Well, this has been bugging me for a while so I'd like to start a discussion on this. It's about two things I've noticed in my nine years here.
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First:
Whenever there's a discussion about woo stuff -- UFOs, homeopathy, reflexology, conspiracy theories, ghosts, gods, etc. -- we're quick to point out the nonsense, asking for evidence, doing the math, checking the sources, etc. And a lot of posters are really good at this. The general impression I get from those sections of the forum is that the level of knowledge and rationality of the population of this forum is heads and shoulders above the norm.
However, when we get to politics or social issues, suddenly we're unable to do this. Most of us, myself included, tend to go with one side of the argument, call other people liars and idiots and ignorants, and proceed from our own biases and feelings, evidence and reason be damned.
So, are we really skeptics ? I mean, calling a UFOlogist on their nonsense is easy. It's easy to be incredulous of the incredible. Why, then, do we fail to do the same about the stuff that really matters: real life ?
Discuss !
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Second:
This one stems from the first.
People used to call me opinionated, so I'm trying more and more to see both sides of an argument and understand the full situation. Again, in woo topics that's easy. But when you get to political and social issues, this gets me in a world of trouble. I get accused by both sides of being on the other side, of being dishonest, of playing devil's advocate, or worse.
Do we really have so much trouble seeing nuances in arguments and issues ? The US gun issue is one instance of such impossible topics, where you can't call both sides on their respective (perceived) errors without getting lashed out at. Neither side will budge, and there's a definite us-vs-them mentality, which depresses me, considering the forum I'm on.
So what gives ? :(
----
First:
Whenever there's a discussion about woo stuff -- UFOs, homeopathy, reflexology, conspiracy theories, ghosts, gods, etc. -- we're quick to point out the nonsense, asking for evidence, doing the math, checking the sources, etc. And a lot of posters are really good at this. The general impression I get from those sections of the forum is that the level of knowledge and rationality of the population of this forum is heads and shoulders above the norm.
However, when we get to politics or social issues, suddenly we're unable to do this. Most of us, myself included, tend to go with one side of the argument, call other people liars and idiots and ignorants, and proceed from our own biases and feelings, evidence and reason be damned.
So, are we really skeptics ? I mean, calling a UFOlogist on their nonsense is easy. It's easy to be incredulous of the incredible. Why, then, do we fail to do the same about the stuff that really matters: real life ?
Discuss !
----
Second:
This one stems from the first.
People used to call me opinionated, so I'm trying more and more to see both sides of an argument and understand the full situation. Again, in woo topics that's easy. But when you get to political and social issues, this gets me in a world of trouble. I get accused by both sides of being on the other side, of being dishonest, of playing devil's advocate, or worse.
Do we really have so much trouble seeing nuances in arguments and issues ? The US gun issue is one instance of such impossible topics, where you can't call both sides on their respective (perceived) errors without getting lashed out at. Neither side will budge, and there's a definite us-vs-them mentality, which depresses me, considering the forum I'm on.
So what gives ? :(
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