Skip to content
By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use. We and our partners operate globally and use cookies, including for analytics, personalisation, and ads.
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

Tweets

  • © 2020 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Imprint
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Trying to represent and perform identity in your pursuit of interests and curiosities is a bit like trying to have a full conversation with a cat, like it understands human language. Nature might respond somewhat to aspects of identity but the performance is largely lost on it.

      1 reply 6 retweets 20 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      I think this is the deepest intellectual weakness of identitarianism. It forgoes genuine curiosity and general interestedness in the universe for a never-break-character identity performance that only works on other humans.

      2 replies 5 retweets 21 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      I don’t think I have any strongly gendered or ethnic or racialized interests. The closest I come is probably vegetarianism/veganism, which has identity roots, and strongly modulates my food related curiosities and interests.

      2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Venkatesh Rao

      I suspect when an identitarian viewpoint actually produces interesting, curiosity-provoking ideas, it does so by breaking out of the original category. For example, feminism and temporality.https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1137754915680374791?s=21 …

      Venkatesh Rao added,

      Venkatesh Rao @vgr
      I don’t know much about feminism, but the “waves” model seems clumsy for describing at least the development of the philosophy. Perhaps it works for the politics. The philosophy seems to have developed more like parallel lineages with continuity of ideas across generations.
      Show this thread
      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      “World viewed from X POV for the sake of viewing it from X POV” will never be interesting to intellectually alive thinkers even in group X. But if X morphs into a weird filter of general interest, then everybody gets interested, X or not X.

      1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes
      Show this thread
    6. Britt Crawford‏ @britt 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @vgr

      World viewed from X POV, where I am a member of group Y is interesting to me. As a straight white dude much of my identity is implicit. The culture is shaped around it so it’s invisible. Seeing it from another’s identity which must be more explicitly defined is interesting.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @britt

      Not if Y is performing their identity 100% in generating that work. My assertion is that performance is a curiosity/interest blinding force. It’s only interesting if it is interested, ie if Y can break out of Y mode to look at world in ways X may not.

      2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
    8. Britt Crawford‏ @britt 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @vgr

      Ok I think I’ve sorted it out, and I think we agree. I was not disagreeing just trying to say that if you are investigating identity it can be revealing to observe pure identity performers. Especially if you are of the unnamed class.

      2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
    9. Britt Crawford‏ @britt 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @britt @vgr

      Other identity groups have more explicit and legible definitions. Those definitions are often created in response to the default cultural identity. The default identity is assumed and implicit. So you can learn about the default identity by examining other groups.

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @britt

      Yeah, sure. I experience that in India as a Brahmin male. I don't think the universal subject position is actually as unique or different from others as critical theorists make it seem. It is often the difference between view from exact top of a mountain, vs shoulder just below.

      11:52 AM - 9 Jun 2019
      3 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr @britt

          The thing is that for any specific individual, the theoretical featureless universal subject position is contaminated by invisible minor identity variables, like say height or health condition or financial. There is no pure example of being on the top of the mountain.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr @britt

          Or in Jungian terms, there is no such thing as 0% self, 100% shadow. Once you get away from that singularity position, it all becomes a matter of degree. For eg. I think I'm closer to a featureless person than half the white guys I meet, despite being nominally non-null identity.

          0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
        4. End of conversation
        1. New conversation
        2. Britt Crawford‏ @britt 9 Jun 2019
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          I wonder about that. The concept of the universal subject is very WEIRD. It seems to be that it assumes a homogenous culture with few niches/classes. I bet it expresses differently when the number and type of identity relations changes.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 9 Jun 2019
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @britt

          WEIRD is just bad statistical sampling methodology for the most part. I don't think it has any mystically deep philosophically flaws from being a sample at the top of the mountain so to speak. You'd get different kinds of weird with other narrow samplings.

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        4. Show replies
        1. Britt Crawford‏ @britt 9 Jun 2019
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          A critical analysis of medieval Muslim trade empires would probably produce different sorts of relations.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
          Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
          Undo

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2020 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Imprint
        • Cookies
        • Ads info