4 ms·

That again ignores that these people are operating inside a system, not in a vacuum. If you want to assign blame, fine, but don't confuse that with problem-solv

That again ignores that these people are operating inside a system, not in a vacuum. If you want to assign blame, fine, but don't confuse that with problem-solving. The blame game will not make American democracy functional again, it'll make it even worse.

mikeash 10y ago
When you point at techies as the cause, are you problem-solving, or playing the blame game? Sure looks like the latter to me. Edit: I get it. This doesn't help. The thing is, I don't know how to fix it. It looks like we're just fucked. I'm thinking and trying to come up with a fix but it's not working yet. And in the mean time, when someone tries to blame me for this mess I didn't cause and argued against, I'm going to push back.
- crispinb 10y ago
  Hmm. There's enough despair around and if my sharp wording added to it in your case I apologise. We're all bleeding and I need a longer posting delay. The causes of this mess are so widely distributed, finger-pointing is pointless (except von Clownstick -- I will not use his brand name -- and his crazed apparachniks who need blame aplenty)
- concinds 10y ago
  For the record I never blamed "techies". It's simple: political discourse is dysfunctional (in the sense: conflict-laden, and the conflicts don't get resolved effectively; that's all dysfunctional means). The best way to improve democracy is for each to improve the way they communicate. 2 necessary skills, that everybody can improve, are: - empathic listening (always using the most generous interpretation of the other person's argument, and then walking back from there to your own opinion, to find common ground) - problem-solving (look at the big picture, find the problem, and think of a good solution) > And in the mean time, when someone tries to blame me for this mess I didn't cause and argued against, I'm going to push back. There's nothing to push back against. This is just political conflict, and it's resolved the same way as any other conflict. If someone calls you crazy, and you reply: "well clearly I'm not crazy!" you may feel right but it's not effective communication.
- grzm 10y ago
  I understand and personally feel the same frustration. A few resources that have helped/are helping me: - Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion - Rapoport's Rules: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapo... - The Principle of Charity: http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html

mikeash 10y ago

When you point at techies as the cause, are you problem-solving, or playing the blame game? Sure looks like the latter to me. Edit: I get it. This doesn't help. The thing is, I don't know how to fix it. It looks like we're just fucked. I'm thinking and trying to come up with a fix but it's not working yet. And in the mean time, when someone tries to blame me for this mess I didn't cause and argued against, I'm going to push back.

crispinb 10y ago
Hmm. There's enough despair around and if my sharp wording added to it in your case I apologise. We're all bleeding and I need a longer posting delay. The causes of this mess are so widely distributed, finger-pointing is pointless (except von Clownstick -- I will not use his brand name -- and his crazed apparachniks who need blame aplenty)
concinds 10y ago
For the record I never blamed "techies". It's simple: political discourse is dysfunctional (in the sense: conflict-laden, and the conflicts don't get resolved effectively; that's all dysfunctional means). The best way to improve democracy is for each to improve the way they communicate. 2 necessary skills, that everybody can improve, are: - empathic listening (always using the most generous interpretation of the other person's argument, and then walking back from there to your own opinion, to find common ground) - problem-solving (look at the big picture, find the problem, and think of a good solution) > And in the mean time, when someone tries to blame me for this mess I didn't cause and argued against, I'm going to push back. There's nothing to push back against. This is just political conflict, and it's resolved the same way as any other conflict. If someone calls you crazy, and you reply: "well clearly I'm not crazy!" you may feel right but it's not effective communication.
grzm 10y ago
I understand and personally feel the same frustration. A few resources that have helped/are helping me: - Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion - Rapoport's Rules: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism/ https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapo... - The Principle of Charity: http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html http://philosophy.lander.edu/oriental/charity.html