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Monomania

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Clarissa

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I’m going to teach translation next semester. I ordered a textbook and then discovered that in the middle of it there’s some stupid dig at Trump. Honestly, can one get a break from Trump? What on Earth does he have to do with translation?

Obviously, I’m not assigning this part of the textbook but by God, don’t these people ever get bored? Why can’t there be one topic – translation, pickles, cement, something – that’s free of virtue signaling about Trump? There’s a whole psychopathology going on here and people are indulging it gleefully.

10 responses to “Monomania”

  1. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Textbooks whose content should be 100% apolitical frequently find ways to sneak in inappropriate political viewpoints on current issues. Back in the 1970’s, psychiatric textbooks would sometimes refer to the beliefs of anti-Vietnam War protesters as examples of “psychiatric clear thinking.”

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Jesus. It’s funny that this stupidity has existed for so long.

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      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        It’s also funny that somebody would go to the trouble of giving you and me a “thumbs down” for our two totally innocuous comments!

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          They are against the Vietnam War and don’t get that this isn’t what we are discussing at all.

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            Oh, I assumed they were rabidly in favor of partisan textbooks.

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              Everything is a virtue signal. If the comment didn’t include “Vietnam war = bad” it must mean “Vietnam war = good.” The idea that the conversation isn’t about that at all doesn’t occur.

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              1. methylethyl Avatar
                methylethyl

                Ok, so it’s either robots, or people behaving like robots (ie capable only of reading very primitive binaries). That actually makes quite a lot of sense, now that you put it that way.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                It is, indeed, completely robotic. Every communication is about administering this algorithm to figure out if the person is on our side or the opposing side. Once that’s established, a series of pre-fab statements is emitted to confirm one’s belonging to the group and repudiate the opposing group. Always the same script.

                Even robots have a wider range of skills.

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  2. el Avatar
    el

    \ It is, indeed, completely robotic. Every communication is about administering this algorithm to figure out if the person is on our side or the opposing side.

    Just today read this (you may not like mentioning Trump in this context, but look at the main idea):

    Три Полезных Функционала Дикой Лжи

    В последнее время – и в разных странах – мы видели, как люди дико лгут.

    Запредельно и настолько дико, что встаёт вопрос об их рассудке и здоровье. Зачем так дико?? Психиатрия? Разрушение личности? Обнуление остатков интеллекта?? А вот и нет.

    https://trim-c.livejournal.com/4277927.html

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      It’s OK, I’m not triggered by Trump. 🙂 I’m triggered by people trying to virtue signal unnecessarily.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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