Personalities in the Gaming Industry and Politics

[JacktheRabbit]

Or maybe the well-educated are better at finding facts/data/statistics/evidence that matches and reinforces their world view? Dunno, just playing devil's advocate here...

Give me 15 minutes and the internet and I can find "facts/data/statistics/evidence" to support any arguement from any side.

 

[Belen]

Isn't that hypocrisy? If you have a problem with rants and inflammatory statments, enough to boycott, shouldn't that apply to ALL rants and inflammatory statements?.

Not really. I tend to be an equal opportunity person. If someone makes rants no matter what side of the spectrum, then they get ignored. Like I said, only a very small number have made it to my list. In fact, only 3.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

But the problem isn't so much insults as it is that everyone now has been given permission to respond to slight mistakes as if they were the worst most vile hateful thought.

Thanks, I think you said what I was trying to say a little better than I did...

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Not really. I tend to be an equal opportunity person. If someone makes rants no matter what side of the spectrum, then they get ignored. Like I said, only a very small number have made it to my list. In fact, only 3.

And you just are loving the fact that you have not named those 3 arent you?

 

[GMSkarka]

*Snickers* You do have amazingly thick skin, sir! I think I would have freaked out if someone had essentially called me a Nazi to my face.

I've been working in this industry since 1988, and online in public fora since the beginning.

I've had gamers call me everything under the sun, make brutal hateful attacks on me about my divorce, threaten my children, and engage in real-world stalking. (and no, I'm not kidding).

Having somebody insinuate that I'm a Nazi (or, rather, as I read it, attempt to corner me into appearing that way) is NOTHING. Water off a ducks' back.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Or maybe the well-educated are better at finding facts/data/statistics/evidence that matches and reinforces their world view? Dunno, just playing devil's advocate here...

Maybe so. But doesn't that still mean that the less well-educated are forming and expressing their opinions without finding or formulating such "facts/data/statistics/evidence"?

 

[nothing to see here]

Absolutely it's difficult for everyone. But the difference is that educated people have the tools to think objectively, abstractly, and logically about their "quirks, knee-jerks, assumptions, [and] opinions."

For example, take progressive taxation. Understanding progressive taxation as it affects me is simple. Understanding progressive taxation as it affects people like me is only slightly harder. But there can be no real objective understanding of progressive taxation without understanding concepts like, but not limited to, what John Rawls' called "the veil of ignorance."

There are plenty of people who stand for and against progressive taxation without understanding the veil of ignorance, but their understanding of it is either subjective or simplistic, no matter which side they're on. They do not have the tools to truly understand their own position, and thus they are not equipped to support it, to refute the opposing position, or to recognize if and when they're wrong and think about exactly how and why they're wrong. If one is unable to do that, it is much, much less likely that one will change his mind on a subject. And even when one does change his mind on a subject, his new opinion is going to be worth about as much as his old one.

It has become fashionable to claim that all opinions merit equal respect, but it is simply not true. The opinion that is grounded in objectivity and logic is superior to one that is grounded in emotion and subjectivity, at least insofar as the consequences of the opinion in question, as social policy, affects others, like him and unlike him. (In other words, someone's emotional attachment to Mandy Moore and thus his opinion that Mandy Moore is a better singer than Billie Holiday was doesn't really matter.) The only thing sacred about opinions is that everyone has the right to hold and express them; that right of equal expression does not translate to equal value.

A good read. I don't agree, but I like the line of reasoning. This would be a great post for a great debate...if only a different time and place.

Qualifying somebodies views on the basis of their level of education or attention to the issues, sounds great, but is inherent undemocratic.

Democracy is all about having the right to be wrong. If my friend Bobby Joe refuses to vote for any candidate with the letter 'E' in his name, his vote should (and must) be equally legitimate to mine, even if I base my votes on a complex comparative analysis of different candidate's economic platforms.

 

[Belen]

And you just are loving the fact that you have not named those 3 arent you?

Naw...there is no reason to name names. That really would start down the thread closing path here at ENWorld.

Suffice it to say, I am not worried about my really affecting the movie industry, just that I do not think I would enjoy a movie with those three involved. Actually, they do tend to make bad movies, in general, so that is another major draw in my not going to see their flicks.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Maybe so. But doesn't that still mean that the less well-educated are forming and expressing their opinions without finding or formulating such "facts/data/statistics/evidence"?

For what it's worth, polling suggests the more educated you are, the less likely you are to be a swing voter.

And, no, I don't have a link or whatever to support that. It's something I read sometime last October or so. I completely forget where.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I've been working in this industry since 1988, and online in public fora since the beginning.

I've had gamers call me everything under the sun, make brutal hateful attacks on me about my divorce, threaten my children, and engage in real-world stalking. (and no, I'm not kidding).

Having somebody insinuate that I'm a Nazi (or, rather, as I read it, attempt to corner me into appearing that way) is NOTHING. Water off a ducks' back.

Nope was not trying to call you a nazi. Just wondering how far you would take your stance that if you like something enough you dont care what kind of person the creater happens to be. I have a rather short line, cross over it and I will find another product. Your line appears to be much longer than mine.

Like I said earlier, neither way is the right or wrong way to live ones life. You can seperate a person from the product and enjoy one without thinking about the other. I cannot. To a small degree I envy you for that.