Jai Flicker

Founder/CEO, LifeWorks Learning Center + Building Wayfinder AI

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@nickshirleyy Not defend. Protest.

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@howie_hua The equal versions would be:

HTT vs THH

Or:

TTH vs HHT

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@Legoat1322222 @timurkuran I would agree the numbers have gone up over time, but most? What’s your evidence?

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

This is a thoughtful piece, but it comes off as someone who hasn’t actually read @GadSaad. The construct of “suicidal empathy” is not merely about people being too kind. It’s about people taking part in utterly self-destructive behavior in the guise of compassion.

Saad’s framing offers explanatory power that a theory based solely on guilt or fear doesn’t. Most people engaged in the patterns alluded to don’t experience themselves as being motivated by guilt, but rather by something closer empathy. Thus, Saad’s framing does a better job of capturing the phenomenology of the patter, as it occurs to those inside it.

I also find it implausible that the term “suicidal empathy” was chosen because it was more marketable or flattering. Not only does this not fit with Saad’s character, telling someone they are “suicidal” is not going to flatter them, no matter what word comes after it.

While I would be curious to hear Saad’s own response, my guess is he would find Steele’s guilt-based explanation to be complementary to his thesis, not contradictory. After all, guilt trips only work on people whose capacity for empathy remains at least somewhat intact. Psychopaths are unaffected.

Complex social phenomena are typically multi-variate. Like the proverbial six blind sages describing different parts of the same elephant, cogent thinkers often articulate different aspects of larger patterns.

For example, @DesmetMattias convincingly argues that mass formation - which involves blind allegiance to mass movements - is largely a result of alienation. The lonely individual takes up the mantle of the group in exchange for a deeply desired sense of belonging.

Each of these takes operate at different levels and come from different vantage points. Weaving them together into a larger, more comprehensive tapestry is likely to offer greater explanatory power than insisting upon one, and only one, correct analysis.

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@ErmIDontKnow_ @0x45o Actually the black outlines are a bit different.

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@ErmIDontKnow_ @0x45o The right sides of each dress (in each box) are identically colored, but look different because of the context.

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

10. At the end of the day, being about your child isn’t a clever strategy to optimize. It's a gift. One that will be of great benefit to both of you.

End

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

The default college prep advice is backwards.

Everyone is trying to guess what admissions wants. Check the boxes, optimize the essay, perform. This orients the student toward an imagined evaluator. It's the wrong orientation entirely. 🧵

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

9. For parents: Your job is to be about your child.

It’s up to the student to find something to be about. The parent's job is to accompany their child through this process of discovery. To support them. Encourage them. Love them. To pick them back up whenever they fall.

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@KanikaBK Built this with Lovable:

https://t.co/SH15BtHTYc

Set up Claude Code earlier tonight. Just getting started. This post is perfect timing for me. Thanks you!!

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@Not_the_Bee Got you to repost it so…

[Jai Flicker @jaiflicker]

@OderintMetuant @srishticodes For sure. That’s part of the fun!