Elon Musk now owns 9.2% of twitter...update.. will soon be the sole owner as Board of Directors accepts his purchase offer

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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
13,675
8,580
136
If gender pronouns aren't about sexual preference, why are we bothering with them?

Well, good question - why _are_ we bothering with them? Why do we use different words for 'he' and 'she'?

Much of the time it doesn't matter what is the sex of the person being referred to, so why does the language make it necessary to specify? I don't see that it has ever been justified on the basis of 'sexual preference'. When referring to, say, the dentist who is going to fit a crown to my tooth, I don't really see that their 'sexual preference' is remotely relevant to anything.

There's a lot about all this stuff I don't understand, but I don't see that 'sexual preference' has much to do with it. You seem even more confused than I am.
 
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JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,820
955
126
Well, good question - why _are_ we bothering with them? Why do we use different words for 'he' and 'she'?

Much of the time it doesn't matter what is the sex of the person being referred to, so why does the language make it necessary to specify? I don't see that it has ever been justified on the basis of 'sexual preference'. When referring to, say, the dentist who is going to fit a crown to my tooth, I don't really see that their 'sexual preference' is remotely relevant to anything.

There's a lot about all this stuff I don't understand, but I don't see that 'sexual preference' has much to do with it. You seem even more confused than I am.
Having different pronouns cuts those that it is applied to in half. For instance if I was introducing a couple, I could say, "He works in finance and she is a doctor." Otherwise you would have to use their names again to clarify.
 
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emperus

Diamond Member
Apr 6, 2012
7,819
1,578
136
For the life of me I don't understand this. Twitter offers a service, not patented breath taking technology. If Musk makes Twitter undesirable what is to stop people from moving to another service in mass?
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,710
51,001
136
I really wish everyone would leave the flat earthers alone. Those fellows have put real effort and thought into their brand of c

Gender: Either of the two divisions, designated female and male, by which most organisms are classified on the basis of their reproductive organs and functions; sex.
This is the definition I learned in grade school. It's the usage that was common on forms that required one to declare their sex.[/quote]
I'm sorry your school failed you in this respect.

If gender pronouns aren't about sexual preference, why are we bothering with them? Should I decide that my pronoun is "His Majesty" and expect that it be used by others?
Sir and mam are respectful methods of addressing someone. What makes any of the half dozen other pronouns better? What's the point other than displaying nonconformity? I don't need anyone to announce that they're special. I treat everyone I meet with respect.

I think you can answer this for yourself. If you were standing next to a gay man both of you would be referred to with the pronoun of 'he' despite your dramatically different sexual preferences. Therefore it should be obvious they are not about sexual preference.

This is a change without basis, an unneeded alteration of language that only exists as a declaration of personal standing, or what clan you align with.
No, you are the one demanding the definition be changed.

Sex is biological features. Gender is the social and cultural aspects. This is what these words have always meant. If someone taught you wrong that's unfortunate but you can't expect us to change the definition to suit you.
 

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,142
5,089
136
Conservative media has made a lot of people irrationally mad about things that will, in all likelihood, never affect them in any way whatsoever. It's sort of what they do.

"The message of the direct mail letter must appeal to three base emotions; Fear, Hate and Revenge... (The) fund raising mailer must present you with a crisis — a problem won't do...That crisis must frighten you...If you are not frightened, you won't send money.
Then the direct mail letter must present you with a bogeyman against whom to focus your anger... Once you've been frightened and made to hate the bogeyman, the successful direct mail appeal must offer you a way to get revenge against the bogeyman — the payoff for your contribution. The more soul-satisfying the revenge, the better the letter pulls. All this must be dressed up in an appeal that appears to have a high moral tone, but which — without you realizing it — works on your lower emotions."
Written by Gottlieb and Ron Arnold

Those are the asshats that transformed the NRA back in the 70's into the nutjob shitshow it is today.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
13,675
8,580
136
Having different pronouns cuts those that it is applied to in half. For instance if I was introducing a couple, I could say, "He works in finance and she is a doctor." Otherwise you would have to use their names again to clarify.

Much of the time that isn't relevant though. Even with a couple it only applies to mixed-sex couples (as far as I can see, mixed sex relationships rarely work out anyway!). And on that logic you could have different pronouns for different races or classes or hair-colours.
 

Pens1566

Lifer
Oct 11, 2005
12,321
9,175
136
Conservative media has made a lot of people irrationally mad about things that will, in all likelihood, never affect them in any way whatsoever. It's sort of what they do.

South Dakota residents up in arms about the border situation for example.
 
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cytg111

Lifer
Mar 17, 2008
24,030
13,539
136
Another opportunity for Elon to take a lesson in
“how much you fuck around correlates with how much you find out”
Fuck around threatening to take starlink offline in Ukraine? Find out that
Gov is gonna think you untrustworthy.
Lets hope this sentiment doesnt spill over into NASA.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,944
2,175
126
The two terms were interchangeable until recently. The only reason it's been redefined is so that people can advertise their sexual proclivities. It's almost become a badge of honor to advertise one's sexual preferences and force others to acknowledge them by demanding the use of made up pronouns. Those same pronouns are also a method of asserting dominance in a first meeting situation by "correcting" the other person even though you've been greeted respectfully.
Has all that been decided in a court of law? If not how are you coming to these conclusions by yourself?
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,944
2,175
126
Why am I not surprised you're an anti-vax idiot who spreads COVID misinformation?

Your Twitter reads like an election denying Qanon qult member page. Holy fucking shit on a shingle.
Damn, was hoping that Qanon BS wouldn't survive the trip north into the cold :(
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,710
51,001
136
This article brings up some good points, the tech of twitter is boring and nothing special:

Welcome to hell, Elon - The Verge
This is what I’ve been saying for a while. Twitter is a social problem, not an engineering problem. There’s nothing in Musk’s past that would indicate he’s good at solving social problems. If anything, the opposite.
 

VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
7,060
8,611
136
He just gave Kanye West is Twitter account back. Trump in 3...2...1..

If Musk wants any hope - even a snowball’s chance - of turning a profit on this deal, he’s going to have to continue to implement content controls. Otherwise he’s going to hemorrhage advertisers who start pulling out when their feeds are flooded with hate speech, conspiracy nutjobbery and pornography. How long are the content creators going to stay on the platform when they start getting death threats with no recourse from twitter?
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
48,246
37,676
136
This is what I’ve been saying for a while. Twitter is a social problem, not an engineering problem. There’s nothing in Musk’s past that would indicate he’s good at solving social problems. If anything, the opposite.

Maybe he'll tweet at the banks they are "pedos" when he busts the debt covenants and they start seeking remedies.
 

Pens1566

Lifer
Oct 11, 2005
12,321
9,175
136
He just gave Kanye West is Twitter account back. Trump in 3...2...1..

If Musk wants any hope - even a snowball’s chance - of turning a profit on this deal, he’s going to have to continue to implement content controls. Otherwise he’s going to hemorrhage advertisers who start pulling out when their feeds are flooded with hate speech, conspiracy nutjobbery and pornography. How long are the content creators going to stay on the platform when they start getting death threats with no recourse from twitter?

Yep. He already flushed away a ton of money, he can choose what happens to the rest.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,105
674
126
He just gave Kanye West is Twitter account back. Trump in 3...2...1..

If Musk wants any hope - even a snowball’s chance - of turning a profit on this deal, he’s going to have to continue to implement content controls. Otherwise he’s going to hemorrhage advertisers who start pulling out when their feeds are flooded with hate speech, conspiracy nutjobbery and pornography. How long are the content creators going to stay on the platform when they start getting death threats with no recourse from twitter?

Kanye was back on twitter Oct 7. All these hysterics are getting a bit much. Twitter has always been a cesspool, just follow reasonable people, block the loons and don't look at trending topics.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
70,268
29,013
136
Well, good question - why _are_ we bothering with them? Why do we use different words for 'he' and 'she'?

Much of the time it doesn't matter what is the sex of the person being referred to, so why does the language make it necessary to specify? I don't see that it has ever been justified on the basis of 'sexual preference'. When referring to, say, the dentist who is going to fit a crown to my tooth, I don't really see that their 'sexual preference' is remotely relevant to anything.

There's a lot about all this stuff I don't understand, but I don't see that 'sexual preference' has much to do with it. You seem even more confused than I am.
There are so many situations where we ask the sex or gender of a person when it is completely irrelevant to the process/outcome. Why does my driver's license show sex? It has a picture of me on it anyway and I hope* the officer doesn't take a peek at my goodies for confirmation. Farsi (Persian) has no gender pronouns and Farsi speakers have muddled along alright for a few thousand years.


*Officer dependent, may be exceptions.
 
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