Let Me ask a question, and I think this question will help you understand what I’m talking about. If you met a monkey-kin at an ice cream social, having initially perceived them to have a human body, would you upon being properly introduced, hypnotise yourself into seeing a monkey tail behind them?
I do do everything I can to see that monkey tail. Like I said, I value that person’s identity over the social construct of species.
I’ve never met a monkey-kin either. It’s actually a super rare kintype. I think that’s because monkeys are so closely related to humans, that all the monkeys out there don’t tend to notice their species dysphoria. It’s too subtle.
But I’m dating a shark I met online. Its name is Ivy. Ivy’s come to visit Australia, and while it was here, I put in the effort to perceive its tail. It really likes getting its tail stroked, so I did that. There was no physical contact in consensus reality, but Ivy really liked it.
If Ivy heard you say that it’s objectively a human, Ivy would be sad. That’s not the way Ivy sees it. Ivy doesn’t want to be a human. Ivy’s a shark. It doesn’t believe in species the same way you believe in species. Neither do I. Neither of us thinks species is so important that it should be held above people’s identities.
Thank you for trying to respect Ivy. But I hope you won’t mind if I think what you’re saying is ironic. See, you’re treating Ivy like a human in order to protect it from the consequences of your realism.
Sharks can’t talk. That’s a fact most people can agree is objective. But if you treat sharks as a social construct and consider Ivy a shark, then suddenly there’s a talking shark! It’s Ivy!
That’s what antirealists call magic. I just took responsibility over My beliefs about reality, and changed them in a way that brought talking sharks into the world. I cast a spell of prestidigitation to create a talking shark. And it’s a simple parlor trick, but I hope it demonstrates the function of antirealist magick nearly.
Now, if Ivy is a talking shark who can’t breathe water, can you see how it’s possible to respect Ivy’s identity and treat its dysphoria without abusing it?
If we didn’t have a concept of sharks, Ivy wouldn’t have any words to describe what it feels and how it wants to be seen, and it would be harder for Me to affirm its identity by petting it on the dorsal fin and complimenting its teeth.
Plus, studies show our self-esteem is more strongly impacted by the values of the culture we’re raised in than our own values. Ivy’s self-esteem is dependent on being a shark, so we have limited room to redefine the entire concept of sharks. Every departure we make from Ivy’s cultural idea of sharkness requires stronger magic to fulfill without causing dysphoria.
And calling it magic is useful for precisely this present situation: Talking about techniques to strengthen the magic. In fact, calling it making appeals to our cultural ideas of magic and makes the magic stronger. Words like delusion or fantasy have a negative connotation and can weaken the magic or have harmful side effect. What we’re doing here is using our culture as the raw materials to engineer new social constructs to serve our needs. We don’t have unlimited power, this is a delicate process. There are plenty of conflicting needs. But with knowledge and skill, we can build the ideas to make everyone happy.
Thanks! I do identify as insane, though, it’s easier that way. Insanity isn’t in the DSM because it’s not a scientific construct. It’s a political construct. And politically, I’m quite mad.
There are a lot of people online who start from the assumption I’m sane, and conclude I’m a troll because of it. I find it much easier to have a meaningful conversation with people who understand that I’m wacko.
Fun fact: My genetic dad is a wizard just like Me, but he didn’t raise Me! In fact, he barely talks about his magic with his kids at all. We both came to magic on our own without any parental input. I guess magic just runs in our family.
Let Me ask a question, and I think this question will help you understand what I’m talking about. If you met a monkey-kin at an ice cream social, having initially perceived them to have a human body, would you upon being properly introduced, hypnotise yourself into seeing a monkey tail behind them?
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I do do everything I can to see that monkey tail. Like I said, I value that person’s identity over the social construct of species.
I’ve never met a monkey-kin either. It’s actually a super rare kintype. I think that’s because monkeys are so closely related to humans, that all the monkeys out there don’t tend to notice their species dysphoria. It’s too subtle.
But I’m dating a shark I met online. Its name is Ivy. Ivy’s come to visit Australia, and while it was here, I put in the effort to perceive its tail. It really likes getting its tail stroked, so I did that. There was no physical contact in consensus reality, but Ivy really liked it.
If Ivy heard you say that it’s objectively a human, Ivy would be sad. That’s not the way Ivy sees it. Ivy doesn’t want to be a human. Ivy’s a shark. It doesn’t believe in species the same way you believe in species. Neither do I. Neither of us thinks species is so important that it should be held above people’s identities.
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Thank you for trying to respect Ivy. But I hope you won’t mind if I think what you’re saying is ironic. See, you’re treating Ivy like a human in order to protect it from the consequences of your realism.
Sharks can’t talk. That’s a fact most people can agree is objective. But if you treat sharks as a social construct and consider Ivy a shark, then suddenly there’s a talking shark! It’s Ivy!
That’s what antirealists call magic. I just took responsibility over My beliefs about reality, and changed them in a way that brought talking sharks into the world. I cast a spell of prestidigitation to create a talking shark. And it’s a simple parlor trick, but I hope it demonstrates the function of antirealist magick nearly.
Now, if Ivy is a talking shark who can’t breathe water, can you see how it’s possible to respect Ivy’s identity and treat its dysphoria without abusing it?
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If we didn’t have a concept of sharks, Ivy wouldn’t have any words to describe what it feels and how it wants to be seen, and it would be harder for Me to affirm its identity by petting it on the dorsal fin and complimenting its teeth.
Plus, studies show our self-esteem is more strongly impacted by the values of the culture we’re raised in than our own values. Ivy’s self-esteem is dependent on being a shark, so we have limited room to redefine the entire concept of sharks. Every departure we make from Ivy’s cultural idea of sharkness requires stronger magic to fulfill without causing dysphoria.
And calling it magic is useful for precisely this present situation: Talking about techniques to strengthen the magic. In fact, calling it making appeals to our cultural ideas of magic and makes the magic stronger. Words like delusion or fantasy have a negative connotation and can weaken the magic or have harmful side effect. What we’re doing here is using our culture as the raw materials to engineer new social constructs to serve our needs. We don’t have unlimited power, this is a delicate process. There are plenty of conflicting needs. But with knowledge and skill, we can build the ideas to make everyone happy.
deleted by creator
Thanks! I do identify as insane, though, it’s easier that way. Insanity isn’t in the DSM because it’s not a scientific construct. It’s a political construct. And politically, I’m quite mad.
There are a lot of people online who start from the assumption I’m sane, and conclude I’m a troll because of it. I find it much easier to have a meaningful conversation with people who understand that I’m wacko.
Fun fact: My genetic dad is a wizard just like Me, but he didn’t raise Me! In fact, he barely talks about his magic with his kids at all. We both came to magic on our own without any parental input. I guess magic just runs in our family.