The Tao of Notch - Beyond Twitter

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

You know what, this is good stuff, Escapist. More of this please.

It was a long and satisfying read. Much prefer to this to the top 8 lists.

 

[brad_glasgow]

That said, it perhaps is a little preoccupied with framing the interview in line with this site's now open hatred of "bad" "SJW" "Editorialisque" journalism.

Keep in mind that I'm a freelance writer. The interview was completed before The Escapist was involved. I talked about his views of journalism and editorializing because that's one of the main sources of his controversies on Twitter. When you have game journalists calling him a "massive arsehole" on Twitter and writing hit pieces like that Destructoid article, then yeah, that's going to be a big part of our conversation.

 

[maninahat]

Good to see some juicy content coming out of the escapist, after what feels like a long time. That said, it perhaps is a little preoccupied with framing the interview in line with this site's now open hatred of "bad" "SJW" "Editorialisque" journalism.

This is largely a side-effect of other outlets refusing to give that type of opposing viewpoint any oxygen. You're going to see any capitalistic publication seeing a niche market and filling the void.

If one wants to avoid the construction of echo chambers from without or within, they have to be willing to let opposing ideas be discussed and give a platform to them.'

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Yeah, my formal logic prof used to harangue us to expose ourselves to different points of view, especially politically. The left wingers were asked to listen to Rush Limbaugh occasionally(the memories of having to listen to that self-righteous pill popper talking crap about drug use) and the right wingers were asked to listen to certain NPR programs. Exposure to alien ideas allows you to see how the other side thinks and feels as well as expand and strengthen your viewpoint. Not tolerating people that don't think exactly the way you do was my issue with the right for years and has now become my issue with the left as they obtained more clout. Those "journalists" who merely pushed their views and agenda instead of their love for the medium on which they were paid to report didn't do their job properly. When called on it they demonized those who called them out. Perhaps if they had more exposure to other points of view they wouldn't have been so smug and superior about the idea of forcing those views down everyone else's throats. It is harder to demonize someone if you understand them. That applies to almost all points on the spectrum.

Would love to see more interviews like this.

I think the danger though is that by giving the opportunity, you potentially treat two opposing views as a level playing field, even when they shouldn't. It's why, say, people like Richard Dawkins refuse to publicly debate creationists; because by even presenting it as a two sided debate, they have given creationists a level of legitimacy their argument doesn't deserve.

Also, this website has lost a lot of its more outspoken - dare I say lefty - content producers; if it is ideal to open the doors and get more view points, the escapist is going in the opposite direction.

 

[Fhqwhgod]

Amazing interview.

 

[Mazinger-Z]

I think the danger though is that by giving the opportunity, you potentially treat two opposing views as a level playing field, even when they shouldn't. It's why, say, people like Richard Dawkins refuse to publicly debate creationists; because by even presenting it as a two sided debate, they have given creationists a level of legitimacy their argument doesn't deserve.

Also, this website has lost a lot of its more outspoken - dare I say lefty - content producers; if it is ideal to open the doors and get more view points, the escapist is going in the opposite direction.

Such is the consequence of free speech. In a society that values critical thinking and logic, such concerns should fall the wayside as evidence proves one side more correct than the other. Dawkins not debating creationists is a personal choice, but he hasn't called for them to be no-platformed or that others shouldn'the debate them for fear of legitimizing them.

And again, in a capitalist system, the Escapist is making a logical choice. With a surfeit of left-leaning publications, the Escapist is less likely to get the same return on a similar investment with left-leaning content.

Tho I'm really curious how an interview with the creator of Mine craft is somehow anti-left and not just public interest for gamers.

What I really enjoy is the idea of Brad selling this story to the Escapist as a freelance writer rather than as a staff writer like on other publications who have to dream up clickbait regularly for their income. A publication picking up stories based on their quality might help the industry.

 

[JamesStone]

I think the danger though is that by giving the opportunity, you potentially treat two opposing views as a level playing field, even when they shouldn't. It's why, say, people like Richard Dawkins refuse to publicly debate creationists; because by even presenting it as a two sided debate, they have given creationists a level of legitimacy their argument doesn't deserve.

Also, this website has lost a lot of its more outspoken - dare I say lefty - content producers; if it is ideal to open the doors and get more view points, the escapist is going in the opposite direction.

Such is the consequence of free speech. In a society that values critical thinking and logic, such concerns should fall the wayside as evidence proves one side more correct than the other. Dawkins not debating creationists is a personal choice, but he hasn't called for them to be no-platformed or that others shouldn'the debate them for fear of legitimizing them.

And again, in a capitalist system, the Escapist is making a logical choice. With a surfeit of left-leaning publications, the Escapist is less likely to get the same return on a similar investment with left-leaning content.

Tho I'm really curious how an interview with the creator of Mine craft is somehow anti-left and not just public interest for gamers.

What I really enjoy is the idea of Brad selling this story to the Escapist as a freelance writer rather than as a staff writer like on other publications who have to dream up clickbait regularly for their income. A publication picking up stories based on their quality might help the industry.

Maybe this is just an american issue, although I don't wanna assume anything, but it's likely a result of a bipartisan system that divides left and right as if there were only two points of view.

As an example, here in Portugal we have 2 right wing parties, CDS - Essentially Ted Cruz-lite, very few supporters and then to ally with others to break majority ties) and PSD (Social Democratic Party, aka American Left.), one center party, PS (AKA Socialists but mostly in name), and two left parties, BE (Left Block) and PCP ("Dirty Communists", as one might know them. They have a political alliance with our green party, forming the CDU). Point being, although parties of the respective political spectrum tend to be in agreement, there's a lot of differing opinions.


For example, even though BE and CDU tend to have the same opinion when it comes to voting, they don't get along much, because BE is seen as a bunch of PR-loving bullshitters who only exist to rob PCP of votes, while the CDU are seen as bleeding hearts and Dirty Communists, plus extremists in some cases.

While we in Portugal, generally speaking, consider this whole genderist/feminist discussion a bunch of bollocks, and most people, save for the "radical" right supporters (IE: About 1/3 of PSD and a fair bunch of CDS supporters) fail to see why such an obvious thing is discussed with such fervour in the States, have some disagreements. For example, a recent bill was subjected for approval to allow for "rent bellies" (I believe it's called surrogate mothers - when you rent someone else's uterus to have your child), and while BE voted for it, the CDU abstained, saying the proposal left too many holes open for exploitation.


Why all of this explanation? Simple: Because we're not bipartisan, we can actually have a discussion without resorting to an Us vs Them mentality (Or at least it's much harder to do it when the Us and Them can change wildly for each topic). America considers feminist to be a left issue (even though most modern feminists, in my opinion, are a bunch of bigots that bring shame to the very people who's names they claim and attract attention from actual issues women face), so a site that has an opinion against it is automatically anti-left. And because of the polarizing nature of politics, only accentuated with the retarded system the USA have and refuse to change, any person with enough of a public voice which DARES have an opinion is immediately branded in the US or THEM category, and marked as a nonperson for the THEM, which means, you guessed it, harrass them freely. It's easy to insult you and your mother in 140 characters or less. It's harder to defend and explain a complex opinion of yours in the same number of words.

 

[Valiance]

Easily the best interview I've read on this site in a long time.

Great job.

 

[maninahat]

And again, in a capitalist system, the Escapist is making a logical choice. With a surfeit of left-leaning publications, the Escapist is less likely to get the same return on a similar investment with left-leaning content.

It remains to be seen if that's going to be successful. I'd hope the escapist is driven more by sincerity, than exploiting a market niche.

Tho I'm really curious how an interview with the creator of Mine craft is somehow anti-left and not just public interest for gamers.

I was more referring to the content of the interview, in which the interviewer guides Notch to talk a lot on things like SJWs and the left-leaning sites that criticised him. Fair enough on the interviewer if that's what Notch is most known for at the moment, but the results neatly coincide with the escapist's views in its recent articles; I suspect that helped the escapist decide to pay to publish the interview.

What I really enjoy is the idea of Brad selling this story to the Escapist as a freelance writer rather than as a staff writer like on other publications who have to dream up clickbait regularly for their income. A publication picking up stories based on their quality might help the industry.

Don't get me wrong, it is great that the escapist is getting outside voices and new content, but all these publications are in the same business of trying to grab an audience with eye-catching stories; which of those are considered clickbait seems more to do with a beholder's political persuasion rather than story presentation.

 

[Mazinger-Z]

snip

It's very much an Us vs Them mentality. It'd go off-topic, so if you want I can share with you my insights in PMs if you want.

It remains to be seen if that's going to be successful. I'd hope the escapist is driven more by sincerity, than exploiting a market niche.

I was more referring to the content of the interview, in which the interviewer guides Notch to talk a lot on things like SJWs and the left-leaning sites that criticised him. Fair enough on the interviewer if that's what Notch is most known for at the moment, but the results neatly coincide with the escapist's views in its recent articles; I suspect that helped the escapist decide to pay to publish the interview.

Don't get me wrong, it is great that the escapist is getting outside voices and new content, but all these publications are in the same business of trying to grab an audience with eye-catching stories; which of those are considered clickbait seems more to do with a beholder's political persuasion rather than story presentation.

To the first two paragraphs, I believe you may be reading too much into the timing as specious rather than the idea that Notch did something that was considered controversial, a ton of sites made hay out of it without his input (whether they reached out and he turned them down or didn't send off an obligatory 'request for comment' is up to the imagination).

So when a journalist who has a better reputation on independent research and fact-checking comes along and asks for an interview, why would Notch turn it down? And since all the sites that ran for the clickbait already have their narrative of "Notch is a rich asshole misogynist", why would they publish an interview that is directly critical of that?

Moederation begets more moderation. This would look in no way 'right-wing'-ish if other sites hadn't already constructed their own narrative on the Twitter thing.

 

[Gutsripper]

Normally I don't like reading interviews this long but damn this was worth it.

 

[JamesStone]

snip

It's very much an Us vs Them mentality. It'd go off-topic, so if you want I can share with you my insights in PMs if you want.

That'd be nice. My point was in European countries there's usually a lot of different "Us"'s and "Them"'s, so we can usually avoid the polarizing effects of US culture.