First of all, my goal here is to explore the process of thinking. Beyond race, beyond politics, beyond trans issues or anything else, my guiding question is, how can we think and communicate better. If I only ever engaged with people who I saw as clear thinkers, I'd engage with vanishingly few people. An…
First of all, my goal here is to explore the process of thinking. Beyond race, beyond politics, beyond trans issues or anything else, my guiding question is, how can we think and communicate better. If I only ever engaged with people who I saw as clear thinkers, I'd engage with vanishingly few people. And our conversations would pretty much always be the two of us going back and forth saying, "Yes, I agree."
I want to understand why Allan thinks the way he does precisely *because* his thinking seems so ridiculous to me. Because there are many other people for who this "confirmation bias disguised as research (https://steveqj.substack.com/p/you-offered-no-valid-proof-other)" is standard practice.
That's why I pointed out that Allan's...let's call it lazy thinking, is at the root of a lot of many types of bigotry. His "the way it is is the way it must be," thinking is at the root of a lot of racism, but also at the root of a lot of "Afro-pessimism." The "white people tacitly endorsed open discrimination against black people, so they always will," style thinking. There are insights to be gained from every single conversation. Because they give us a window into the cognitive flaws lurking in all kinds of other positions. Including our own.
Sorry you didn't take much from this conversation. Rest assured that conversations like these won't become the norm here (not least because, thankfully, people as extreme as Allan are pretty rare). But I'd think more carefully before dismissing understanding people like these as a waste of time. They're out there whether we acknowledge them or not. In many different forms.
I love that you do this but I am a student of root causes in human behavior. I think you bring light to something most people don't even consider and it's very important that you do this work. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. :-)
Plus, you are correct when you stipulate that the thought process used by Allan to indict women and blacks is identical to the thought process used by woke identarians to indict whites. This thought process must NOT be allowed to gain the upper hand for obvious reasons.
I am also grateful that someone as pro-humanist and as articulate as yourself is asking these questions and sparking these conversations. Please keep on keepin’ on…
Hmm, excellent and fair question.
First of all, my goal here is to explore the process of thinking. Beyond race, beyond politics, beyond trans issues or anything else, my guiding question is, how can we think and communicate better. If I only ever engaged with people who I saw as clear thinkers, I'd engage with vanishingly few people. And our conversations would pretty much always be the two of us going back and forth saying, "Yes, I agree."
I want to understand why Allan thinks the way he does precisely *because* his thinking seems so ridiculous to me. Because there are many other people for who this "confirmation bias disguised as research (https://steveqj.substack.com/p/you-offered-no-valid-proof-other)" is standard practice.
Conspiracy theorists are easy to make fun of, because the things they believe are so bigoted in ways that are outside the mainstream. But I see the "thought" process here as identical to the thought process of somebody who says "all white people are racist (https://steveqj.substack.com/p/black-people-should-realise-you-cannot)." Or "white supremacy is the root of all evil (https://steveqj.substack.com/p/you-can-join-candace-owens-in-deluded)."
That's why I pointed out that Allan's...let's call it lazy thinking, is at the root of a lot of many types of bigotry. His "the way it is is the way it must be," thinking is at the root of a lot of racism, but also at the root of a lot of "Afro-pessimism." The "white people tacitly endorsed open discrimination against black people, so they always will," style thinking. There are insights to be gained from every single conversation. Because they give us a window into the cognitive flaws lurking in all kinds of other positions. Including our own.
Sorry you didn't take much from this conversation. Rest assured that conversations like these won't become the norm here (not least because, thankfully, people as extreme as Allan are pretty rare). But I'd think more carefully before dismissing understanding people like these as a waste of time. They're out there whether we acknowledge them or not. In many different forms.
I love that you do this but I am a student of root causes in human behavior. I think you bring light to something most people don't even consider and it's very important that you do this work. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. :-)
Plus, you are correct when you stipulate that the thought process used by Allan to indict women and blacks is identical to the thought process used by woke identarians to indict whites. This thought process must NOT be allowed to gain the upper hand for obvious reasons.
I am also grateful that someone as pro-humanist and as articulate as yourself is asking these questions and sparking these conversations. Please keep on keepin’ on…