This is an analysis of a blog posted by ThotRevulsion(a nickname I have for someone with many sock accounts). Link is right here if you want to read it for yourself.
This is a good one, as we can see some real mental gymnastics on display. Even if you don’t read this whole thing, skip to the end to see the purest form of karmic justice.
I also want to add, before we get too deep into this; I do NOT advocate the bullying of Thot in any way. We are absolutely allowed to talk about his behavior, as it is part of the public record, deliberately published by himself for the express purpose of public consumption. I do not tag him in this blog post because I am perfectly fine with him ignoring it entirely. I cannot control the behavior of anyone reading this, so whatever actions they take are on them. Likely unnecessary disclaimer is now concluded.
So, this blog is titled “All Trolls Blocked and Their Comments Deleted.” Cool, cool… I actually remember when this happened, though I didn’t read this blog apparently released at that time. You see, Thot had gone out of his way to challenge me to troll him. So, I did. He got rather butthurt about this, and, I kid you not, whined to help and support about wanting to delete comments. They added the feature, and he deleted the majority of my comments at the time, having blocked me previously before complaining to the authorities. I say all this not because it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but because it adds quite a bit of context to what we are about to read.
Thot frequently goes out into various comment sections, antagonizing people, challenging them, and suggesting that he is able to run circles around them in witty banter. Frankly, this could not be further from the truth. But enough rambling, let’s look at the actual blog.
“We can finally delete people's comments from under our posts and therefore the block feature is not irrelevant.
Time for every troll or completely erroneous and irrelevant waste of space comment to be eradicated from my thread.”
Small note, Thot is already incorrect when he says the block feature is not irrelevant. Wait…
Not irrelevant?
Pretty sure he meant not relevant, or is irrelevant. The double negative is very likely unintentional. But assuming this is just a confused typo, and he did mean the block feature is not relevant, he’s still wrong. You have to manually delete comments, while blocking people prevents the posting of comments in the first place. Both have their use cases, blocking being a long term solution to a troll and deleting being a more precise method of control. This rather confusing set of statements is not a great start, but it’s still only downhill from here.
“The entire internet and the entire world has become an echo chamber of diarrhea of the mouth and this thread is not going to be part of that Echo chamber.
Yes, my threat is a sort of echo chamber but it's an echo chamber of logic, reason and scientific rationality. This is a Haven for intellectuals and not for argumentative, ignorant, naive, logically flawed, cognitively biased annoying children. Nor is it for infantile adults who also fit the definition above.”
Not an echo chamber, guys. Only intellectual debates here. Sure, if you have anything remotely resembling anything less than full and total agreement with Thot’s opinions, you will get blocked and deleted, but not an echo chamber, guys. Come on. It’s not like that is the actual definition of an echo chamber or anything.
Of course, it is also DEFINITELY the mark of an intellectual that they cannot handle exposure to dissenting views. They don’t have time for debunking ignoramuses, they need to all pat each other on the back as they discuss just how intelligent they are. No disagreement is allowed, as again, intellectuals must always agree on everything. Hey, I see you laughing over there! Stop that this instant! This is NOT the creation of an echo chamber. At all.
“If we were not allowed to delete comments or block people then we would truly have a free speech platform but we don't and I don't think it's possible anyway.
The platform would not survive economically because people like me would absolutely fucking decimate every simpleton piece of shit here. Absolutely nothing fake would survive. Every spiritual moron or religious or political troll would be completely shamed into Oblivion. The honeydicking apocalypse would not be possible and that's what social media platforms capitalize on most.”
Oh, I still see Thot running around trying this(shaming people, that is). He seems to think stringing together ten comments that are fifty percent profanity and fifty percent copy pasted insults is somehow “decimating” people. We will return to the subject of Thot’s behavior later.
But as for the first part of this, he suggests that free speech requires a lack of blocking and deleting functionality. I disagree. If I can post whatever I like on my own account, and everyone who wishes to view it can, then you have free speech. You don’t have free speech when other parties are blocking your content from being accessible by other people who wish to access it. Deleting and blocking comments does not nullify free speech anymore than removing rabble-rousers from a speaking event does. They still have free speech, they are only required to respect the venue and free speech rights of others. Sure, some venues aren’t exactly fair in who they let ask questions or make comments, but the fundamentals at play here don’t really change.
But even better, while I cannot directly on Thot’s blogs because he blocked me, I can comment in this blog of my own. Interesting, isn’t it? I can say whatever I like about Thot’s ideas, and he is unable to stop me. Free Speech, bro; ya can’t stop the signal.
“So congratulations everyone on this platform, free speech on social media is largely a failure. Bring on the blocking and deleting of comments!”
Speak for yourself, Thot. I only delete spam comments, like when you post upwards of twenty nonsense comments on my threads in a matter of minutes. You aren’t blocked, you can comment here if you like. I’m not afraid of a little disagreement.
“I used to be completely for free speech and so excited about this platform but now I realize that freedom of speech is nothing but irrational idealism and it's actually quite dangerous. The reason why free speech is dangerous is because the majority don't know how to think in the first place and so all they ever repeat are overly simplified, logically flawed, cognitively biased, scientifically illiterate simpleton drivel. Their simpleton drivel become status quo driven fact of the day which is actually just how delusions are produced and then spread virally like AIDS, thought AIDS...”
If you do not advocate for the right of those you disagree with to speak freely, you are not in favor of free speech at all. It seems here that Thot does not understand this; speech that is popular does not need to be protected. It is unpopular speech that we must protect. I doubt he was ever truly pro free speech when he doesn’t seem to understand this. Oh, and calling free speech dangerous? That’s like saying freedom is dangerous. That’s authoritarian rhetoric right there, pure and simple.
“This platform is a perfect example of how status quo driven opinions are supported so heavily that's all of the delusional, scared, simpleton children validate each other into a false sense of security.
Social media is now more dangerous in perpetuating status quo driven delusion then anything in our history has ever been.
In my thread you get productivity instead of a waste of time shitshow like the rest of social media has become.”
Social media is dangerous? More dangerous then anything in history? Even with a million caveats, that’s gonna be hard to support. Now, I would at least partially agree with social media manipulated by big tech being potentially dangerous, but even then, I believe in the ability of people to see through that stuff if they have at least some avenues for open conversation to analyze.
And Productivity? Heh. Just wait till we get to the end.
“If you are a brilliant intellectual and you have interesting evidence to bring to light then I encourage you to do so underneath my posts.
If you are at a lesser stage of developing your wisdom, perfecting your logic, removing cognitive bias and becoming scientifically aware then you are at the stage of merely asking questions and if you were going to do so then make sure your question is birth of legitimate curiosity and not some petty high school debate team bullshit being masked as a question. I will see through that petty bullshit attempt and read your true intentions, you will be ridiculed, I will insult you heavily without mercy and then you will be blocked and your comment will be deleted.”
Ah. So, Thot can read intentions through text. He also considers disingenuous questions meant to forward an agenda as childish and petty, but name calling, blocking, and deleting comments as mature.
Hmm. That’s a rather warped taxonomy of behavior you have there, Thot.
“We don't have time for your childish bullshit. you must understand that ignorance, logical fallacy, cognitive bias and petty high school debate team bullshit is the most common combination of which yields many of the same personality and behavioral expressions. There's only so many times we can be patient in this regard. The millions of people before you have already worn my patience thin. I am now like an old dog that hates babies and if your baby comes near me, pokes me in the eye or I even think they're going to, I'm going to shred them like an old dog does a ragdoll.”
Oh, man… I can’t believe that you would say that you don’t have time for this. You spend far too much time on this as it is, in my opinion. You know what takes less time than responding to childish nonsense? Ignoring it entirely. No one requires you to respond to comments, not even on your own threads. Even deleting a comment is a tacit admission that you read the comment, registered what it said, and decided you would prefer if other people did not read it. That’s a rather high level of involvement when you simply don’t have time for it.
And Thot, again… insulting someone with copy pasted nonsense before blocking them does not really “shred them”. I find it endlessly hilarious when I see your hysterical outbursts while perusing threads. If you see one comment that received over three replies from someone else, it’s usually because the person rapid fire responding is deeply triggered. That’s not a smackdown, it’s just a temper tantrum.
But now, we’ve reached the best part. All of this talk of creating an echo chamber that isn’t an echo chamber? Silencing trolls and only allowing discussion between intellectuals? Support for, in Thot’s mind, the disruption of free speech in the pursuit of some ambiguous social good? He’s not remotely consistent on this, and anyone who takes a cursory look at his various feeds can confirm this.
Sorry, Thot. Turnabout is fair play.
He's very preoccupied with "winning".
This is a rather stunning rebuke of himself, right here.
It just goes on...
I think everyone gets the point, now.
So, he not only wants his version of “free speech” for himself, he clearly doesn’t like other people doing to him exactly what he celebrated being able to do to them.
Additionally, he goes on to talk about how he actively subverts these measures any way he can. That’s why we are seeing at least five sock accounts that he runs, and I have no idea how many more he might have.
I dunno, Thot. I think you were the one who looked pretty stupid after all this.
Uh oh, he's gonna expose us with a live stream, guys. We dun goofed now.
Oh, real quick; this one I find rather funny. I'm pretty sure the "two projects completely deleted" are just blogs he lost the links to, due to a known bug with the blog listing. They very likely were not actually deleted. I covered it in a different blog, here's a link.
But back to the topic; is this all within ToS? The anti-block measures Thot is taking, that is. Well, I know using sock accounts to get around blocks is not, even though alt accounts for other purposes are, to my knowledge. But unlike Thot, I’m not really interested in going after him for this, as he is clearly being thwarted at every turn given his reactions on his own threads.
So, while all of this self defeating behavior is humorous by itself, why did I spend so much time cataloging this? Who cares? Anyone can see he isn’t exactly getting massive likes and reminds for this talk of selective censorship.
It’s because Thot is not the only person who talks like this. There is this annoying group of people who misunderstand freedom of speech and begin advocating for special exemptions not based on principle. There is this weird, largely intellectual in tone if not actual content, conversation that insists the best way of dealing with dissident voices is by giving more power to institutions to censor. It’s bad enough when they suggest this without seeing the potential problem for themselves in the future should the winds shift, but it gets worse when these people advocate policies that are used against them with zero self awareness. They immediately do a complete 180, but never see the hypocrisy.
We can clearly see it on display. Thot advocates for deletion of comments, he gets it, it is used against him, and then he complains that other people are infringing on his rights. No mention anywhere that maybe he was wrong, and he still actively blocks people and deletes comments. He doesn’t want an equal playing field with consistent rules, he wants special treatment. He wants authoritarianism, despite the fact that he claims it is being wielded against him. While this is a radical example, to be sure, people really need to think about this.
Luckily, the delete and block features are not really censorship, and more a tool used by immature crybullies like Thot. Luckily, Minds staff and users alike seem to think Thot’s claims of victimisation are overblown. Luckily, Thot simply does not have the power to enforce his vision of the world on all of us. But the one thing he seems to be correct on is the most troubling fact; people can talk themselves into all kinds of delusional, self contradictory beliefs. Thot seems to genuinely believe that it is consistent to block other people while advocating that they should be unable to block him.
Now, the only way to consolidate these statements is to assert that Thot is one hundred percent correct all the time, no errors whatsoever. That seems to be how he frames it in his mind. But that’s an insane statement for anyone who is remotely honest with themselves. It requires an incredible amount of arrogance and dishonesty towards oneself to think that there is nothing more to learn and you have everything figured out. I could probably find an instance where Thot concedes that he doesn’t actually know everything, but that’s frankly irrelevant in the context of all prior nonsense he’s spewed.
Freedom of speech means everyone can shout whatever they want, and those who want to listen can find it and listen however much they like. It does not guarantee an audience, but it at least should guarantee access to the public square, whether that be in the real world or on the internet. The fact that I can comment on Thot’s blog without him being able to silence me is evidence that the war has not been entirely lost yet, but his mere advocating for censorship while decrying censorship against himself only is evidence that we have yet to secure true victory. Whatever our thoughts on other matters, we, the members of a free society, must agree that the right to freedom of speech is of utmost importance. We cannot compromise on unpopular speech, because that will always be how it starts.
Minds was founded on the principles of freedom of speech. Already, I have heard rumors of de facto censorship, if not precisely proven as intentional censorship, at least in my mind. We must stay vigilant and put a spotlight on such issues, wherever they occur, and not grow complacent. Rights are not given by institutions, they are granted by God, and we must fight to keep them for ourselves and our fellow man. Even Thot has the right to freedom of speech.
Same post on Minds
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