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The issue being that you're operating in good faith, while they're putting on a show. You're immediately at a disadvantage because they can use any tool at thei
by switchbak 5y ago
The issue being that you're operating in good faith, while they're putting on a show. You're immediately at a disadvantage because they can use any tool at their disposal, whereas you have to stick to truth and rationality.
Unfortunately, the latter two don't typically scale all that well, especially as the bad actor hones their ability to put you in a rhetorical box.
- rocqua 5y agoI think the continuation of this line of thought is often the argument 'their bad faith communication is so effective we have to counter it with our own'. I hope that this argument under-estimates the intelligence of the silent majority.
- ImPostingOnHN 5y agoThat is another good way to phrase the problem described by the parent post of yours. There is not a way to beat bad faith communication with good faith communication at scale, because the latter doesn't scale, because the average/median person is not intelligent enough for it. I wish they were.
- Jensson 5y agoI have never seen anyone get converted by bad faith arguments, but I have seen people get converted by good faith arguments. So it seems good faith arguments are inherently much stronger, while bad faith arguments are useless except for frustrating the other side.
- BlargMcLarg 5y agoConsidering I see bad faith arguments from politicians in power all the time, I wouldn't say anything conclusive about good faith or bad faith being stronger. This is before mentioning how many people are running around with a victim mentality, quickly antagonize others or engage in social activities which reinforce segregation and labeling over trying to form a social understanding. A lot of people love drama, and bad faith creates drama. Good faith creates solutions, and a lot of people seek solutions. That alone is enough to be skeptical of anything conclusive.
- ModernMech 5y agoThe ultimate bad faith argument is government propaganda, which definitely works wonders in shaping public opinion.
- banannaise 5y agoBad faith arguments convert by quantity, not quality. If you overwhelm the good faith information with mountains of bad faith information, you'll convince a lot of people, none of whom will be able to point at one specific thing that convinced them.
- altcognito 5y agoBad faith arguments can be as simple as a slogan.