The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[embee]

There was a study a few years ago that showed that when people of different political ideologies actually got a chance to talk with each other online and took their time to explain their reasoning... it actually strengthened each person's belief in their own side.

I feel like I fall into this trap too. "If I explain my ideas clearly, THIS time the logic will be too strong for them to disagree with!"

And it... never works!

Are Randos On Twitter Dumber Than A Hamster?

The data say yes.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

There was a study a few years ago that showed that when people of different political ideologies actually got a chance to talk with each other online and took their time to explain their reasoning... it actually strengthened each person's belief in their own side.

I feel like I fall into this trap too. "If I explain my ideas clearly, THIS time the logic will be too strong for them to disagree with!"

And it... never works!

When people are invested in something, whether it's an ideology, a sports team, or Druids wearing (or not wearing) metal armor, there is a great difficulty in seeing the worth of any other position.

Weirdly, I generally don't get too bothered about people being wrong; after all, other people are not me, and therefore I assume that they are wrong!

Instead, it's certain tropes that come up that ... get under my skin.

 

[turnip_farmer]

Ugh. Every single time I think I've learned that lesson, I realize that ... I haven't. The gulf between understanding the right thing to do and practicing that is inevitable. Not to mention we all carry with us the stressors of what is going on in our own lives, and it is easier to be forgiving on ourselves than on others that we do not know.

Ah well, no-one's perfect. If you pay close attention you may notice I don't always succeed in maintaining my equanimity here.

I really trying these days, though, to stick to the principle of ignoring threads where the only comment I want to make is 'Who cares? What's wrong with you people?'

 

[Umbran]

... it is easier to be forgiving on ourselves than on others that we do not know.

Indeed. There's an outright neurological element here - when judging the value/ethical/moral status of actions, humans use physically different areas of the brain to judge themselves, and judge others. We literally and physically think about ourselves differently.

On top of this, emotional responses are fast, and reasoned ones are slow. If one doesn't physically pause between reading a thing, and writing a response, the response is apt to be dominated by the emotional take, which... well, isn't great. That's where the ego we attach to our positions lives...

There was a study a few years ago that showed that when people of different political ideologies actually got a chance to talk with each other online and took their time to explain their reasoning... it actually strengthened each person's belief in their own side.

That's because "explaining reasoning" is not the path to being persuasive. If two people sit down to explain their own reasoning, without each having a goal to understand where the other person is coming from, the reasoning presented will fall afoul of the emotional responses above.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Indeed. There's an outright neurological element here - when judging the value/ethical/moral status of actions, humans use physically different areas of the brain to judge themselves, and judge others. We literally and physically think about ourselves differently.

On top of this, emotional responses are fact, and reasoned ones are slow. If one doesn't physically pause between reading a thing, and writing a response, the response is apt to be dominated by the emotional take, which... well, isn't great. That's where the ego we attach to our positions lives...



That's because "explaining reasoning" is not the path to being persuasive. If two people sit down to explain their own reasoning, without each having a goal to understand where the other person is coming from, the reasoning presented will fall afoul of the emotional responses above.

I bet this gets thrown off on the internet, too, because typed words are so difficult to read emotion through. If I respond to your post with "Of course!" you could read it as confirming ("I agree!"), revelatory ("I didn't think of that!"), or sarcastic ("No duh!").

So when I'm arguing with someone online, I'm sure my subconscious supplies whatever emotion to their posts that works best for me. Because of that, it often FEELS like I can sway their opinion, even if logically I know it's not likely to happen.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I can't even count anymore the number of threads I started to reply to and then didn't, because while my post would be inside the site's rules, some of it would be so close to pushing the rules about religion or politics, that there would be no way anyone could make a real response without taking things over the line and either getting warnings for people or the thread closed. Sometimes it is too hard here to make a post that is inclusive and fair and all the other good stuff we should all believe and practice, without the post also calling out the oppressive thoughts and beliefs of the other side.

 

[darjr]

I didn’t post! I pass the test! I will diminish and pass into the west.

 

[Cadence]

Is that from the thread where Silver chastised a virologist for stealing his Twitter take when, in fact, the virologist was responding to another virologist about that virologists medical research?

It was a standalone. Checking back to July 14 now, there was a retweet the day before about the economy (no tweets) and nothing two days before. That day there was a tweet that was something about poker. The first two the next day were about the R value, and humidity.

 

[J.Quondam]

I wanted to make a comment here, but thought better of it.
Is there a "I didn't comment in the 'The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread' thread" anywhere so I can post it over there?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I wanted to make a comment here, but thought better of it.
Is there a "I didn't comment in the 'The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread' thread" anywhere so I can post it over there?

The last five people we had asked to set up the Godel Incompleteness Theorem Thread (it's to the left of the ouroboros thread, northeast of the 'who shall guard the guards' comment) ended up like this-