Mastodawn

ShaneIsGames Mar 6

Jason Lefkowitz

Nobody tells you "resistance is futile" unless they are desperately trying to talk you out of resisting

Jason Lefkowitz Mar 5

Long ago, as a kid, I read a book written by a defector from the Soviet Army. It's still an interesting book, I recommend it.

There's a chapter in it about leadership lessons he learned. One is that threats are a sign of weakness, not strength. Threats are what people resort to when they don't have the power to just act. Human beings don't threaten bugs; they just step on them.

So when someone comes at you with threats, keep that in mind. Often the threat is a tell, a sign that the person making it needs to scare you into complying because they can't just force you to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_the_Soviet_Army

Inside the Soviet Army - Wikipedia

Will Deakin Mar 5

@jalefkowit I put this down to arseholes internalising the Sun Tzu maxim "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."

In my dotage I found a meta take: people generally who are aggressive are either in a hole (reactive) or are arseholes (systemic bullying).

I don't have a lot of time for either. Although if you can convince to former to stop digging*, then they can be improved.

* the first law of holes

Irenes (many)Mar 6

@jalefkowit we heard a story once from a friend, which, you know, may or may not have been true

about being mugged by someone whose gun turned out to have no bullets in it

David J. Atkinson Mar 6

@ireneista @jalefkowit How does one figure that out, other than counting the shots they fired.,?

Irenes (many)Mar 6

@meltedcheese @jalefkowit the story goes that the assailant cocked the gun twice in a row

which, we're told, would eject the bullet or cause a jam, if there were one in the chamber. so that meant it was empty.

we're not gun people, we're going entirely on what our friend reported here, we've never used these devices

David J. Atkinson Mar 6

@ireneista @jalefkowit Me either. I have no way to evaluate that.

Irenes (many)Mar 6

@meltedcheese @jalefkowit we told it to somebody who does know that stuff once, and either it checks out or they were unnecessarily polite. but yeah

Comrade elronxenu Mar 6

@jalefkowit Relevant: https://youtu.be/bCBrg251HyQ

Perfect World - Threats & facts

YouTube

@jalefkowit @NilaJones On the other hand, one of the scariest parts of the Soviet Union was that they could just make you disappear without any sort of threats first.

Martin Seeger Mar 12

@jalefkowit One tactic:
Someone is yelling at me
I ask: “What causes your fear?”
Usually confusion settles in
Finisher move: “Yelling is a typical sign of someone deeply afraid”

Works quite well in most cases.

Mark Mason Mar 5

@jalefkowit I’ve been wondering about this. Does the bad guy always give away the victims best strategy. Don’t scream, don’t run, don’t involve the police, etc. or is that just on TV.

Ted Mielczarek Mar 5

@jalefkowit quoting The Borg is a hell of a way to sell your ideology!

disorderlyf Mar 5

@jalefkowit So the Borg were always fragile af

@disorderlyf @jalefkowit ditto Vogons, although they did have the poetry

@jalefkowit you will be assimilated by the borg and i have no interest either way, prediction mkts are truth mkts #processing fees #the truth will set you free and make you rich? evidently #insider trading

@jalefkowit
"Resistance is futile"

@jalefkowit
let's not forget despair and hopelessness

Keira (She/Her)Mar 5

@jalefkowit it's like the song, "If they say you can't, then you can."

Mad Engineering Mar 5

@jalefkowit When resistance genuinely is futile, they usually phrase it "resistance is hillarious."

You'll note that they don't say it that often.

Andy Fletcher Mar 6

I guess it is possible they don't want to see you suffer :)

'Cause when love is gone
There's always justice
And when justice is gone
There's always force
And when force is gone
There's always Mom
Hi, Mom

Laurie Anderson Oh Superman 1981

Daniel Carosone Mar 6

@jalefkowit this is true even if they are right, and resistance is futile. They want to talk you out of it just to save themselves the bother of having to get to the inevitable conclusion the harder way.

Which means you can still decide whether to let them.

@jalefkowit
There used to be a podcast by an infectious disease doctor who would often quip "resistance is inevitable." He was talking about bacteria but it goes for humans, too, sooner or later.

@jalefkowit "That's adventurism!"