New research in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences, from University of Kent researchers Louis Bachaud and Sarah Johns, explores how members of various manosphere communities (think Andrew Tate and his ilk) misuse research and concepts from evolutionary psychology to bolster their own misogynistic views.

  • @jeffwM
    link
    5810 months ago

    The disturbing thing to me isn’t that idiots misunderstand and misquote research, it’s that people gobble their shit up. It’s stunning how popular some of this shit is

    • Endorkend
      link
      fedilink
      5510 months ago

      They squarely target teens and young men who don’t know anything yet.

      And they overload them with smart or cool sounding bullshit at such a high rate and form networks of similar minded “influencers”, so they can cross reference each other pretending what they say has any validity.

      And as this article states, they are great at warping factual information to fit their fucked up views.

      Unsurprisingly, people like Tate are very high on the narcissism scale, these people tend to be dumb as dirt, but master manipulators and charismatic towards their target audience.

      You and me look right through that facade, but impressionable young people don’t always.

      • Flying Squid
        link
        610 months ago

        It’s really awful how many grifters and conspiracy nuts there are out there targeting children. We try to keep my daughter internet-savvy, but she’s 13 and she doesn’t quite have the tools yet, so the other night she woke us up terrified because she heard there would be another Carrington Event in 2024 and the internet will be destroyed and I had to explain to her that is something that we can’t possibly predict.

      • @Smoogs
        link
        110 months ago

        You also have some of the older people who are bitterly divorced gobbling that up for self preservation as well.

        Or the older people with APD who still have issues with how they were rejected when they were younger, focussing on the negatives and drowning in toxic thoughts already waiting to be tipped.

    • @TropicalDingdong
      link
      2510 months ago

      The disturbing thing to me isn’t that idiots misunderstand and misquote research, it’s that people gobble their shit up. It’s stunning how popular some of this shit is

      It confirms their bias.

      • Hegar
        link
        fedilink
        10
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        I tend to think the permission structure part is more important. Not everyone who is swayed into this nonsense already thinks that women are less than them, but they can see what believes that allows them to do.

  • roguetrick
    link
    fedilink
    4110 months ago

    Not new. Biotruth bros have been an idiotic scourge on the internet since Usenet I’m sure. They were widespread when I was on somethingawful I know.

    • @Fades
      link
      18
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      Most definitely. The difference is the massive uptick in connectivity for nearly everyone around the globe. These monsters can reach farther and faster than ever before relatively speaking

    • @jopepa
      link
      1210 months ago

      lol and I’m here trying to imagine how there could ever be a valid context for that.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        410 months ago

        This is only one example, but a lot of people are interested in studying top performers like Olympians etc. and what things are different about them. In studies like those, genes are relevant, as are performance results.

        • @jopepa
          link
          15
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          I see what you mean and I’m not trying to stir shit, but that’s not superior genes those are specialized genetic traits. Superior is such a loaded word, why even use it in an academic sense when there are plenty of near synonyms that don’t have that eugenics baggage?

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            410 months ago

            Because they are likely talking in context of that one activity, and it is indeed accurate to describe certain people as genetically superior in that context. Not everyone thinks about every implication of every word choice and which effect that would have on the larger society.

            • @jopepa
              link
              410 months ago

              I’d bet most people can probably think of three words for superior. If you’re in the same field that shares some unfortunate history with eugenics then it’s definitely better to be a little more intentional with specifically words like that. I’m just surprised that’s still vernacular in genetics research still is all I’m saying.

              • @MycoBro
                link
                410 months ago

                At first I wasn’t convinced but your right. They should be more sensitive to the history of it than anyone else being it’s their field.

                • @jopepa
                  link
                  210 months ago

                  Right? Not to mention more out spoken white supremacy these days and all the misquoting and misinformation that emboldens it.

          • @captainlezbian
            link
            210 months ago

            Exactly, michael Phelps is genetically superior by dolphin standards, but for the standards of calorie limited pursuit predators with high plant consumption relying on high intelligence and social skills on land, meh he’s not impressing me.

            • @jopepa
              link
              1
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              I don’t understand your point.

              • @captainlezbian
                link
                210 months ago

                Certain things that may be considered “genetically superior” in contexts of extreme outliers, especially of athletics are more optimization for certain tasks and can contain drawbacks for other tasks that our species actually evolved for.

                • @jopepa
                  link
                  210 months ago

                  I see, thanks for clarifying. Yeah it’s all subjective so neutral labeling is important to specify that. Superlatives don’t make much sense in science.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    1810 months ago

    I’m not surprised. There are few ideas more nebulous and malleable than “evolutionary psychology”. You can derive any justification for any behavior by saying that it aids your survival…

  • Endorkend
    link
    fedilink
    1210 months ago

    I’m glad that when I was the age these sick jackasses tend to target, I was listening to batshit insane David Icke and pre-far right yet still clearly nuts Alex Jones.

    How fucked is that. Having to be glad you were “only” exposed to those two when you were exiting teenhood.

  • Sybil
    link
    1110 months ago

    this headline does not read like news.

  • @Touching_Grass
    link
    810 months ago

    They use articles like this to victimize their followers as if it was am attack on all men. In their heads they’re peak males and calling them out as bullshit artists and such just emboldens their base

  • @A_A
    link
    510 months ago

    The guy looks violent and arrogant. Maybe it is not only the look (?).

    • Endorkend
      link
      fedilink
      1710 months ago

      That’s part of what makes them attractive to some of their audience.

      People like Tate are the embodiment of toxic masculinity, in Tates case, a sex trafficking jackass who beats woman for fun.

      But they also tend to be truebred narcissists, so their arrogance and violent rhetoric are all just that, noise and bravado, when push comes to shove and they have to stand up to someone their own size, they scurry away like rats.

      They mentally and physically assault vulnerable woman because they can’t handle anything else.

      Because they are such weak little asswipes, they overcompensate by being horrible to the few people weaker than them.

    • Flying Squid
      link
      410 months ago

      Tate is, in fact, both violent and arrogant. So that is why.

  • @feedum_sneedson
    link
    510 months ago

    Which one is that? If that’s Andrew Tate it looks like he’s going full radical Islamic cleric.

  • BarqsHasBite
    link
    fedilink
    English
    4
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    I was expecting to read how it was being misused by Andrew Tate et al, but they don’t actually discuss it. The headline does not match the content as far as I’m concerned. (There’s links to more, but geez.)

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      210 months ago

      I hate how common this form of outrage peddling has become in the so-called news but I guess it sells clicks.