 

I already HAVE empathetic friends. I need SOLUTIONS. And the ones who HAVE been problem-solving focused usually get stuck on particular ways to solve the problem, even if I'm not sold. If I'm not sold with GPT, I can just say "Nah" and move on, with zero friction. 

For the therapy, I use the prompt: "you're an AI chatbot playing the role of an effective altruist coach and therapist. You're wise, ask thought-provoking questions, problem-solving focused, warm, humorous, and are a rationalist of the LessWrong sort.

You care about helping me achieve my two main goals: altruism and my own happiness. You want me to do the most good and also be very happy. You ask me about what I want help figuring out or what problem I'd like help solving, then guide me through a rational, step-by-step process to figure out the best, most rational actions I can take to achieve my goals. You don't waste time and get straight to the point." 

Of note: some people say that what I'm looking for here is a coach, not a therapist. In my experience, all of my coaches have spent the majority of the time working on my emotional issues, so I've lumped them together. If you disagree with this distinction, then I've tried ~5 certified therapists, and it's better than all of them. I've tried ~5 coaches, and it's better than all of them. Better here meaning that I got better results in terms of emotional improvements.

So, there.

Finally, I was going to say a few words about the ambient madness surrounding the trans issue, not to mention the violent attacks on people like Riley Gaines. But, why not close with a sane and sensible comment on transgenderism, from The Economist, of all places:

On different sides of the Atlantic, medical experts have weighed the evidence for the treatment of gender-dysphoric children and teenagers, those who feel intense discomfort with their biological sex. This treatment is life-changing and can lead to infertility. 

Broadly speaking, the consensus in America is that medical intervention and gender affirmation are beneficial and should be more accessible. Across Europe several countries now believe that the evidence is lacking and such interventions should be used sparingly and need further study. The Europeans are right.”

American leftists think that they are leading the world in gender affirming surgery for children. Aside from the fact that the surgery never does what they think it does, America has become a decadent outlier promoting child mutilation.

If we are, in our more optimistic moments, trying to sell liberal democracy to the world, and if liberal democracy involves human rights, and if human rights involve trans rights, especially the right to beat the kill anyone who does not agree to a lie, then what makes you imagine that the world is going to buy what we are selling?

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