Mike Cernovich, everyone: hero of the alt-right, crusader of pizzagate, champion of gamergate, alpha male, promoter of the “gorilla mindset”, true believer in literal magic powers:
Everything I do is alchemy. That’s why I believe in magic. Not black magic, not the satanic magic that they practice in Hollywood and that the deep state practices and that the media practice. I believe in good magic, light magic, alchametic magic,Cernovich said.Alchametic magic is ‘How do I create something out of nothing purely through manifesting my will through power and light, which is value.’ That’s white magic. That’s alchametic magic.
Between him and Alex Jones, how is it that these right-wing wazoozles have any credibility at all?
They do not have any credibility, but they have a lot of followers, because there is an awful lot of wazoozles out there.
1) There is a perfectly good word “alchemical”.
2) There is no reason to change the “e” to an “a”, if you are going to go with “alchemetic” (although that seems to be the result of transcription, which in turn seems to be based on his pronunciation, so whose fault is that, anyway?).
3) The parts of alchemy that weren’t bullshit became chemistry. If you’re insisting that you’re doing “alchemy” now, there is a high probability that you are bullshitting (unless you’re being very metaphorical, and I suspect that Cernovich isn’t).
/pedantry
Strikes me how he manages to put his shoes on the right feet in the morning .
davidc1 @3:
Obviously he does it with alchemy.
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
Please, someone tell him “alchemy” is an Arabic word.
@2
unless you’re being very metaphorical, and I suspect that Cernovich isn’t
I was willing to give him some benefit of the doubt on that one. It could be a metaphorical description of how he views the creative process.
But then I clicked over and read the rest of the article. In the parts that PZ doesn’t quote he says that the reason why there are pedophiles in positions of power is because torturing children is used to power the darkest magic. It’s not because there are people out there with terrifying impulses who will work their butts off to gain enough power to be able to avoid being punished for fulfilling those impulses. Nothing so mundane. No they’re black magicians.
It’s like he’s part of a Live Action RPG that he forgot he was playing and its bled into reality. What he’s describing is a perfectly serviceable plot for a Vampire LARP, but in reality we have much more mundane (and much more horrible, IMO) explanations for why people do horrible things. Mostly it’s because they want to and they can, not because they’re fueling some ritual dark magic.
Heh. I had this up on Saturday: That Ol’ White Magic.
Ignorant deluded arseholes are ignorant deluded arseholes. And, surprise surprise, they magically wish* for there to be more ignorant deluded arseholes.
*Advertise on YouTube.
I really do suspect that they are pushing this stuff as far as they can with the intent of discovering when their listeners won’t put up with it any more, and being amazed that this isn’t happening. Sigh.
The Will to Magical Power? What would Nietzsche say?
Are there really human beings as ignorant and stupid as this guy? The answer is yes, and they’re running the country.
#9
He will lose his followers when he says something nice about a non-white male.
He’d have to believe in magic if he thought he was going to get easy question on a reddit AMA.
black is white, white is black, says the guy who would be OK with a violent purge of all the elements in society he does not like and that will not do as he wants!
uncle frogy
If an MD overheard him, he might have an embarrassing time explaining the concept of “grifter” to the hospital staff.
Owlmirror@2
I think that alchemetic would be a good term, as I find Cernovich one of the strongest emetics I’ve ever come across.
Thank you Owlmirror @2, took the words right out of my mouth. Poor Paracelsus is rolling in his grave right now.
Announcing that you do alchemy is now the one thing that will cause all chemists to simply turn their backs and walk away. We agree on no other subject, but that one.
The Arabic al-kimiya is probably derived from the older Greek khemeioa, albeit this is uncertain.
I started reading Cernovich when he first started writing, maybe ten years ago, because in those days he wrote thoughtful pieces about how the judicial system is the tool of the rich and powerful and the police need to be reined in. I have no idea what happened to him, but I stopped reading him when he published a piece about how science cannot be trusted and has done the world more harm than good. And absolutely nothing he wrote in the early days even hinted at the alt-right lunatic he has turned into. There’s a backstory here that is going to come out someday, and I’ll bet it will be a good read when it does.
@thirdmill. Maybe, maybe not. If you listen to enough “alt-right woke” stories, you’ll find they’re pretty mundane — some combination of rejecting the establishment, lingering resentment, and an “oh my God, people are listening to me” moment which, in their mind, validates their new found prejudices.
I’ve heard of these stories to know these people feel liberated when they start believing in conspiracy theories and engaging in openly racist and sexist speech, as though they have finally thrown off the shackles placed on them by the politically correct liberal establishment.
Long time reader with a brief observation: he claims to create something from nothing. Does he thinks he’s Gawd now?