a tour of cutting edge research in karenology from the possibly prestigious and certainly notorious “gato university,” home of the fighting badcats. (go cats!)
our lesson today is simple:
nothing drives the desire to censor one’s opponent like losing the debate badly.
and this is what drives this fundamental relationship (proven by lots of research of at least ostensible reliability) known as “the karen curve.”
it’s the fundamental building block of the science of karenology.
many have found this construct to be overly theoretical and so we go to our “applied karenology” department for some examples that might make this material more accessible.
as you can see, this relationship can be clearly observed in numerous real world contexts and works in bidirectional fashion.
as an argument becomes increasingly fractious and lost, its proponents seek to censor and to limit freedom.
and those winning seek free discourse.
(note that this tendency is not predictive of societal outcomes over time and has complex interactions therewith. winning an intellectual argument and being able to force others to submit to your viewpoint have little to do with one another, especially in the short run.)
despite this, some strong conclusions may still be drawn because one thing is certain:
the side seeking to stifle debate is NEVER the side of science.
science thrives on challenge. it evolves BECAUSE it is contested and adversarial. the truth needs no protection. it grows stronger when engaged in open discourse and disputation.
the stories that must be protected from criticism are the other kind…
we also just got this fine addition from our lexical semantics department.
we take great pride in adding karenology to our departments of epidemiology, hard science, statistics, philosophy, ethics, and political science.
the cross disciplinary possibilities with our meme studies and applied snark departments are, frankly, unlimited.
"winning an intellectual argument and being able to force [I'd use "persuade" instead of force - ¡AtG!] others to submit to your viewpoint have little to do with one another, especially in the short run"
This may be TL;DR but I have a real-world example. And although this is one example, it's representative of many others I have had with Leftists over the past 15 years.
About ten years ago my Leftist sister was in a FB conversation with 5 or 6 women friends of similar political persuasion. I watched the conversation unfold, as they discussed Gabby Reece's appearance on a daytime talk show. (Gabby was a lithesome, beautiful volleyball player, and was engaged to be married.)
On that talk show, Gabby expressed the view that she might, at some future point, hypothetically, maybe just maybe forgive her husband-to-be if he were to have a single, solitary indiscretion in a moment of weakness. One discretion, maybe forgiven, totally noncommittal but open to the hypothetical.
The gaggle of women went ballistic over that hypothetical. It's been a while, so I can't quote them, but paraphrasing them, they said things like "she used to be my hero, now she's dead to me" and "made me want to vomit" and "worst person on the planet", y'know, that kind of measured approach...
So then I weighed in.
I observed, "All you women who are ripping into Gabby, you are aware, I take it, that she only posited a hypothetical, AND, that hypothetical only involved ONE indiscretion. And yet Hillary Clinton - a woman ALL of you support and admire and respect, etc. - Hillary has spent a LIFETIME doing that very thing over and over and over. Hillary has done many, MANY times the very thing Gabby only suggested she MIGHT do ONE time.
And yet Hillary is your hero, and Gabby is persona non grata.
Can you please square that circle for me?"
That was literally the end of that conversation thread. Not even ONE of them had enough character or intellectual honesty to admit their intellectual dishonesty. Not even ONE of them could bring themselves even to walk back their vilification of Gabby. They had NO rebuttal, and, they had no integrity to admit as much.
No, the conversation ended with my observation.
So yeah, gato, "winning an intellectual argument and being able to [persuade] others to submit to your viewpoint have little to do with one another, especially in the short run". It happens ALL the time.
Disturbing prospect that lefties favor censorship. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor gun confiscation or some other onerous restriction on 2A rights. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor election fraud. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor organizing to cancel and financially destroy non-leftists.
Like the disturbing prospect that, once they achieve these things they favor, they then favor incarceration and extermination of everyone who questions their agenda.
As someone who has pretty much always been independent politically, I could at least respect, and sometimes agree with, views from the left. That has been completely destroyed over the last couple of years. I can barely even listen to the utter insanity that comes from the so-called "left" anymore. There's no coherence or logic in anything I hear from them. It's sad in a way... they are really just digging their own graves by their lunacy.
I wonder how many delusional people of the 60’s can see the irony of Neil “Ohio” Young protesting free speech by taking his protest songs off a medium that promotes free speech?
Over in the UK the government health minister has just backed down over mandatory jabs for healthcare workers. The deadline for vaccination was rapidly approaching & his bluff had been well and truly called. He’s now pretending new data on Omicron, just in, shows it is a cold. The rest of us knew this in December from data in SA. You overreached Javid, you overplayed your hand and got called out. Do the decent thing and resign.
I was unsure about the use of “Neil” as a male Karen. Partially, Karen works well as a verb such as “to karen” or “karening”. Then I realized that with Neil we have “to neil” or “neiling”. Now I think “Neil” might have some legs.
Neil Young, what a bloody disappointment. I grew up loving his music, and now he's become just another poster boy for leftist hypocrisy and fascism.
Remember when he was protesting about "four dead in Ohio"? Now he wants the same government to mandate jabs that have, and will continue, to kill people.
Remember when he was defiant about how "singing for Spuds" would "make me look like a joke"? Then he sells out to Blackstone.
Remember when was celebrating "keep on rocking in the free world"? Now he wants to silence people he disagrees with.
"and this is what drives this fundamental relationship (proven by lots of research of at least ostensible reliability) known as “the karen curve... it’s the fundamental building block of the science of karenology."
"The truth is like a lion. It does not need defending. Let it loose and it will defend itself." -someone other than me. Are there any seats left in this course? #GatoUniversity #BadCats
What a great article! Not to mention completely hitting the bulls eye.
2 points:
A Canadian city that I'm very familiar with, Hamilton, Ontario, has a football team named 'The Hamilton Tiger Cats' and everyone always yells, 'go, cats' just like in the article here.
2nd point, you actually made Neil look better. I'm impressed.
I worry about all of the Karens in the coming months. The past 2 years has turned the caterpillar Karens into full moth Karens. It seems impossible that there is a way to de-Karen them. I am probably not using the best terminology, but I forsee a big problem once all of the wheels fall off of the Big Pharma bus.
The Neil Young thing is disappointing. Of course a lot of great rock artists have turned into curdled leftists, so not surprising. This doesn't detract from the fact he's one of the absolutely greatest rock artists ever. This is simply objectively the case. Listen to Like a Hurricane or Powderfinger -- absolute transcendent brilliance.
LOL .. an alternative horizontal axis of the "karen curve" is the retreat to various ISMs and name calling as a sign of loosing the argument and cognitive surrender. "Karenology" seems 2 b the true "women studies" - and the very 1st of its kind worth attending among the filthy rest of harmful "soft science" studies!
So, that R vs D chart would be more informative if it took into account the significant shift in party affiliation over this three-year period. How many "leaned" each way, when? Doesn't say. We might just be looking at a mud puddle getting muddier as it dries up.
The whole vaccine-based totalitarian takeover is based on voluntary hypnosis.
The media do not present any evidence for their claims. They say follow the science - but the science says the opposite of what they claim. What people really hear is just "follow the authorities." The people want to go along, they want to follow the authorities. If they must decide things for themselves, then they are lost.
All that governments and media put forward are hollow, science-free suggestions. There's no evidence for their suggestions. There doesn't need to be, because so many people want to just believe the suggestions. To let that happen, it's not necessary to provide evidence. In fact, the evidence stands in the way.
All it takes is to silence people who would poke holes in the official suggestions. Then the channel from the hypnotist into the hypnotized is free and unimpeded. Those who are not suggestible find online places like this, and we converse in isolation. Meanwhile, those who are suggestible are mainlining suggestions straight from the hypnotist, and the hypnotist is priming them to do what's asked, even if it means voluntarily going into their grave.
Neil Young is what, 104 years old? At his advanced age he's probably actually afraid of dying of the rona. Someone should get him a nice shawl and a TV Guide.
Of course, a second curve needs to be added to the Karen Curve graph: The shrillness of the argument is inversely proportional to the square of Winning the Argument Based on Merit. In layman's terms this means as WABM approaches zero both the shrillness and the Desire to Censor approach infinity.
those who cannot convince, censor
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
—John F. Kennedy
I'm not sure about this Karen curve...has it been peer reviewed?
I’d like to see the manager about this article..
"winning an intellectual argument and being able to force [I'd use "persuade" instead of force - ¡AtG!] others to submit to your viewpoint have little to do with one another, especially in the short run"
This may be TL;DR but I have a real-world example. And although this is one example, it's representative of many others I have had with Leftists over the past 15 years.
About ten years ago my Leftist sister was in a FB conversation with 5 or 6 women friends of similar political persuasion. I watched the conversation unfold, as they discussed Gabby Reece's appearance on a daytime talk show. (Gabby was a lithesome, beautiful volleyball player, and was engaged to be married.)
On that talk show, Gabby expressed the view that she might, at some future point, hypothetically, maybe just maybe forgive her husband-to-be if he were to have a single, solitary indiscretion in a moment of weakness. One discretion, maybe forgiven, totally noncommittal but open to the hypothetical.
The gaggle of women went ballistic over that hypothetical. It's been a while, so I can't quote them, but paraphrasing them, they said things like "she used to be my hero, now she's dead to me" and "made me want to vomit" and "worst person on the planet", y'know, that kind of measured approach...
So then I weighed in.
I observed, "All you women who are ripping into Gabby, you are aware, I take it, that she only posited a hypothetical, AND, that hypothetical only involved ONE indiscretion. And yet Hillary Clinton - a woman ALL of you support and admire and respect, etc. - Hillary has spent a LIFETIME doing that very thing over and over and over. Hillary has done many, MANY times the very thing Gabby only suggested she MIGHT do ONE time.
And yet Hillary is your hero, and Gabby is persona non grata.
Can you please square that circle for me?"
That was literally the end of that conversation thread. Not even ONE of them had enough character or intellectual honesty to admit their intellectual dishonesty. Not even ONE of them could bring themselves even to walk back their vilification of Gabby. They had NO rebuttal, and, they had no integrity to admit as much.
No, the conversation ended with my observation.
So yeah, gato, "winning an intellectual argument and being able to [persuade] others to submit to your viewpoint have little to do with one another, especially in the short run". It happens ALL the time.
Disturbing prospect that lefties favor censorship. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor gun confiscation or some other onerous restriction on 2A rights. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor election fraud. Like the disturbing prospect that they favor organizing to cancel and financially destroy non-leftists.
Like the disturbing prospect that, once they achieve these things they favor, they then favor incarceration and extermination of everyone who questions their agenda.
Hold the line.
Nothing makes a source seem more trustworthy than a feverish, single-minded insistence on censoring those who question it.
As someone who has pretty much always been independent politically, I could at least respect, and sometimes agree with, views from the left. That has been completely destroyed over the last couple of years. I can barely even listen to the utter insanity that comes from the so-called "left" anymore. There's no coherence or logic in anything I hear from them. It's sad in a way... they are really just digging their own graves by their lunacy.
School board Karent apparatchiks have destroyed public education. Enroll at el gato u to mock them with memes! https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-appoint-a-commissar
I wonder how many delusional people of the 60’s can see the irony of Neil “Ohio” Young protesting free speech by taking his protest songs off a medium that promotes free speech?
So is it Neil or Kneel? Asking for a friend.
Over in the UK the government health minister has just backed down over mandatory jabs for healthcare workers. The deadline for vaccination was rapidly approaching & his bluff had been well and truly called. He’s now pretending new data on Omicron, just in, shows it is a cold. The rest of us knew this in December from data in SA. You overreached Javid, you overplayed your hand and got called out. Do the decent thing and resign.
I’ve been doing Fauci memes, but maybe it’s time for Neil. Thanks, cat.
THIS ☝️Is brilliant!🤩. My favorite part is this, “the side seeking to stifle debate is NEVER the side of science”
This should be memorialized by etching it in stone.
I laughed out loud. Love this - all male Karens will now be known as Neil. Brilliant, bad cat!
I was unsure about the use of “Neil” as a male Karen. Partially, Karen works well as a verb such as “to karen” or “karening”. Then I realized that with Neil we have “to neil” or “neiling”. Now I think “Neil” might have some legs.
I'm starting to feel a little foolish for having majored in Critical Feminist Studies. Where was Gato U when I needed it?
Karen shopping channel.
https://i.etsystatic.com/33520018/r/il/57bb1a/3637691467/il_794xN.3637691467_by9t.jpg
Neil Young, what a bloody disappointment. I grew up loving his music, and now he's become just another poster boy for leftist hypocrisy and fascism.
Remember when he was protesting about "four dead in Ohio"? Now he wants the same government to mandate jabs that have, and will continue, to kill people.
Remember when he was defiant about how "singing for Spuds" would "make me look like a joke"? Then he sells out to Blackstone.
Remember when was celebrating "keep on rocking in the free world"? Now he wants to silence people he disagrees with.
Just beyond pathetic.
Shame on him.
Cat, you are a ray of light and joy in these dark times. Thank you 🙏
Bravo. Especially the Neil picture
Just what I needed this morning, Mr Gato...a good share of snark.
We can always laugh at these people, can’t we?
Consensus is where science goes to die.
Anyone appealing to forced consensus and unearned authority deserve naught save scorn.
"and this is what drives this fundamental relationship (proven by lots of research of at least ostensible reliability) known as “the karen curve... it’s the fundamental building block of the science of karenology."
You are priceless!
Can we get an update on the vax cases/hospitalization splits that you posed a few weeks ago?
"The truth is like a lion. It does not need defending. Let it loose and it will defend itself." -someone other than me. Are there any seats left in this course? #GatoUniversity #BadCats
What a great article! Not to mention completely hitting the bulls eye.
2 points:
A Canadian city that I'm very familiar with, Hamilton, Ontario, has a football team named 'The Hamilton Tiger Cats' and everyone always yells, 'go, cats' just like in the article here.
2nd point, you actually made Neil look better. I'm impressed.
Don't know if anyone here is familiar with this but it sure explains a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
Also, if I recall correctly one of the Popes (Pius X?) said "Error has no rights."
The difference between red/blue 2018/2021 are stunning.
I would like the same graph with a question that measures the trust in big companies. I guess the lines would cross!
I worry about all of the Karens in the coming months. The past 2 years has turned the caterpillar Karens into full moth Karens. It seems impossible that there is a way to de-Karen them. I am probably not using the best terminology, but I forsee a big problem once all of the wheels fall off of the Big Pharma bus.
The Neil Young thing is disappointing. Of course a lot of great rock artists have turned into curdled leftists, so not surprising. This doesn't detract from the fact he's one of the absolutely greatest rock artists ever. This is simply objectively the case. Listen to Like a Hurricane or Powderfinger -- absolute transcendent brilliance.
Will you include field studies classes, so we can observe Karens in the wild?
Have we a motto and graphic yet for our august university? go fighting badcats!! ( im having Red Dawn flashbacks, and I'm OK with that)
A name for male karens - seems appropriate. Quite a few of the Covid crazies are male. Justin would be a good name too.
Careful Gato; "Karenolgy" could soon qualify as an accredited University degree with built-in 'forgiveness' for associated 6-figure student loans. ;)
I love this so much.
misinformation is the new heresy...
LOL .. an alternative horizontal axis of the "karen curve" is the retreat to various ISMs and name calling as a sign of loosing the argument and cognitive surrender. "Karenology" seems 2 b the true "women studies" - and the very 1st of its kind worth attending among the filthy rest of harmful "soft science" studies!
The widening division is worrying
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/
Weird how acceptance of tech company censorship was much higher across the board than gov't censorship, though they amount to the same thing.
So, that R vs D chart would be more informative if it took into account the significant shift in party affiliation over this three-year period. How many "leaned" each way, when? Doesn't say. We might just be looking at a mud puddle getting muddier as it dries up.
Neil! Makes me think of the young ones
https://youtu.be/xJytqvwZR34
You make me laugh and cheer. So few things make me laugh 🙏
Thank you for such a lovely chuckle with my morning tea. I especially liked lecturer's concluding remarks/meme.
Can any kitty enrol at Gato University? I’d like to meet the fighting bad cats.
The whole vaccine-based totalitarian takeover is based on voluntary hypnosis.
The media do not present any evidence for their claims. They say follow the science - but the science says the opposite of what they claim. What people really hear is just "follow the authorities." The people want to go along, they want to follow the authorities. If they must decide things for themselves, then they are lost.
All that governments and media put forward are hollow, science-free suggestions. There's no evidence for their suggestions. There doesn't need to be, because so many people want to just believe the suggestions. To let that happen, it's not necessary to provide evidence. In fact, the evidence stands in the way.
All it takes is to silence people who would poke holes in the official suggestions. Then the channel from the hypnotist into the hypnotized is free and unimpeded. Those who are not suggestible find online places like this, and we converse in isolation. Meanwhile, those who are suggestible are mainlining suggestions straight from the hypnotist, and the hypnotist is priming them to do what's asked, even if it means voluntarily going into their grave.
Neil Young is what, 104 years old? At his advanced age he's probably actually afraid of dying of the rona. Someone should get him a nice shawl and a TV Guide.
An argument can never be successful if it never faces opposition.
Good read, Mr, Bad Kitty. Linking today @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
Love this! I've been calling the male Karen's "Betas" 🤣
Of course, a second curve needs to be added to the Karen Curve graph: The shrillness of the argument is inversely proportional to the square of Winning the Argument Based on Merit. In layman's terms this means as WABM approaches zero both the shrillness and the Desire to Censor approach infinity.