I think it’s undeniable there are a lot of very stupid people, and many of them are loud gamers.
One of the problems is humans are social creatures. Facts don’t change minds. In-group pressure changes minds. (And sometimes horrific trauma, but only sometimes*). The typical person, confronted with an idea that contradicts a non-trivial belief, will evaluate primarily if the person presenting the belief is in-group. The same kind of message delivered by different people has very different outcomes.
With the Internet, idiots and assholes can find their own social groups to reinforce their shitty beliefs.
If we want to fix this, we’d have to do the long, expensive, and thankless work of getting them to see us as in-group, and getting them to then adopt better ideas. Incidentally, that’s how the right wing has been operating.
Laughing at them for being fucking morons is satisfying, but it’s like picking at a scab. It’s not going to heal.
I think it’s undeniable there are a lot of very stupid people, and many of them are loud gamers.
One of the problems is humans are social creatures. Facts don’t change minds. In-group pressure changes minds. (And sometimes horrific trauma, but only sometimes*). The typical person, confronted with an idea that contradicts a non-trivial belief, will evaluate primarily if the person presenting the belief is in-group. The same kind of message delivered by different people has very different outcomes.
With the Internet, idiots and assholes can find their own social groups to reinforce their shitty beliefs.
If we want to fix this, we’d have to do the long, expensive, and thankless work of getting them to see us as in-group, and getting them to then adopt better ideas. Incidentally, that’s how the right wing has been operating.
Laughing at them for being fucking morons is satisfying, but it’s like picking at a scab. It’s not going to heal.
I’d rather have my body covered in scabs than have to be friends with people like them.
Fuck, I’d volunteer for a nudist motorcycle race. I can’t even ride a bike.