At the end of February, MIT Technology Review emitted a pithy rundown of a 34-page research paper from maths-modelling boffins at Brandeis University in the US; the paper essentially posited that in a bid to make that all-important "countercultural statement", hipsters can end up looking alike. For groovy models of how random acts by hipsters "undergo a phase transition into a synchronized state" – along with some knotty network equations – see here [PDF].
Accompanying the article was an edited stock image of a generic millennial chap in plaid shirt and standard-issue beanie, or "trendy winter attire", as Getty put it.
The MIT journal's editor-in-chief, Gideon Lichfield, took to Twitter to tell a "cautionary tale" about what followed the article going live:
"We promptly got a furious email from a man who said he was the guy in the photo that ran with the story. He accused us of slandering him, presumably by implying he was a hipster, and of using the pic without his permission. (He wasn't too complimentary about the story, either.)"
[...] Lichfield pointed out that he didn't think calling someone a hipster was "unflattering or unduly controversial" but contacted Getty to be safe.
The stock photo giant checked the model release and lo! The guy in the image wasn't even the same dude who was complaining. "He'd misidentified himself," Lichfield said.
"All of which just proves the story we ran: hipsters look so much alike that they can't even tell themselves apart from each other."
Maybe he was confused after renting this movie?
(Score: 5, Funny) by FatPhil on Friday March 08 2019, @10:53AM (28 children)
Why do I have prejudices and maintain stereotypes? Because they are either mostly true all the time, or actually true most of the time. (The ones that are actually true all of the time we call "facts".) It's a purely utilitarian simplification. Sure, induhviduals are all different, but I own a wide brush for a reason (even if I have replaced the handle several times, and the brush part even more times).
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @12:25PM (22 children)
The problem with traditional stereotypes is similar to that of (the lack of) privacy.
Even if in (not so) ancient times both worked well enough to understand what could kill you before was too late and everybody knew the whereabouts of everyother neigbour around the geographically limited environment of the town's tribe, now neither translate well to an unforgetting instantaneous global world.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @12:53PM (20 children)
Entirely untrue. Stereotypes are just as useful as they ever were. The problem some people have is in realizing they were never meant to be universal truths, just quick and dirty assumptions that you need to keep an eye on in case they don't apply this time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @06:22PM (1 child)
Not-so-entirely untrue then.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @08:35PM
That's their error, not an error in the stereotype. Much like you shouldn't have to put a "for external use only" sticker on a tractor, you should not have to explain that a stereotype is neither a fine-grained tool nor an infinitely wide brush to paint people with.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 08 2019, @07:00PM (9 children)
Stereotypes are just as useful as they ever were.
Sure, when you are using them on others.
But when people stereotype you as a racist, you don't like it very much.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @08:22PM (8 children)
That would be them failing to use them properly, yes. They're not meant for accusing individuals with. They're stating something that's true often enough that you need to be aware of it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday March 08 2019, @09:17PM (7 children)
Yes, but while TMB's point that the stereotype that all TMBs are racist is onyl mostly true, and the mistake is to take it as a universal truth which would justify in knowing that TMB is racist, when the inductive nature of stereotype formation only makes it likely that the TMB is actually racist, it is still true that TMB is probably racist. Quite the feat for a Tribal Member.
Now the point is that a stereotype can itself be wrong, even as a matter of probability, particularly when it is the result of racist presumptions. So we must be careful with claiming that they are useful and that we only need to be on the lookout for the exception that proves the rule. We need a proper categorical syllogism.
For example, someone might aver, "All conservatives are stupid". This is an over-generalization, even though it contains a certain truth. John Stuart Mill famously [wikiquote.org] corrected the inference: "While it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that all stupid people are conservative".
So, not all racists are TMB, but all TMB's are racist. Stereotype seems legit, based on posting history.
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @11:15PM (6 children)
I'm not racist anymore. I haven't watched a single one since Dale Earnhardt died.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @03:05AM (5 children)
One weird way to submit a QED.
Not that I'm saying ALL Nasscar enthusiasts are racist, but stereotypically they all are.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 09 2019, @02:52PM (2 children)
No, they all are. Race-ist. And quit trying to make a perfectly good dumb joke boring by taking it seriously.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 10 2019, @07:01PM (1 child)
Deflect all you want, my comment was obviously a play on your stupid axiom and I was throwing it in your face to see how you like it. Buncha sensitive little kiddos that like to dish it out but can't take the heat themselves.
Ah well, not surprising in the slightest.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday March 10 2019, @10:00PM
Look, it's okay to admit you didn't get the joke. We understand that some people are just stupid, have no sense of humor, or - for the very unfortunate - both.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @06:30PM (1 child)
So my black friend who has lived his whole life in the city of Detroit, and had the dream of being a NASCAR driver when he was young is a racist?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday March 10 2019, @10:01PM
No, he just wants to be. It's good to have goals.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @07:50PM (7 children)
Please, enlighten us as to how stereotypes have ever been useful? Also, how are you able to tell when the stereotype is based on statistically likely traits or when it is simply bigoted bullshit?
(Score: 4, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 08 2019, @08:15PM (1 child)
The conservative rule of stereotypes:
Stereotypes I use on others, totally fine.
Stereotypes used ON me, the root of all evil and you're a virtue signalling SJW.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @08:25PM
You realize what a fierce individualist you're talking with, yes? That kind of makes you an idiot. See above a little ways for why.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday March 08 2019, @08:31PM (4 children)
Okay, I will then. Let's go with "Black people are violent criminals" for this example. It's not true of all black people or even a majority of black people but it's true enough that it will drastically increase your life expectancy if it keeps your lilly-white ass from walking around ghettos. That's been a useful inaccuracy for white folks or anyone who looks like they might have money and be unarmed for as long as I've been around.
It doesn't mean you assume all black folks are the stereotype but being aware of the stereotype and why it exists could keep you from making a very foolish decision.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @11:47PM (1 child)
Found the racist! Oh, by the way, you ought not drive across Oklahoma after dark. Just saying.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 09 2019, @02:57PM
Well duh. They roll up the streets at sundown. You'd have to drive on cattle trails.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @03:14AM (1 child)
But you can say the exact same thing about any neighborhood with a criminal element. Thus you are a racist, probably diet racist but still.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 09 2019, @02:56PM
Yes, you can. Unfortunately poor black neighborhoods, despite much lower police presence, still have far more violent crimes committed in them. So the stereotype is still useful even between two poor neighborhoods that only differ in predominant skin color.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Friday March 08 2019, @01:00PM
Oh - the earth is flat. Or it may as well be for >99% of people >99% of the time. (Oh, I watched /Behind the Curve/ over the weekend, it was a somewhat toothless puppydog of a documentary, but still interesting because of the subject matter).
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @04:18PM (2 children)
I alway try to imply human sanity. That's why I choose to assume that the guy was making a practical joke, sometimes called trolling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @10:17PM (1 child)
That asumption is your mistake!
Only consider that the average IQ is 100 and realize how dumb most of those average humans you stumble upon everyday are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @12:29AM
IQ is a score for solving the puzzles of an IQ test. It is obvious that someone highly trained in solving puzzles will score much higher, therefore the score can not be a static measurement. I'm pretty good at seeing connections and patterns, but if you stop at the first pattern.. then that's all you see. I never question the wisdom of the crowd [wikipedia.org], but I often question the question.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @05:53PM
The definition of hipster is somebody who looks exactly like $x. So, all hipsters look exactly like $x. If they did not look like $x, they would not be a hipster. QED
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 08 2019, @07:05PM
Conservatives are fascists
Republicans are racists
Men are misogynists
Life if going to be so much easier now!
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Friday March 08 2019, @11:13AM (1 child)
Best title on this site since a long time. Thank you :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @12:27AM
Agreed, it's a fine art few get so right.
(Score: 4, Funny) by number6x on Friday March 08 2019, @03:32PM (2 children)
Old woman: "Why do you have tattoos?"
Hipster: "Tattoos are a personal expression. My tattoos make me unique."
Old woman: "But all of your friends have tattoos too."
Hipster: "Yes. I'm unique, just like everyone else."
Obligatory xkcd: https://xkcd.com/933/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by urza9814 on Friday March 08 2019, @04:24PM (1 child)
Yeah, but do they have *the same* tattoos?
I'm sure there are some people who go to the tattoo parlor and pick some random symbol that they think looks cool; but every person I've ever met with tattoos could give you a rather lengthy story to explain every single one of them, and occasionally they're even designs that the person has drawn themselves.
Shit, we've all got a face too, I guess we must be clones...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @01:28AM
The most meaningful tattoos come from Auschwitz. You don't get to pick anything about the tattoo, it is unique, and you get a lengthy story to go with it.
Drawing them yourself is how you end up like Charles Manson.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @03:58PM (3 children)
Where grifters feign their aggrievance, together with an army of useful idiot followers, in grandstanding Twittergasms for attention and free shit sent as apology.
This guy used email. Maybe he couldn't risk his twitter account and its followership getting discredited over this?
Would have been fun if more than one person had complained.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @04:34PM (2 children)
Or as another story pointed out it was simply a very close doppleganger. I have had a few onstances where people thought I was someone else, and we've all seen the "other nationality version of famous person."
Is this story amusing? Yes. Does it justify your little hate-fest? No.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 08 2019, @08:14PM (1 child)
Link to that "other story"?
Quote from this story:
This article indicates nothing about there existing some sort of resemblance between the two hipsters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 09 2019, @03:17AM
Saw it on Reddit :/ but c'mon, even without being a perfect doppleganger it would be pretty common to mistake hipsters. Such individuality, much wow.