Fan of What T Nation Was, Not a Fan of What It Has Become Now

[anon71262119]

That was very, very funny. Lol.

[Jewbacca]

@anon50325502

Ha, too funny!

My cousin has a butcher shop. Cohen Brothers Meat Market. T-shirts with variations of
“May I Suggest Our Kosher Sausage” They sponsored a Rugby Team with the logo.

I used to wear it to the gym until Mrs. Jewbacca said “no.”

[EmilyQ]

@Uncle_Gabby

I don’t remember that at all, but I apologize. I think I very rarely took myself or anything I posted seriously, but I now I look at that as being a fucked up way to act in the world, whether it’s on the internet or face to face.

I’ve never been on twitter, but I honestly get a little sick feeling when I see the twitter trolls and social justice warriors because I think, damn, if I was born 10 years later that might have been me.

In all honestly, my initial impression of you (I joined in 2007) was very positive - that you were thoughtful, curious, and expressed yourself well. Then at some point you became pretty negative - a member of the He-Man’s Woman Hater’s Club and a bit pugnacious in general (I remember arguing with you about the value of processing feelings). Even during the time you seemed to be scowling through your posts, I enjoyed reading your thoughts, tho.

I know what you mean about looking back. I’m stunned at how pugnacious I was, too, which I certainly didn’t perceive at the time, with rare exceptions when I felt pushed enough to pull gloves off.

I think some of the stronger personalities informed the tone of the place, and we all shifted a bit in that direction. So I come off to myself now as having been needlessly combative, but in context I may have been (I hope I was) thoughtful and measured relative to the group. I would say that was true of many of us.

[EmilyQ]

@anon71262119

Hey, I called someone a jerk just last week so I have yet to outgrow this! And that was after I admired @SkyzykS deep thoughts about how we are “50 percent of every interaction.” @beerisgoodforyou, if you see this. I apologize. I should have at least put that in the past tense. You were a jerk when you were a kid. A lot of boys do stupid and mean stuff. If I had said it that way, I doubt you would have decided to insult me back. And it’s totally fine if you think my hobbies are super lame, or if you make fun of my squat. It’s a well known fact that my squat is sad.

What was it, a year ago when I offended Chushin so badly that he went away and never came back? He was one of my all-time favorite posters, and one of the most thoughtful people on TN generally. Try living with that! I do think he went all snarly during that exchange, I don’t know why, but I deeply regret that I went right back at him. I really don’t know why now that I didn’t just leave it alone. It’s definitely got a line in the giant ledger I keep of my poor behavior.

[EmilyQ]

@manuelp2

In order to hold a very strong opinion, you have to exclude all the other opinions.

And that means you have to become unreasonable.

No. Accepting that you have to become unreasonable is as much as to say “I am comfortable with limited insight and shoddy arguments. The point is to over-shout someone.”

Ultimately you can say to someone else that they are wrong (“you have limited insight and have advanced a shoddy argument”) and reject what they’re saying, but the point of debate is to learn and grow by either shifting in your views or having them further supported. In both cases understanding the position of the opposition is necessary. Unreasonable means “not reasoning.” That’s not acceptable to me for myself.

In the case I mentioned I believe the person I was arguing with was being unreasonable and needlessly ugly, but I could have chosen to let it go. In this case I should have prioritized the relationship over the point I was trying to make. In many cases it is best to prioritize “happy” over “right.”

[Testy1]

I admire Chusin in general even though we have very different views on a few sensitive topics. He and I have gone at it a couple of times on G+.

We always got over it though, even if it required one of us pointing out the other was being a dick.

[Uncle_Gabby]

I definitely owe you an apology! I only vaguely remember what we argued about, but I remember looking back through conversations at the time thinking, “damn, why was I that shitty?” At the time I don’t remember arguing a point that I didn’t believe, though I may have, just that I was unnecessarily an asshole about it.

-He man woman hater’s club, not sure what I did there. I am still against PC hiring practices, but I think nepotism/cronyism is every bit as toxic.

I missed where you ran Chushin off, you monster! I kid I kid!

[losthog]

I had that book as a kid. Never read the damn thing, but the cover looked awesome.

[anon50325502]

It’s supposed to be a good series. I haven’t read them either.

[EmilyQ]

@Uncle_Gabby

I definitely owe you an apology! I only vaguely remember what we argued about, but I remember looking back through conversations at the time thinking, “damn, why was I that shitty?” At the time I don’t remember arguing a point that I didn’t believe, though I may have, just that I was unnecessarily an asshole about it.

-He man woman hater’s club, not sure what I did there. I am still against PC hiring practices, but I think nepotism/cronyism is every bit as toxic.

I missed where you ran Chushin off, you monster! I kid I kid!

You absolutely do not owe me an apology. We’ve disagreed a couple of times, about what I no longer remember aside from the “processing emotions is a good thing to do” conversation, but I have no sense that you were ever rude or shitty. I think as we all look back at ourselves the shiftiness is mostly centered around the intensity with which we argued about stuff we don’t remember caring about particularly.

I can’t bring into focus anything particular regarding women, just that at some point you went from normal idealism about romantic stuff to a much more cynical attitude. It must have bumped up against my raging idealism somehow. I was probably a jerk, too.

[EmilyQ]

@Testy1

I admire Chusin in general even though we have very different views on a few sensitive topics. He and I have gone at it a couple of times on G+.

We always got over it though, even if it required one of us pointing out the other was being a dick.

I pretty much did call him a dick, but it wasn’t as constructive as I might have hoped.