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> and I think there's merit to the concept that overly vociferous opposition to idea X actually increases support of idea X. It’s an interesting concept, but I

> and I think there's merit to the concept that overly vociferous opposition to idea X actually increases support of idea X. It’s an interesting concept, but I wonder why it applies for some ideas and not others. There are plenty of ideas with vociferous opposition that don’t seem to cause an increase—murder, elder abuse, cannibalism, human trafficking. What would cause some ideas to spread via opposition, and not others?

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> What would cause some ideas to spread via opposition, and not others? The widespread opposition to cannibalism is not publicized because essentially everyone is agreed and there is nothing to discuss. It isn't the case that Democrats are anti-cannibalism and Republicans are pro-cannibalism. There are no prominent existing supporters of cannibalism to vociferously condemn. Climate change and feminism have factions to fight each other. Oil workers in Texas don't want to lose their livelihood. Homeowners in California don't want extreme fires to claim their homes. Women want more rapists to go to jail. Men don't want to be falsely imprisoned for an alleged rape that didn't really happen. So you can find plenty of people to argue that climate change is over-hyped, and plenty of people willing to believe them because it serves their own interests, and therefore plenty of people on the other team to be unnecessarily vicious to those people to the point of making their own side look bad.
jasonv 6y ago
I can't read the flagged comment, but just the quoted part of the comment in this post seems true to me, even if your "why not these" lists are interesting.. but not a negation of the quoted idea. Also seems to be compatible with the idea, which has gotten a lot of play in the Social Dilemma Netflix movie, that people engage harder with things they disagree with, and not so much at all with positions they do.
- mcphage 6y ago
  The part of the comment I was responding to was a link to a PBF comic: https://pbfcomics.com/comics/deeply-held-beliefs/ https://pbfcomics.com/comics/deeply-held-beliefs/ I do agree it’s an interesting concept, but I think there’s more going on, too.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago

> What would cause some ideas to spread via opposition, and not others? The widespread opposition to cannibalism is not publicized because essentially everyone is agreed and there is nothing to discuss. It isn't the case that Democrats are anti-cannibalism and Republicans are pro-cannibalism. There are no prominent existing supporters of cannibalism to vociferously condemn. Climate change and feminism have factions to fight each other. Oil workers in Texas don't want to lose their livelihood. Homeowners in California don't want extreme fires to claim their homes. Women want more rapists to go to jail. Men don't want to be falsely imprisoned for an alleged rape that didn't really happen. So you can find plenty of people to argue that climate change is over-hyped, and plenty of people willing to believe them because it serves their own interests, and therefore plenty of people on the other team to be unnecessarily vicious to those people to the point of making their own side look bad.

jasonv 6y ago

I can't read the flagged comment, but just the quoted part of the comment in this post seems true to me, even if your "why not these" lists are interesting.. but not a negation of the quoted idea. Also seems to be compatible with the idea, which has gotten a lot of play in the Social Dilemma Netflix movie, that people engage harder with things they disagree with, and not so much at all with positions they do.

mcphage 6y ago
The part of the comment I was responding to was a link to a PBF comic: https://pbfcomics.com/comics/deeply-held-beliefs/ https://pbfcomics.com/comics/deeply-held-beliefs/ I do agree it’s an interesting concept, but I think there’s more going on, too.