KD^3C^3 - 20250914 Tell the moon you've seen the serpent
I got my covid booster this weekend, along with my regular flu shot. It was a relatively painless experience, the hardest part was the waiting. I can’t help but think about the contrast in the experience from the first time getting one to now. The first COVID shots felt like a miracle of science and human ingenuity. There was this massive problem, and so much of our scientific and medicinal apparatuses were turned toward solving it. There were the massive vaccination sites where people were lined up by the thousands to get the jab and hundreds of volunteers were helping to make that happen.
Now, I spent about 30 minutes waiting for an appointment I made at a Minute Clinic inside a CVS for one clearly overworked Nurse Practitioner to give out as many shots as he can and compete the resulting paperwork. There were about dozen people waiting and 4 chairs in the little area, and we all got excited when the door opened again and we hoped our name would be called. But the shots were acquired, even if it wasn’t as glamorous.
And now, we have an administration (full of people who could easily claim credit for the success of the initial vaccine) who is doing everything they can to downplay that success, and to push people out of even having the option to receive the vaccine.
We’re in an ambiguous place right now with the rollout. The recommendations (and guidelines) are subject to change, but more open to access than I feared. Thinks like mental health conditions (broadly defined) being a current or former smoker (remember when you tried a cigarette in college?) or being physically inactive (do you work a desk job?) are all “high risk conditions” alongside the more predictable and expected ones. When getting my shot the NP asked if I had any medical conditions, and I mentioned my depression. I”m not sure if it was specifically a screening question or just a standard medical intake, but that was really the only question I was asked at all other than “Which arm?”
If you think you can get the vaccine, I encourage you to try. Vaccines work best in situations where everybody has them. The more people who get one the more protected the members of your community who can’t will be. Get it for yourself, and get it for everyone else.
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People are Mad on the Internet
For the last few months, there has been an ongoing storyline in a comic I read where two characters who are in relationships have been cheating on those relationships with each other. It’s something that ha been building in the comic since the very beginning (15 years!) but the characters only realized their attraction to each other very recently.
The comments are full of people who are mad about this storyline because Cheating in a Relationship is Bad and these characters should face consequences for their Bad Behavior. Of course there are also fans who are enjoying the high drama of it all. But the story moves slowly (the last few months in the comic have only covered a day or so) so every drip of an update is full of people re-hashing the same arguments over and over again. They have even come up with two nicknames for the different groups of people so there’s an easy shorthand to figure out which side of this arbitrary divide someone is on. Or to accuse someone of being on.
Some people are (apparently) mad enough that they have stopped reading, but then they’re also not commenting anymore either. Everyone who takes the trouble to check the comic every day, and type out a comment or response to a comment must care at least a little bit. It matters to them.
You can say “the comic is showing the immature actions of immature people,” or “they’re fictional characters, there’s no deeper message” or “You can’t just have people in your comic say bad things are bad” or “depiction does not equal endorsement.” but none of those invalidate the way people feel when reading the comic.
Stories matter, I’m never going to argue otherwise, and how a story is told the way it is constructed from pacing to the events to, yes, consequences, reinforce or counter other stories The tone matters because it shapes how people see the world. That’s just as true in fictional narratives as much as it is in the news or social media we consume. You can call the Transformers movies silly popcorn flicks, but they put a lot of effort into making the US Military seem strong and cool. You can watch Memories of a Murder and see a tense murder mystery, but the director is working very hard to show how the only tool the cops know how to use is violence.
Meaning is created through audience interpretation, alongside authorial intent. They’re both part of the equation. So people being mad about the way in which two fictional teens realize they’re in lesbians with eachother is a fair critique. Not just because of the piece itself, but also because of the life experiences those readers bring to the table, because of how this story reflects and refracts and exists next to other stories.
None of the reactions to the comic are right or wrong, it’s just a comic, but both sides are making each other Mad on the Internet.
A week or so ago SciShow made a video about knitting. Sci Show makes videos about a lot of things. It’s a science education show created by Hank Green, noted YouTuber and Science Guy.
SciShow makes lots of videos. They have a writing staff and a production staff and Hank Green has said in various places that he’s mostly a talking head on the show. He shows up to the studio, records his lines and that’s about it. But he remains the face of the show in a lot of ways.
SciShow videos tend to be well researched, and easy to understand. They put a lot of work into creating short explainers on complex topics. heck, their parent company is called Complexly, because they understand the world is complicated and we should see it though that lens. I like their views. I watch a lot (but far from all) of them when they hit my feeds.
I watched the video about knitting. It was fine. The premise of the video is “Knitting is pretty cool, here’s some of the science behind it.” It was a surface level introduction to the topic with a brief mention of the long history of knitting, its ability to make complex patterns, and some potential forward-looking scientific applications.
I watched the video, said, “yeah, that’s pretty neat” then moved on with my life. There were some things that I know, some things that I didn’t and some things that felt over simplified to me, but that’s not unusual for a short video on a complex topic.
For what it’s worth, I know how to knit. Well I did at one pint in time. I haven’t picked up needles and yarn in a few years, so would probably have to re-learn the muscle memory. But my hobby is collecting hobbies, so I am not A Knitter, capital A capital K.
The Knitters who do claim the capital letter sure are mad about the video though. They have several problems I’ve seen pointed to, and the biggest one is the tone. There are a couple factual errors or oversimplifications, think like calling yarn string, or describing knitting as a series of knots. But those pale in comparison to the complaints about the “general vibe” of the video which they are reading as mysogynistic, demeaning, and minimizing the importance of the fiber arts to all of human history.
The thing is: they’re not wrong on the merits. I agree with their critiques. The video assumes the audience will be dismissive of knitting, even as it tries to show them why they shouldn’t be. Is knitting a series of knots? To the layperson, absolutely, but does that mean they should have use the term? Probably not. There is a benefit to being precise in ones language and that applies especially in cases of simplifying complex topics.
But they’re so mad about it. They’re so mad about it that their reactions made me mad. I’ll admit to having something of a parasocial relationship with Hank Green. I’m a fan of his work, and watch most of his videos. I know he didn’t write the script for this video, nor did he do the research, nor did he likely have any editorial control over the words he said, other than in the broadest sort of “Guy who founded the company but doesn’t actively create the content” sort of way. But He’s the face of the video and he’s the one who said the words, so he’s the one everybody is yelling at.
Once could argue, and I might just do so, that because the biggest issue The Knitters have is with the tone that they are actively participating in the time honored internet tradition of Tone Policing. “It’s not what you said but how you said it.” or “It’s not what you said, but it’s who said it.”
Why are they so angry, I asked myself. But I know why. Knitting is looked down upon by a lot of people. Maybe looked down upon ins’t even the right word. ignored, brushed aside as a hubby unworthy of notice. Not something that is so important to the tapestry of history of human society and civilization. I’m sure everyone who is mad about this video is mad not just because this video came across as dismissive, but because they and their hobby have been wrongly dismissed and ignored and minimized countless times by countless people who look and sound a lot like Hank Green.
Does the level of the backlash (that I’ve seen) match the level of the mistake? I don’t think so. But the response to the video isn’t just about the video. It’s about a lot of things and it culminated at the video. The video is where a portion of the internet directed their attention and along with attention comes vitriol.
I saw someone say, in the backlash to the backlash, that this feels like a coordinated attack on a science communicator, because there’s so much of it saying the same things. But that’s how the internet works. It’s a variation of the Main Character on Twitter problem. It doesn’t take a coordinated conspiracy (although those do happen) to make something like this happen, it’s just the internet is a complex social structure that seems designed (intentionally or otherwise) to amplify the loudest, to enrage the angriest, and to vilify the visible. Attention is the currency of the internet and nothing drives attention like conflict. SO I should probably take the long proffered advice and turn my attention elsewhere.
What do I find myself doing about it? I find myself writing in my secret public journal about how the Knitters are Right but their tone is wrong. I’m tone policing the tone police. And I don’t like how that makes me feel any more than I like how I feel reading their (again, correct) complaints and critiques. It makes me uncomfortable. And I have to deal with that. I can’t make them stop. I’m not even sure I want them to stop. I don’t want to be uncomfortable, but that’s not really the biggest issue here.
“I want people to stop yelling” isn’t a helpful criticism when some of the people are yelling because they are being hurt and others are yelling because they want to hurt others. The yelling isn’t really the core problem. I know that. But I do want people to stop yelling. So I guess I’ll have to live with that contradiction.
Some people are mad on the internet, we should be asking why, and not all answers are the same.
People are mad on the internet, but they’re mad in real life too. They’re real people and the things they feel are real.
People are mad, but I can’t stop that. Sometimes I am mad too. What do we do with the mad that we feel?
Now, I spent about 30 minutes waiting for an appointment I made at a Minute Clinic inside a CVS for one clearly overworked Nurse Practitioner to give out as many shots as he can and compete the resulting paperwork. There were about dozen people waiting and 4 chairs in the little area, and we all got excited when the door opened again and we hoped our name would be called. But the shots were acquired, even if it wasn’t as glamorous.
And now, we have an administration (full of people who could easily claim credit for the success of the initial vaccine) who is doing everything they can to downplay that success, and to push people out of even having the option to receive the vaccine.
We’re in an ambiguous place right now with the rollout. The recommendations (and guidelines) are subject to change, but more open to access than I feared. Thinks like mental health conditions (broadly defined) being a current or former smoker (remember when you tried a cigarette in college?) or being physically inactive (do you work a desk job?) are all “high risk conditions” alongside the more predictable and expected ones. When getting my shot the NP asked if I had any medical conditions, and I mentioned my depression. I”m not sure if it was specifically a screening question or just a standard medical intake, but that was really the only question I was asked at all other than “Which arm?”
If you think you can get the vaccine, I encourage you to try. Vaccines work best in situations where everybody has them. The more people who get one the more protected the members of your community who can’t will be. Get it for yourself, and get it for everyone else.
------------------
People are Mad on the Internet
For the last few months, there has been an ongoing storyline in a comic I read where two characters who are in relationships have been cheating on those relationships with each other. It’s something that ha been building in the comic since the very beginning (15 years!) but the characters only realized their attraction to each other very recently.
The comments are full of people who are mad about this storyline because Cheating in a Relationship is Bad and these characters should face consequences for their Bad Behavior. Of course there are also fans who are enjoying the high drama of it all. But the story moves slowly (the last few months in the comic have only covered a day or so) so every drip of an update is full of people re-hashing the same arguments over and over again. They have even come up with two nicknames for the different groups of people so there’s an easy shorthand to figure out which side of this arbitrary divide someone is on. Or to accuse someone of being on.
Some people are (apparently) mad enough that they have stopped reading, but then they’re also not commenting anymore either. Everyone who takes the trouble to check the comic every day, and type out a comment or response to a comment must care at least a little bit. It matters to them.
You can say “the comic is showing the immature actions of immature people,” or “they’re fictional characters, there’s no deeper message” or “You can’t just have people in your comic say bad things are bad” or “depiction does not equal endorsement.” but none of those invalidate the way people feel when reading the comic.
Stories matter, I’m never going to argue otherwise, and how a story is told the way it is constructed from pacing to the events to, yes, consequences, reinforce or counter other stories The tone matters because it shapes how people see the world. That’s just as true in fictional narratives as much as it is in the news or social media we consume. You can call the Transformers movies silly popcorn flicks, but they put a lot of effort into making the US Military seem strong and cool. You can watch Memories of a Murder and see a tense murder mystery, but the director is working very hard to show how the only tool the cops know how to use is violence.
Meaning is created through audience interpretation, alongside authorial intent. They’re both part of the equation. So people being mad about the way in which two fictional teens realize they’re in lesbians with eachother is a fair critique. Not just because of the piece itself, but also because of the life experiences those readers bring to the table, because of how this story reflects and refracts and exists next to other stories.
None of the reactions to the comic are right or wrong, it’s just a comic, but both sides are making each other Mad on the Internet.
A week or so ago SciShow made a video about knitting. Sci Show makes videos about a lot of things. It’s a science education show created by Hank Green, noted YouTuber and Science Guy.
SciShow makes lots of videos. They have a writing staff and a production staff and Hank Green has said in various places that he’s mostly a talking head on the show. He shows up to the studio, records his lines and that’s about it. But he remains the face of the show in a lot of ways.
SciShow videos tend to be well researched, and easy to understand. They put a lot of work into creating short explainers on complex topics. heck, their parent company is called Complexly, because they understand the world is complicated and we should see it though that lens. I like their views. I watch a lot (but far from all) of them when they hit my feeds.
I watched the video about knitting. It was fine. The premise of the video is “Knitting is pretty cool, here’s some of the science behind it.” It was a surface level introduction to the topic with a brief mention of the long history of knitting, its ability to make complex patterns, and some potential forward-looking scientific applications.
I watched the video, said, “yeah, that’s pretty neat” then moved on with my life. There were some things that I know, some things that I didn’t and some things that felt over simplified to me, but that’s not unusual for a short video on a complex topic.
For what it’s worth, I know how to knit. Well I did at one pint in time. I haven’t picked up needles and yarn in a few years, so would probably have to re-learn the muscle memory. But my hobby is collecting hobbies, so I am not A Knitter, capital A capital K.
The Knitters who do claim the capital letter sure are mad about the video though. They have several problems I’ve seen pointed to, and the biggest one is the tone. There are a couple factual errors or oversimplifications, think like calling yarn string, or describing knitting as a series of knots. But those pale in comparison to the complaints about the “general vibe” of the video which they are reading as mysogynistic, demeaning, and minimizing the importance of the fiber arts to all of human history.
The thing is: they’re not wrong on the merits. I agree with their critiques. The video assumes the audience will be dismissive of knitting, even as it tries to show them why they shouldn’t be. Is knitting a series of knots? To the layperson, absolutely, but does that mean they should have use the term? Probably not. There is a benefit to being precise in ones language and that applies especially in cases of simplifying complex topics.
But they’re so mad about it. They’re so mad about it that their reactions made me mad. I’ll admit to having something of a parasocial relationship with Hank Green. I’m a fan of his work, and watch most of his videos. I know he didn’t write the script for this video, nor did he do the research, nor did he likely have any editorial control over the words he said, other than in the broadest sort of “Guy who founded the company but doesn’t actively create the content” sort of way. But He’s the face of the video and he’s the one who said the words, so he’s the one everybody is yelling at.
Once could argue, and I might just do so, that because the biggest issue The Knitters have is with the tone that they are actively participating in the time honored internet tradition of Tone Policing. “It’s not what you said but how you said it.” or “It’s not what you said, but it’s who said it.”
Why are they so angry, I asked myself. But I know why. Knitting is looked down upon by a lot of people. Maybe looked down upon ins’t even the right word. ignored, brushed aside as a hubby unworthy of notice. Not something that is so important to the tapestry of history of human society and civilization. I’m sure everyone who is mad about this video is mad not just because this video came across as dismissive, but because they and their hobby have been wrongly dismissed and ignored and minimized countless times by countless people who look and sound a lot like Hank Green.
Does the level of the backlash (that I’ve seen) match the level of the mistake? I don’t think so. But the response to the video isn’t just about the video. It’s about a lot of things and it culminated at the video. The video is where a portion of the internet directed their attention and along with attention comes vitriol.
I saw someone say, in the backlash to the backlash, that this feels like a coordinated attack on a science communicator, because there’s so much of it saying the same things. But that’s how the internet works. It’s a variation of the Main Character on Twitter problem. It doesn’t take a coordinated conspiracy (although those do happen) to make something like this happen, it’s just the internet is a complex social structure that seems designed (intentionally or otherwise) to amplify the loudest, to enrage the angriest, and to vilify the visible. Attention is the currency of the internet and nothing drives attention like conflict. SO I should probably take the long proffered advice and turn my attention elsewhere.
What do I find myself doing about it? I find myself writing in my secret public journal about how the Knitters are Right but their tone is wrong. I’m tone policing the tone police. And I don’t like how that makes me feel any more than I like how I feel reading their (again, correct) complaints and critiques. It makes me uncomfortable. And I have to deal with that. I can’t make them stop. I’m not even sure I want them to stop. I don’t want to be uncomfortable, but that’s not really the biggest issue here.
“I want people to stop yelling” isn’t a helpful criticism when some of the people are yelling because they are being hurt and others are yelling because they want to hurt others. The yelling isn’t really the core problem. I know that. But I do want people to stop yelling. So I guess I’ll have to live with that contradiction.
Some people are mad on the internet, we should be asking why, and not all answers are the same.
People are mad on the internet, but they’re mad in real life too. They’re real people and the things they feel are real.
People are mad, but I can’t stop that. Sometimes I am mad too. What do we do with the mad that we feel?