2025-22-08: Due to a (suspected .ml) troll spamming the comment section, you'll now need to sort the comments by "Top" to see the actual comments from users on this post.
Good job everyone blocking and boycotting .ml! It's having an effect, users are noticing and MAUs on their comms are falling!
And for anyone asking "Why are we boycotting/blocking lemmy.ml?" Here's a quick recap:
Lemmy.ml is an instance run by admins who are hardcore tankies and will enforce their ideology on their instance through various means from allowing (and pushing it themselves) propaganda (Such as Russia being justified in some way to invade Ukraine) and known propaganda outlets (Like RT) to removing content on their instance critical of their favored authoritarian regimes such as Russia or China and even banning users for such speech or speech critical of them if it's off their instance (Just like the Reddit mods of ol!).
If it was just some random instance it would have been defederated from long ago like the rest of the "Tankie Triad" (Hexbear and Lemmygrad), but they've positioned lemmy.ml as the "flagship" instance and abused that position and influence to become large enough to keep other instances from defederating from them.
Which I believe is harmful to the Lemmy-verse's overall growth and outside reputation. I have seen it come up before on Reddit threads (and other testimonials from people who came back and tried it again) that "They tried Lemmy but it was a bunch of tankies and went back to Reddit"
I don't know about you, but I'd prefer Lemmy to not end up with the reputation for being "Tankie Central " or even worse "Voat 2.0".
So if you haven't joined the boycott yet, join today and help us foster a better healthier Lemmy-verse!
You can take a look around here on !meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works for documentation of it or checkout this list of curated documentation
Noteworthy Selection
Full collection list at the end
Dessalines - Head .ml admin - Head Lemmy Dev
"Slava Ukraini" is considered a "Fascist slogan" - https://lemmy.world/post/36065538
"NK is actually good, and anything counter to that is Western LIES" - https://lemmy.world/post/31595035
"The BBC is not a credible news source" - https://lemmy.world/post/35824465
Showing support for Ukraine on .ml is worthy of a site ban - https://lemmy.world/post/32775563
Open declaration of support for Russia - https://lemmy.world/post/27352415
"Don't worry guys, the Uyghur Genocide was REALLY just birth control! - https://lemmy.world/post/30580167
Censoring criticism of China while allowing fellow "in-crowd" user "concentration camps were just reeducation camps and weren't that bad" misinfo to remain - https://lemmy.world/post/26985447
Censoring when users call out propaganda - https://lemmy.world/post/32776038 | https://lemmy.world/post/33416433 | https://lemmy.world/post/34051329 | https://lemmy.world/post/35919522
Discussing winnie the pooh and/or the negatives of china is a 30 day ban - https://lemmy.world/post/35374967
Davel - .ml admin
Spreading anti-ukraine Russian propaganda - https://lemmy.world/post/34655572
General negative sentiment to other instances who haven't "seen the way" yet - https://lemmy.world/post/27426510
"See! nobody died IN Tiananmen Square, just AROUND it, so it doesn't count!!" - https://lemmy.world/post/30673342
Response to a valid report of "NK is actually good" as propaganda/misinfo https://lemmy.world/post/32627834
Removal of a credible article that was on the Uyghur genocide - https://lemmy.world/post/33205310
It's totally fine when Russia kills woman and children, war is war after all - https://lemmy.world/post/33224299
Nutomic - 2nd in command Lemmy Dev
Their continued transphobia - https://lemmy.world/post/29222558
General Tankie user behaviour
"Propaganda is good actually" - https://lemmy.world/post/36162233
"The China censorship tool isnt actually censorship! And if it is, it's actually a good thing a state has that much power!" https://lemmy.world/post/30010789
Rooting for Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war https://lemmy.world/post/29274763
Spreading Russia talking points like the Ukraine invasion just being a "negotiating tactic" https://lemmy.world/post/27012640
Biden is worse than Trump - https://lemmy.world/post/33631617
Uyghur Genocide denialism - https://lemmy.world/post/33873969
Full Collection
Evidence of bans, censorship and bias to push their 'ideology'
https://lemmy.world/post/34395059
https://lemmy.world/post/32720369
https://lemmy.world/post/32298242
https://lemmy.world/post/32471440
https://lemmy.world/post/35919522
https://lemmy.world/post/32292143
https://lemmy.world/post/35254858
https://lemmy.world/post/32222856
https://lemmy.world/post/32426343
https://lemmy.world/post/32058315
https://lemmy.world/post/35919814
https://lemmy.world/post/32775892
https://lemmy.world/post/33554899
https://lemmy.world/post/33194656
https://lemmy.world/post/34502019
https://lemmy.world/post/34502777
https://lemmy.world/post/34503244
https://lemmy.world/post/35919218
https://lemmy.world/post/36120253
https://lemmy.world/post/36120386
https://lemmy.world/post/32825174
https://lemmy.world/post/32426884
https://lemmy.world/post/32191006
https://lemmy.world/post/32720652
https://lemmy.world/post/32676095
https://lemmy.world/post/32298242
https://lemmy.world/post/32292143
https://lemmy.world/post/32221990
https://lemmy.world/post/32222278
https://lemmy.world/post/32222991
https://lemmy.world/post/32223697
https://lemmy.world/post/32224698
https://lemmy.world/post/32425984
https://lemmy.world/post/31569892
https://lemmy.world/post/31368129
https://lemmy.world/post/31329952
https://lemmy.world/post/31596159
https://lemmy.world/post/30665418
https://lemmy.world/post/30876228
https://lemmy.world/post/31090903
https://lemmy.world/post/31329952
https://lemmy.world/post/31368129
https://lemmy.world/post/29490804
https://lemmy.world/post/29507466
https://lemmy.world/post/29878102
https://lemmy.world/post/29980157
https://lemmy.world/post/28480760
https://lemmy.world/post/28481615
https://lemmy.world/post/28482147
https://lemmy.world/post/28480936
https://lemmy.world/post/28482273
https://lemmy.world/post/28481272
https://lemmy.world/post/28481064
https://lemmy.world/post/27674360
https://lemmy.world/post/27674117
https://lemmy.world/post/27673934
https://lemmy.world/post/27673724
https://lemmy.world/post/27577337
https://lemmy.world/post/27378634
https://lemmy.world/post/27346630
https://lemmy.world/post/27341283
https://lemmy.world/post/27288224
https://lemmy.world/post/27156418
https://lemmy.world/post/27054157
https://lemmy.world/post/27008261
Allowing known propaganda outlets, altered headlines and general misinfo tactics
https://lemmy.world/post/32764202
https://lemmy.world/post/32323822
https://lemmy.world/post/32283425
https://lemmy.world/post/32289824
https://lemmy.world/post/32337368
https://lemmy.world/post/30843744
https://lemmy.world/post/28275465
https://lemmy.world/post/27428838
https://lemmy.world/post/27416097
https://lemmy.world/post/27314050
https://lemmy.world/post/27288953
Update 6/1/2025 - adding additional links since original post
Update 6/14/2025 - adding additional links since last edit
Update 6/19/2025 - adding additional links since last edit
Update 6/30/2025 - adding additional links since last edit
Update 7/03/2025 - adding additional links since last edit/formatting changes
Update 7/09/2025 - adding additional links since last edit
Update 8/13/2025 - adding additional links since last edit/formatting changes
Update 9/20/2025 - adding additional links since last edit
I didn't mean to be curt or rude, I just kind of assumed the parallels were obvious.
Countless mathematical systems might be devised that are not at all interesting or useful. Some, maybe just a few, might be really useful. But the vast majority will inevitably be nonsensical, contradictory, useless, etc.
Some people might claim that 2+2=5. Maybe most people will assert ridiculous crap like "the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is exactly 3". Does that imply that mathematical claims are purely nonsensical meaningless feelings?
Is logical/mathematical intuition the same kind of feeling?
Let's keep it simple and consider the value of these systems to be purely in their practical usefulness. The systems in which "2+2=4" consistently prove more useful, so there's a clear reason to prefer those.
Are there no moral assertions that consistently prove more useful than their negations? Is it not substantionally more useful to assume that "murdering your children for fun is wrong" than to assume the opposite?
Often times mathematical discoveries are the result of some sort of logical leap, a feeling that there is some kind of underlying, unifying pattern. Is this intuitive feeling so different from the one that leads you to conclude that it is wrong to murder your children for fun?
This is not to say that that intuition is generally correct, whether it be mathematical or moral. And it would be wise to seek confirmation or proof.
And of course most peoples' intuition is wrong on a variety of topics, from probability to justice.
Most people would get the Monty Hall problem wrong. Most people would give a nonsensical account of morality. I think we can agree the first case is simply a matter of education and investigation.
If people were given sufficient means and opportunity, I think they'd achieve consensus on the underlying principles of probability. Can you imagine a future in which people might achieve consensus on principles of morality?
Right, because math has reference to reality, so some mathematical systems are worthless or, for the purpose of practical application, false, and some are valuable and help us to determine real things.
I can't rule out these being grouped together, but I think that logical intuition is much more innate. Regardless, the same kind of feeling as what? As a mathematical system hypothetically would be (based on how you mischaracterized me above)? I think that's an opaque psychological question and I don't see it as especially relevant.
No, of course not. I wouldn't describe them as feelings in the first place, but beyond that I wouldn't call them meaningless because we can observe the utility of using math to solve practical problems.
Right
If we need to tell children that Santa is watching them in order to get them to behave, then we can call that useful, but that does not thereby make Santa real as anything but an arbitrary social construct. Likewise, "good" and "bad" aren't made real beyond their existence as arbitrary social constructions by the fact that you can make useful social norms using those concepts.
Yes, it is different, because you can work backward from a correct logical leap (or forward with the new aim in mind, depending) and have an actual proof of this idea being correct. You cannot do this with moral intuition, you just have your feeling and it can never advance beyond that in terms of establishing the reality of your belief.
It's possible for there to be moral consensus in the future, but it would have nothing to do with a process similar to consensus in math, it would be basically the same as a consensus in aesthetic sensibilities, but with governments having a much stronger incentive to promote it. I can't really say how likely or unlikely it is, though I am inclined to say that there will probably never be a positive consensus because I believe the negative position -- that morality is imaginary and other things should inform our actions -- is the much more useful position. I'm not saying everyone will agree with me, there probably won't be a negative consensus either, I just think it's more likely than a positive consensus.
If you look back on the comment I made to the other person, you'll notice that I said that politics as people commonly think of it needs to be separated into political (moral) values and political-economic analysis of real systems. I believe that one of the greatest strengths of Marxism as a political theory is that it rejects moral values and argues in terms of material benefit and personal agency on the basis that they are things people subjectively desire as a product of the way people are (the dreaded "human nature"), with this being a necessary element in the class conflict that has driven history. I want a society that is oriented toward human flourishing, and I think it's much more realistic to make the argument that socialism can benefit people materially and help them to have agency in their life rather than tell them that this or that thing is "good" or "bad," whatever those terms even mean, because they can arbitrarily reject that such a thing is true and there's nothing to prevent them from doing so. With Marxism's claims about reality, it is there own desire to benefit that would prevent it.
It reminds me of why Geoff Waite said "Nietzsche is the only position outside of socialism," because it's perfectly possible and indeed appealing to some people to take up a highly aesthetic form of ethics that rejects these ideas of material benefit and turns one's life into an art performance for the sake of a subjective sense of personal satisfaction, even if it is immensely harmful even to themselves from our perspective. Morally, there is nothing you can say to this person, because they've chosen their moral system and it's just different from yours. If you can make an appeal, I think the only option actually is Marxism (which would make this sort of a rejection of Waite's thesis), by trying to reason with them that their attitude is pathological and they can be happier if they embrace materialist analysis and pro-sociality. Ultimately though, and this is why I'm bringing this up, you can't really tell them they are wrong because values have no independent reality, believing in natural rights is not comparable to believing in the sun, the only thing that you can do is appeal to their subjective sensibilities -- the same general paradigm that got them in this mess -- and give them something that appeals to them more.