@Zak_Carter wrote the following after this forum was shut down for the night. I thought it was worth posting sooner rather than latter:
I’ve heard of Dalrock in passing, but I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything he’s written. I enjoyed the episode, but I have a few quibbles/clarifying points:
- The episode is titled “Into the manosphere,” but it quickly became all about whether Dalrock is trustworthy/legitimate. It kinda came across to me as a search-and-destroy mission. There’s nothing wrong with a public rebuttal of someone’s public writings, but I’m left just a little confused. Is Dalrock the loudest voice in the “manosphere”? Does he typify the movement? If he wrote under his real name, what concerns would still remain? This may be a quibble, but it seemed to be all about the man and not about the movement, which the title seemed to imply. I also didn’t feel like the “devil’s” point about framing the argument around the worst examples of the “manosphere” before addressing Dalrock was adequately addressed.
- His mischaracterization of Chandler/Wilson/Bayly/etc. seems to be the most important point in discerning his teachings, yet that point came across as secondary to his pseudonymity.
- Speaking of pseudonymity, there was a lot of discussion around that in the episode, but I didn’t feel like the point ever really landed or that you guys really settled what the issue was. To me, the issue with pseudonymity is when there’s a double-standard of calling out others when they can’t do the same to you. I don’t see pseudonymity as a problem as long as the anonymous person sticks strictly to the issues and doesn’t call others out as “compromisers” when no one can hold them to the same scrutiny.
- The point you guys made about ad hominem is really important, and I would liked to have seen that fleshed out more. Unfortunately, I think it will be very easy for that to be taken out of context.
I’m really impressed by the content you guys put out, and especially with how well you do the “devil’s advocate” section (not just in this episode, but all the ones I’ve heard). I really think you guys are doing something unique and important. But I’m left after this episode feeling like I’m missing most of the context I need to really understand what it is I just listened to.