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There are things that I want to shout at people, things that seem so blindingly obvious to me, but at the same time, I know that I probably would never have lea

by csours 2y ago

There are things that I want to shout at people, things that seem so blindingly obvious to me, but at the same time, I know that I probably would never have learned them if someone had shouted them at me. They are things that I had to notice while my mind was able to be quiet and curious. A hint of what I mean: Conspiracy theories come from seeking satisfaction and comfort, not ignorance. Debunking will never be enough. If a person tells themselves that they will not be affected by a conspiracy theory or scam, they have made themselves MORE vulnerable. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42454945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42454945 --- Unsatisfying narratives feel nihilistic, but there might be something important on the other side of that nihilism https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42261315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42261315 --- 'Blame' is a place in our minds where we set down our heaviest burdens. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42248548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42248548 --- Anyway, what I mean to say is that fiction can take us places that shouting at each other never will.

deleted 2y ago
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hamstergene 2y ago
A lot more than conspiracy theories is explained by that. Why people join religions and cults despite obvious huge gaps in their worldview. Why people follow political leaders while being aware of their reputation of lying and/or lacking reputation of being successful at what they claim to do. Ever since I discovered the concept of emotional neglect I am growing in belief that problem is a lot more pervasive in society than a few therapy patients. Just because most people have no complaints doesn't mean they were not affected. Our culture has made rational behavior such a huge virtue that seeking good emotions became something that needs to be pointed out as a revelation, even though seeking to feel good is literally the biggest and maybe the only motivation people have. The default assumption when understanding other people is to expect them to prefer what makes sense over what feels good, which is not true. Metaphorically, if one has a culture that teaches people to believe that body temperature is fundamentally unimportant and mostly random noise, would it really be a surprise that people ignore your attempt to convince them in diagnosis A over B when the only difference between those two were the presence of fever? That will be like convincing to choose A because it's summer, people will just shrug it off. In your example, when you shout about "seeking satisfaction and comfort" the receiver instantly skips that because "no way that is important enough to be the true reason". Maybe it's not as hopeless, one just needs to focus less on shouting messages and more on ensuring the receiver has enough fundamentals to get them.

by csours 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

hamstergene 2y ago

A lot more than conspiracy theories is explained by that. Why people join religions and cults despite obvious huge gaps in their worldview. Why people follow political leaders while being aware of their reputation of lying and/or lacking reputation of being successful at what they claim to do. Ever since I discovered the concept of emotional neglect I am growing in belief that problem is a lot more pervasive in society than a few therapy patients. Just because most people have no complaints doesn't mean they were not affected. Our culture has made rational behavior such a huge virtue that seeking good emotions became something that needs to be pointed out as a revelation, even though seeking to feel good is literally the biggest and maybe the only motivation people have. The default assumption when understanding other people is to expect them to prefer what makes sense over what feels good, which is not true. Metaphorically, if one has a culture that teaches people to believe that body temperature is fundamentally unimportant and mostly random noise, would it really be a surprise that people ignore your attempt to convince them in diagnosis A over B when the only difference between those two were the presence of fever? That will be like convincing to choose A because it's summer, people will just shrug it off. In your example, when you shout about "seeking satisfaction and comfort" the receiver instantly skips that because "no way that is important enough to be the true reason". Maybe it's not as hopeless, one just needs to focus less on shouting messages and more on ensuring the receiver has enough fundamentals to get them.