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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8703979" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of thing Facebook wants. Because intense statements drive interaction. The more you interact, the more money they make. Refreshing to see new comments. Responding with outrage (or trying to calm the situation.) Getting drawn in like you're watching a trainwreck--don't want to stare, but you can't look away.</p><p></p><p>This is the problem of the modern internet mediasystem. It does not thrive on promoting content or discourse. It thrives on promoting <em>outrage</em> and <em>shock</em>. That's why clickbait and fake thumbnails are everywhere. Why incredibly dangerous "hacks" are totally fine on YouTube even though dangerous pranks aren't. Etc., etc., etc. Realistically, the hobby almost certainly <em>has</em> gotten better. We're certainly less misogynistic overall than we used to be. The problem is that the internet--and Facebook <em>especially</em>--magnifies and prioritizes the ends of the bell curve.</p><p></p><p>We are cognitively aware that there are ~330 million United States residents and approaching 8 billion humans overall. We <em>cognitively</em> understand that this means that the worst 0.01% of Americans are, by definition, ~33,000 people, a number large enough that most of us can't really <em>imagine</em> it as an actual standing group of people. But we do not <em>intuitively</em> understand that this must mean that, in a space driven by shock and outrage and extreme views (because those things generate interaction, which generates advertising money), that must mean that we will eventually run into one of those 33,000 people.</p><p></p><p>Instead, our intuitive understanding, which can only hold a few hundred people in it at maximum, sees this person being the absolute dirt worst, and we think "oh God, our community must be HORRIBLE if we have someone like THIS in it..." It's not. It never really has been. We are just, finally, having the dirty laundry exposed, the dirty laundry that was <em>always there</em>, we just couldn't see it because it was beyond our local experience horizon.</p><p></p><p>This is one of the paradoxes of modern growth. The very things which enable us to improve and make people-in-general better-educated and kinder are also the tools that force us to see just how <em>bad</em> humanity can get. We have to stand strong in our commitment, have to anchor our pride not in intuitions (which so readily deceive us) but in facts, which are often of little comfort, but far more durable.</p><p></p><p>There is more support, more love, more openness in our hobby than ever. As much as I may criticize 5e's rules, I recognize that it has put in legitimate effort, some of it (mildly) risky from a publishing standpoint, to improve inclusion. Those efforts have been far from perfect, but they are a tangible sign of change. You would not have seen recognition of transgender identities in 2000. They're canonical in 5e, and there was no massive fan revolt against it. That's progress, however small it might be.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8703979, member: 6790260"] Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of thing Facebook wants. Because intense statements drive interaction. The more you interact, the more money they make. Refreshing to see new comments. Responding with outrage (or trying to calm the situation.) Getting drawn in like you're watching a trainwreck--don't want to stare, but you can't look away. This is the problem of the modern internet mediasystem. It does not thrive on promoting content or discourse. It thrives on promoting [I]outrage[/I] and [I]shock[/I]. That's why clickbait and fake thumbnails are everywhere. Why incredibly dangerous "hacks" are totally fine on YouTube even though dangerous pranks aren't. Etc., etc., etc. Realistically, the hobby almost certainly [I]has[/I] gotten better. We're certainly less misogynistic overall than we used to be. The problem is that the internet--and Facebook [I]especially[/I]--magnifies and prioritizes the ends of the bell curve. We are cognitively aware that there are ~330 million United States residents and approaching 8 billion humans overall. We [I]cognitively[/I] understand that this means that the worst 0.01% of Americans are, by definition, ~33,000 people, a number large enough that most of us can't really [I]imagine[/I] it as an actual standing group of people. But we do not [I]intuitively[/I] understand that this must mean that, in a space driven by shock and outrage and extreme views (because those things generate interaction, which generates advertising money), that must mean that we will eventually run into one of those 33,000 people. Instead, our intuitive understanding, which can only hold a few hundred people in it at maximum, sees this person being the absolute dirt worst, and we think "oh God, our community must be HORRIBLE if we have someone like THIS in it..." It's not. It never really has been. We are just, finally, having the dirty laundry exposed, the dirty laundry that was [I]always there[/I], we just couldn't see it because it was beyond our local experience horizon. This is one of the paradoxes of modern growth. The very things which enable us to improve and make people-in-general better-educated and kinder are also the tools that force us to see just how [I]bad[/I] humanity can get. We have to stand strong in our commitment, have to anchor our pride not in intuitions (which so readily deceive us) but in facts, which are often of little comfort, but far more durable. There is more support, more love, more openness in our hobby than ever. As much as I may criticize 5e's rules, I recognize that it has put in legitimate effort, some of it (mildly) risky from a publishing standpoint, to improve inclusion. Those efforts have been far from perfect, but they are a tangible sign of change. You would not have seen recognition of transgender identities in 2000. They're canonical in 5e, and there was no massive fan revolt against it. That's progress, however small it might be. [/QUOTE]
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