3 ms·

I’ve heard this line of reasoning a lot but I’ve never seen anyone back it up with much of evidence beyond the usual platitudes of liberal parenting. (Note tha

I’ve heard this line of reasoning a lot but I’ve never seen anyone back it up with much of evidence beyond the usual platitudes of liberal parenting. (Note that I also find modern American child rearing techniques to be a set of failures where children act as little dictators and their gentle, caring parents desperately try to convince their kids to behave). I can’t help but see the same patterns at work here. Personally I’ll stick with a firm insistence that Covid presents serious risks, vaccines are safe and effective, and the inability to comprehend a scientific paper or even copy off the homework of the smart kids is a shameful embarrassment. If that doesn’t vibe with someone’s AYSO participation trophy mindset, though luck, we have a global pandemic to deal with so man up and take one for the team. If you think babying people with gentle appeals is working, take a cold look at the results of polite messaging campaigns.

Majestic121 5y ago
My point of view is closer to yours than you might think : I'm definitely pro-vaccination, and I do believe at least some categories of population should have mandatory vaccine (teachers, medical, etc...). My point was mainly about the self-congratulatory tone of the message above, whose main effect is to : - create tension with people that disagree - gain approval from people that already agree And in the end make the subject more tense than it has to be. No one bats an eye for other mandatory vaccine, this one creates tension because of propaganda campaigns and some valid concerns (like mrna vaccine being pretty new), but the answer to those tensions is not exacerbating an "us vs them" mentality
- odessacubbage 5y ago
  at some point we all learned instinctively that the best way to farm internet points is not to extend olive branches but to set them on fire.
- blululu 5y ago
  I noticed in your previous point that you are not opposed to the widespread use of vaccines and that you are in favor of taking action to stop the danger posed by covid. The question I am asking is about tactics for getting everyone working together to put an end to this. I keep hearing people suggest that we can’t be condescending because we shouldn’t offend anyone or make anybody feel bad and I am not seeing it do much good. Shame is a powerful social mechanism and I don’t see why we shouldn’t use it. What are you actually proposing? A clear statement of facts is a good start, but what do you recommend after that?
bumby 5y ago
I can't speak to the OP's meaning, but it has to do with the way people are persuaded. >Personally I’ll stick with a firm insistence that Covid presents serious risks, vaccines are safe and effective, and the inability to comprehend a scientific paper This comes across as based on the assumption that people are rational and, when presented with evidence, will weight that evidence accordingly. Unfortunately, that's just not how humans evolved to extrapolate about reality. Anyone who's ever debated online knows that simply presenting information isn't an effective way to persuade somebody. We're emotional creatures more than we are rational ones. There's lots of research on this (my favorite domain for this subject is behavioral econonmics) but a quick, interesting and related read that touches on this topic is Scott Adams' Win Bigly. To the OP's point, speaking in condescending tone, regardless of the 'rightness' of your point, isn't likely to persuade someone because it will illicit an even stronger emotional resistance.

Majestic121 5y ago

My point of view is closer to yours than you might think : I'm definitely pro-vaccination, and I do believe at least some categories of population should have mandatory vaccine (teachers, medical, etc...). My point was mainly about the self-congratulatory tone of the message above, whose main effect is to : - create tension with people that disagree - gain approval from people that already agree And in the end make the subject more tense than it has to be. No one bats an eye for other mandatory vaccine, this one creates tension because of propaganda campaigns and some valid concerns (like mrna vaccine being pretty new), but the answer to those tensions is not exacerbating an "us vs them" mentality

odessacubbage 5y ago
at some point we all learned instinctively that the best way to farm internet points is not to extend olive branches but to set them on fire.
blululu 5y ago
I noticed in your previous point that you are not opposed to the widespread use of vaccines and that you are in favor of taking action to stop the danger posed by covid. The question I am asking is about tactics for getting everyone working together to put an end to this. I keep hearing people suggest that we can’t be condescending because we shouldn’t offend anyone or make anybody feel bad and I am not seeing it do much good. Shame is a powerful social mechanism and I don’t see why we shouldn’t use it. What are you actually proposing? A clear statement of facts is a good start, but what do you recommend after that?

bumby 5y ago

I can't speak to the OP's meaning, but it has to do with the way people are persuaded. >Personally I’ll stick with a firm insistence that Covid presents serious risks, vaccines are safe and effective, and the inability to comprehend a scientific paper This comes across as based on the assumption that people are rational and, when presented with evidence, will weight that evidence accordingly. Unfortunately, that's just not how humans evolved to extrapolate about reality. Anyone who's ever debated online knows that simply presenting information isn't an effective way to persuade somebody. We're emotional creatures more than we are rational ones. There's lots of research on this (my favorite domain for this subject is behavioral econonmics) but a quick, interesting and related read that touches on this topic is Scott Adams' Win Bigly. To the OP's point, speaking in condescending tone, regardless of the 'rightness' of your point, isn't likely to persuade someone because it will illicit an even stronger emotional resistance.