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I wish for many things. So far, this has not had a material effect on reality. But I will keep trying. Please give me one example of a thing that is not politi

I wish for many things. So far, this has not had a material effect on reality. But I will keep trying. Please give me one example of a thing that is not politicized. And that some not-insubstantial percent of the population holds an opinion or belief that is truly their own vs something tribal and politicized. I struggled to come up with an example before I made my previous post. Maybe you can do better.

AnimalMuppet 3y ago
The car I drive is not politicized. (For some people it is. They choose a pickup or an EV to signal that they belong to a tribe. I just pick a car because I want something reliable that meets my needs. 18-year-old Toyota Camry, if you're wondering.) My to-do list for this weekend is not politicized, even though preparations for doing my taxes is on the list. My taxes are not politicized - I pay them regardless of what administration is in power, and I feel pretty much the same about paying them. What I'm having for lunch is not politicized. It's just stuff that I like, that was pretty easy to put in a lunch sack. My wife likes watching birds. I like watching trains. I don't think either of those are politicized. What programming languages I like are not politicized. And so it goes, through topic after topic that makes up my life. I really am less a sheep than you think. I actually don't always agree with my tribe, and my tribe is less political than you think. (Even what I think of science is not politicized, and I don't fit neatly into a "tribe" on the topic. And I deplore the tendency to politicize science.) "Everything is political" only if you view everything through a political lens. I don't. It's a really crummy, narrow lens to have to look at everything through.
- quesera 3y ago
  You give some interesting examples. But you acknowledge that some of those choices, made differently, could be politicized. That's the issue. Choose culturally "ordinary" and you're good. Choose "unexpected" and you take your chances. Among reasonable people, your chances are good. There are a lot of unreasonable people out there. The original question was "why is political affiliation asked on a dating app?". To me, the answer is simple: life is highly politicized and while individuals will always have some nuance in their beliefs, stereotypes are real and legitimate as filtering criteria. I do not mean to imply that humans cannot be better. Just that they frequently are not. I did not call you a sheep.

AnimalMuppet 3y ago

The car I drive is not politicized. (For some people it is. They choose a pickup or an EV to signal that they belong to a tribe. I just pick a car because I want something reliable that meets my needs. 18-year-old Toyota Camry, if you're wondering.) My to-do list for this weekend is not politicized, even though preparations for doing my taxes is on the list. My taxes are not politicized - I pay them regardless of what administration is in power, and I feel pretty much the same about paying them. What I'm having for lunch is not politicized. It's just stuff that I like, that was pretty easy to put in a lunch sack. My wife likes watching birds. I like watching trains. I don't think either of those are politicized. What programming languages I like are not politicized. And so it goes, through topic after topic that makes up my life. I really am less a sheep than you think. I actually don't always agree with my tribe, and my tribe is less political than you think. (Even what I think of science is not politicized, and I don't fit neatly into a "tribe" on the topic. And I deplore the tendency to politicize science.) "Everything is political" only if you view everything through a political lens. I don't. It's a really crummy, narrow lens to have to look at everything through.

quesera 3y ago
You give some interesting examples. But you acknowledge that some of those choices, made differently, could be politicized. That's the issue. Choose culturally "ordinary" and you're good. Choose "unexpected" and you take your chances. Among reasonable people, your chances are good. There are a lot of unreasonable people out there. The original question was "why is political affiliation asked on a dating app?". To me, the answer is simple: life is highly politicized and while individuals will always have some nuance in their beliefs, stereotypes are real and legitimate as filtering criteria. I do not mean to imply that humans cannot be better. Just that they frequently are not. I did not call you a sheep.