poll: do we matter to the primitives?

[franksolich]

Time for one of the quarterly polls to measure the effectiveness of the DUmpster.

Does conservativecave in general, and the DUmpster specifically, matter to the primitives?

I myself used to be much in favor of mattering to the primitives; as the archives here going clear back to the beginning, up until very recently, clearly (and unfortunately) show, franksolich was once one of the biggest ballyhooers to get primitives to lurk over here, so as to be illuminated at how stupid they are when viewed by the real world off of Skins's island.

I was really big on this, getting the primitives to lurk here.

Now I'm not so sure, given that two phenomenons have occurred: (a) the primitives are now aware they're being observed, and when one knows one's being observed, behavior changes from the natural to the stilted, to "acting;" and (b) the primitives seem to have intensified their anger, their hostility, their hate, their rage, their bloodlust, for all that is new and strange to them.

Margaret Mead noticed the same two things, circa 70-80 years ago, on other islands.

I must credit my fellow alum Skins with a foresight I myself never had, the incredible wisdom of his decree that the primitives not mention or link to the DUmpster; Skins apparently foresaw that their exposure to decent and civilized people would corrupt his charges, ruining their natural state of primitivity.

Of course, nothing can be done about it; the blissful naivete, the childlike innocence, the joyous unawareness of the greater world, once shattered, cannot be made whole again.

[Carl]

I voted maybe only because they so hate having their vile and vicious ugliness exposed in any way.
If they were proud of who and what they are they would be thanking us.

[franksolich]

If they were proud of who and what they are they would be thanking us.

This is what especially discombobulates me, sir, given my Pollyanna attitude about people.

One has this idea that all people wish to have the blessings, the freedoms, the fruits, of decency and civilization, and that they're held back only because of ignorance, or because no one was nice to them.

I mean, it seems as natural as strawberries-and-cream, to desire to be decent and civilized.

But quite obviously, it appears that primitives would just as soon remain primitives.

[I_B_Perky]

I ain't really sure we matter to them. As a group I mean. Oh sure, every now and again one will come on over and sniff around, much like a canine sniffing new territory, and then, like a canine, peeing on it and wondering back to it's familiar territory. As a group though I think of the primitives as more like a cult that want nothing to do with anything outside of their own little corner of the internet. I think it has more to do with them reinforcing... maybe that is not the word... maybe validating is the word... that their beliefs matter to someone other than themselves.  Hence the groupthink.

I just cannot help but think that somewhere at some shrink school some group of student shrinks are doing a case study on them. 

[franksolich]

As a group though I think of the primitives as more like a cult that want nothing to do with anything outside of their own little corner of the internet. I think it has more to do with them reinforcing... maybe that is not the word... maybe validating is the word... that their beliefs matter to someone other than themselves.  Hence the groupthink.

Uh huh.

I just cannot help but think that somewhere at some shrink school some group of student shrinks are doing a case study on them.

If not, they should be; it's a fertile field for study, the primitives on Skins's island.

[BattleHymn]

I just cannot help but think that somewhere at some shrink school some group of student shrinks are doing a case study on them.

My local FedEx driver has a degree in psychology.  I keep trying to get him to join up and help explain some of the primitives, but he is too busy being a capitalist.

[franksolich]

My local FedEx driver has a degree in psychology.  I keep trying to get him to join up and help explain some of the primitives, but he is too busy being a capitalist.

That could end up being a full-time job, though, analyzing the primitives.

And sadly, there's no money in it.....yet; if there had been, franksolich would be sitting pretty right now.

[GOBUCKS]

I voted "maybe", because it depends entirely on which one you're talking about.
Some, like nutcase nadin and hippywife, have quit posting, or post only rarely, due to embarrassment over having their contemptible, stupid views exposed.
Some, like Pam, have tried to change the character of their posts due to the same embarrassment. Of coure, Pam is too DUmb for that to work.
Some, like Pedro Picasso and the hateful TLB, thrive on the attention and court it.
Most are oblivious and are no more affected by our attention than a sack of vegetables.

[franksolich]

I voted "maybe", because it depends entirely on which one you're talking about.

Yeah, I agree; it depends upon a particular primitive.
 

Some, like nutcase nadin and hippywife, have quit posting, or post only rarely, due to embarrassment over having their contemptible, stupid views exposed.

This, I don't understand; we're nice people, and present no threat to the primitives; they're utterly free to say whatever they wish to say, and since decent and civilized people are such a minority--outnumbered ten to one, or even a hundred to one, according to some primitives--surely what we think doesn't matter.

Some, like Pam, have tried to change the character of their posts due to the same embarrassment. Of course, Pam is too DUmb for that to work.

Uh-huh; that's why I stopped paying attention to her, myself.

Some, like Pedro Picasso.....thrive on the attention and court it.

I recently decided to pay no attention, no attention at all, to the PoP (excepting when I'll have to write about them, when the Top Primitives of 2011 come up in late November), as they've become a tedious bore.

Most are oblivious and are no more affected by out attention than a sack of vegetables.

That's what I decided to do; instead of paying any attention to the PoP, I'm on the lookout for IP among the unterprimitiven.  I haven't found any yet, but I'm confident I will.

[I_B_Perky]

If not, they should be; it's a fertile field for study, the primitives on Skins's island.

Heh! Some enterprising young shrink ought to get the federal gummint to divert the grant funds for global <insert your favorite climate change type here> to study them instead. That would be a career!!!

[franksolich]

Heh! Some enterprising young shrink ought to get the federal gummint to divert the grant funds for global <insert your favorite climate change type here> to study them instead. That would be a career!!!

Yeah, you know, sir, I really did think about it, applying for a federal grant to study the anthropological nature of the primitives on Skins's island.

But as I'm only a student of anthropology, and not a professional anthropologist myself, I doubt I'd stand a chance.

However, it would be a pity if a professional anthropologist didn't think about doing this.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Liberals are creatures of ego.

They must be victims (no failure is their fault) and they must be saviors (no success is your doing) because their egos demand it.

We matter only if/when we:

A) challenge their assumptions about themselves

B) give them the attention they crave.

[BlueStateSaint]

I said "yes," and it was for this reason.

(b) the primitives seem to have intensified their anger, their hostility, their hate, their rage, their bloodlust, for all that is new and strange to them.

If we didn't matter, they would be far less intense in their hate.  But, Satan is subtle and insidious.  So, God lets Satan run riot in the lives of the primitives.  And the primitives, not believing in God and/or Satan, are too blinded by themselves, to know the difference.

[I_B_Perky]

Yeah, you know, sir, I really did think about it, applying for a federal grant to study the anthropological nature of the primitives on Skins's island.

But as I'm only a student of anthropology, and not a professional anthropologist myself, I doubt I'd stand a chance.

However, it would be a pity if a professional anthropologist didn't think about doing this.

Well Frank.... you might drop this journal a note:
Journal of Anthropology

For what it's worth Frank... you could probably get a PhD by doing a study on the primitives. I think you know them better than they know themselves.

[BlueStateSaint]

For what it's worth Frank... you could probably get a PhD by doing a study on the primitives. I think you know them better than they know themselves.

When my wife was doing her master's, I showed her the DUmpster a couple of times.  She told me, only half-jokingly, that she probably could do a PhD. dissertation on the DUmp--and get her doctorate.

[tanstaafl]

Frank, you wrote:

Yeah, you know, sir, I really did think about it, applying for a federal grant to study the anthropological nature of the primitives on Skins's island.

But as I'm only a student of anthropology, and not a professional anthropologist myself, I doubt I'd stand a chance.

If you'd slip in "Climate Change"' "Global Warming", "Coal is Bad", "No More Nukes", "Solar Power", "Wind Power" and a sprinkling of "Green, Green!, GREEN!" in your grant application, the government won't be able to stop shoveling money at you.

Otherwise use "High Speed Rail". Just as good these days

[franksolich]

Well Frank.... you might drop this journal a note:
Journal of Anthropology

For what it's worth Frank... you could probably get a PhD by doing a study on the primitives. I think you know them better than they know themselves.

Now, don't be putting any ideas in my head, sir; this plate's already heaping full.

However.

I think contacting that publication is a good idea, and I'll do so tomorrow (Wednesday).

I'll let you, and everyone else, know what happens after that.

[I_B_Perky]

When my wife was doing her master's, I showed her the DUmpster a couple of times.  She told me, only half-jokingly, that she probably could do a PhD. dissertation on the DUmp--and get her doctorate.

I would guess one would have to refrain from calling them DumpMonkies in a dissertation...  "subjects" just doesn't do them justice though.

I wonder what the title would be? I would have to think that dysfunctional would have to be in there somewhere!

Hey, I got an idea! Everyone come up with a title for the dissertation on the DumpMonkies! Best one gets a H5!

Here's mine:
Dysfunctional Internet Utopians Show Regressive Tendencies and Trend Toward Insanity

Maybe we ought to move this to the Lounge. 

[Duke Nukum]

We matter more and more to them and they have been telling us.

We love circus freaks and they love an audience.

[franksolich]

I dunno; if I were the one doing a Ph.D. dissertation, I'd stick with a plain-but-expressive title.

Something along the lines of: "The primitives of Skins's island; their lives, their gods and devils, their values and prejudices, their castes and class hierarchy, their rituals and ceremonies, their fetishes and totems, their superstitions and taboos".

[longview]

I voted "maybe."

To some we do.  To some we don't.  I'd bet that some of the inhabitants there are so arrogant they lump all conservatives as tea party-ers who can't possibly be part of an online community.  That we can't possibly matter and are in great need of being cared for in the nanny state they envision.

[miskie]

Definitely, yes  - We anger them, but like a declawed cat, the primitives are unable to do anything with their stubby, fingertip-free hands about it. So they watch, and grumble, and yowl, and nothing.

[GOBUCKS]

But as I'm only a student of anthropology, and not a professional anthropologist myself, I doubt I'd stand a chance.

If someone were to give you one dollar for one of your stories about the hazards of DUmmies around natural gas, you would be as much a professional anthropologist as there is. After all, anthropology is a very soft science. It's a science that's as mushy as hell. It's not like brain surgery. It doesn't take a  rocket appliance.

[Mr Mannn]

Yes we matter.
The reason. Primitives need enemies. They need a reason to wallow in their hate.

Christians, Jews and people of faith threaten them. We worship something other than the almighty state. We are infidels to them. So they hate and revile us.

So too, CC is very prolific in out mockery of them. Primitives fear the light of truth. We are free to mock them, and they hate that. They hate us for the same reason they hate the tea party: we are people who do not worship at their altar of govt. We will not cowtow to PC speech. We oppose them and seek to defeat them. They rage till the spittle drools from their clenched teeth.

Nazis needed scapegoats. Primitives need villains. As DU's violent fantasies come ever closer to fruition, we are there to expose them.

Yes, we are important to them. The list of DU enemies may be long, but only one group watches them...and laughs.

[Wineslob]

I took the "we" as meaning us, here on this board. I voted No. We don't matter, but we are a thorn in their side.
I've met too many primitives in my time and have found them all to be sanctimonious assholes. Nothing matters to them except their own bloated idea of just how wonderful they are and how you are just too stupid to understand.

They never change.