{"id":8662,"date":"2017-02-07T18:51:03","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T23:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ezrasf.com\/wplog\/?p=8662"},"modified":"2019-01-02T10:25:16","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T15:25:16","slug":"gotcha-jerks-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ezrasf.com\/wplog\/2017\/02\/07\/gotcha-jerks-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Gotcha Jerks Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have not read Gotcha Jerks<\/a>, then please do first. I recently ran across The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Other Side\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Is Not Dumb<\/a> which goes further. Here is my favorite quote from it.<\/p>\n

Sharing links that mock a caricature of the Other Side isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t signaling that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re somehow more informed<\/strong>. It signals that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather be smug assholes than consider alternative views. It signals that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d much rather show our friends that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like them, than try to understand those who are not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It makes a great point that part of what makes discussion politics on social media problematic is the false-consensus bias<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0where we assume people we like\u00c2\u00a0should always\u00c2\u00a0think the same way we do because they are awesome like we are. Liking the posts of Facebook friends who state things with which we agree\u00c2\u00a0or defriending \/ unfollowing people who disagree, leads to the algorithms creating an environment for ourselves where the information coming to us drives the FCB into overdrive. If we are only seeing the stuff where we agree, then we are blind to other positions out there. Going even a leap further to knocking down Straw Men<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0certainly alienates the Other Side. They will defriend \/ unfollow us which leads to the same result.<\/p>\n

I reluctantly have culled people over their behavior during the election season. I also did not expect things to get better November 9th. In my mind, this animosity has been ever increasing since 1998, so I saw no reason for it to end. Both candidates held unfavorable numbers by majorities of likely voters, so \u00c2\u00a0whoever won would cause butthurt.<\/p>\n

Family Feud is a game show where people try to guess the common answers to a poll question. If people had no FCB, then the game would be completely pointless. People would provide fairly accurate responses leading to people only uncommonly getting answers wrong. Instead, from what I have seen of the show, it seems hard for contestants in general.<\/p>\n

Advice from The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Other Side\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Is Not Dumb<\/a> to consider:<\/p>\n

A dare for the next time you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in discussion with someone you disagree with: Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153win.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153convince\u00e2\u20ac\u009d anyone of your viewpoint. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t score points by mocking them to your peers. Instead try to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lose.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hear them out. Ask them to convince you and mean it. No one is going to tell your environmentalist friends that you merely asked follow up questions after your brother made his pro-fracking case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not long ago, it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling for a very conservative coworker to call me the only liberal he knows that he can discuss things. We disagree, but we respect\u00c2\u00a0each other enough to discuss things. I am not hurt by our disagreements. And\u00c2\u00a0as much as he tries to act radical, I suspect a lot of it is poker bluff acting.<\/p>\n

Further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n