Only to be told we have been bumped from The University Plaza to the Holiday Inn because the event hotel is overbooked. It is 2:00 AM local time here, and Aron is still fussing over his speech about Pterosaurs for tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Normally freethinking events are a respite for me from problems that come with being an Atheist Texan.
But this time, I feel a little bit of dread. Admittedly, PZ had more reason to feel dread with people threatening a walkout of his speech. The reason is I’ve gotten so many hateful youtube comments from anti-feminist atheists on the discussion I did about rape culture. I feel a little anxious that I might run into someone like that here.
Every year, Skepticon has been a welcoming haven to me, so the anxiety is probably misplaced. I always try so hard to be decent to people nearly to a fault, so I am a bit flummoxed by hostility. Even from people I know are going to be hostile like Ken Ham. Hostility within the community that has always been a safe haven to me is much harder to get a handle on.
Relax. The assholes of the internet are so noisy it makes you think there are more of them than there really are. Skepticon is still a haven.
Also, you’re lucky to have been bumped from this hotel. They have no hot water! You’ll be able to spot all the UP attendees by their funk.
Agreed, and the ones who DO show their faces are usually chickenshit and won’t actually say anything in person. That’s the mentality you’re dealing with. I enjoy your work, Lilandra, and most of the community does as well.
I hope the haters don’t spoil your fun. You deserve to relax and enjoy the con.
At least you have hot water to get into.
The room has been taken care of. It will be nice to be able to have breakfast tomorrow with everyone. So far, everyone has been as supportive as always. Someone even came to me to express sympathy.
That’s good to hear. It’s bad enough to put up with bullshit from outside. We don’t need a-holes inside as well. We need people to bring our garbage out into the open and put it away.
Thank you.
Hi lilandra,
I can never quite make these Skepticon and Humanist/Atheist conference get togethers, but as long as the speakers are documented on video, vicariously I, too, can take part. Chances are I shall never give a speech or talk with a live audience before me, or be at the conference as a member of the audience…hmmmm… (talk about something from nothing, where is the ‘audience’ after everyone goes away?These conferences when all are gathered, pftf, an “audience” is ‘created’ with no individual creator.)same for a crowd, I suppose.and though I’m no journalist, I try to be think clearly and put it down on paper.
lilandra, perhaps you’ve noticed the more caring and empathetic a person is, the more they fret and feel an inner turmoil over hurting others unintentionally. You seem to be a very kind and caring person and these folks who use their logic and reasoning to take apart what they think is the other persons view, these Strawmen creators, truly miss the point. Anti-Feminists and Forced-Birthers I just don’t get, cuz’ how could a human being oppose egalitarianism, or the freedom of a woman’s personal privacy to make decisions for and about her life?
I never got into the RWatson Elevator thing, how could anyone, really? She voiced her concern and became a target for many wackos vitriolic blather, when really we(as a group) should have held out empathy for her situation. Often it was supposedly reasoned, logical arguments people thought they were engaging in, but really it was disrespect and dismissal, where love and concern should have been. Sadly from there twists and turns to RWatson’s personal life gave flight to some really hateful folks who said terrible vindictive things, people who didn’t even know her personally(for the record, I don’t know her, but Pre-Elevator I discovered her webdsite and lurked absorbing differing views and discussions) and they claimed they were atheists(I wonder, did they ever feel the condemnation from therir church families and friends?)
My point is logic and reasoning come after our projecting onto ourselves the others persona as closely as possible as our abilities can and if they are suffering we try to help them. Where were the folks who cared about others and who look to make the world better for all, discussing strawmen somewhere disconnected from their feelings for others?
Rape culture is real when people see rape as not so important and prefers to downplay it and discuss the false accusations as if they’re more important than the suffering of the actual victims. The crime stats are real, but are based only on reports that are given, but many times the female doesn’t rreport it, or even their uneasiness at events where it could take place(I say female cuz’ they are the majority of those sexually assaulted, or ending in full blown rapes).
Just remember, lilandra, though a bit of a cliche, “the people that mind don’t matter and the people that matter don’t mind.”
Thanks to the people, who gave encouragement. Greta Cristina gave a talk at Skepticon about Activist Burnout. When she asked people in the audience to raise their hands if they had experienced some of the symptoms of burnout about half the audience raised their hands.
I think that is a good reason to go to gatherings to recharge and reconnect and hang out with great people. Even for an introvert like me.