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I'm curious, do you think without your disclosure, people would have read your post differently? Occasionally (both online and in real life) I feel that whatev

by _cs2017_ 8y ago

I'm curious, do you think without your disclosure, people would have read your post differently? Occasionally (both online and in real life) I feel that whatever I say tends to be interpreted in the binary: "are you with us or against us". This makes it hard to have a thoughtful discussion. Clarifying that I'm loyal to whatever cause the audience supports helps to some degree.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
Politics is so heavily polarized that 'I assume they will assume'. I would hope on a forum such as HN people wouldn't make assumptions ... but I think we all have an assumptive instinct on some level. Intersectional issues (race/gender/class), some things about China, obviously religion - they're all so loaded it's hard to have a discussion. Finally, even though I have very nuanced views of Trump, and don't think he's 'all bad' - and my own politics are utterly not on the American spectrum ... I just don't want to be associated with him frankly.
- _cs2017_ 8y ago
  > Politics is so heavily polarized that 'I assume they will assume'. [...] Intersectional issues (race/gender/class), some things about China, obviously religion - they're all so loaded it's hard to have a discussion Agreed... That said, there are people who are happy to have an open discussion without judging everything on the basis of "friend" / "enemy". I wonder if there's a forum, online or offline, where ideas are shared and discussed in good faith.
  - CookieMon 8y ago
    > I wonder if there's a forum... There was one https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/02/22/rip-culture-war-thread/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/02/22/rip-culture-war-thread... <- a very interesting read. Various satellite forums of slatestarcodex have grown and are around, and only the original Culture War thread is gone. That whole group seems to be politically mixed and at least partially vaccinated against the dangers of framing political disagreements in terms of tribes and dehumanising the outgroup/opponent.
    - _cs2017_ 8y ago
      A very interesting read indeed. In this case, it seems the original attempt didn't survive the influx of people from outside who were not interested in a civil discussion. Perhaps a smaller, invitation only, forum might stand a better chance?

sonnyblarney 8y ago

Politics is so heavily polarized that 'I assume they will assume'. I would hope on a forum such as HN people wouldn't make assumptions ... but I think we all have an assumptive instinct on some level. Intersectional issues (race/gender/class), some things about China, obviously religion - they're all so loaded it's hard to have a discussion. Finally, even though I have very nuanced views of Trump, and don't think he's 'all bad' - and my own politics are utterly not on the American spectrum ... I just don't want to be associated with him frankly.

_cs2017_ 8y ago
> Politics is so heavily polarized that 'I assume they will assume'. [...] Intersectional issues (race/gender/class), some things about China, obviously religion - they're all so loaded it's hard to have a discussion Agreed... That said, there are people who are happy to have an open discussion without judging everything on the basis of "friend" / "enemy". I wonder if there's a forum, online or offline, where ideas are shared and discussed in good faith.
- CookieMon 8y ago
  > I wonder if there's a forum... There was one https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/02/22/rip-culture-war-thread/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/02/22/rip-culture-war-thread... <- a very interesting read. Various satellite forums of slatestarcodex have grown and are around, and only the original Culture War thread is gone. That whole group seems to be politically mixed and at least partially vaccinated against the dangers of framing political disagreements in terms of tribes and dehumanising the outgroup/opponent.
  - _cs2017_ 8y ago
    A very interesting read indeed. In this case, it seems the original attempt didn't survive the influx of people from outside who were not interested in a civil discussion. Perhaps a smaller, invitation only, forum might stand a better chance?