This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I think many reasons mentioned by others contribute, and we can quibble which is a more important contributor (screens or work), but I believe there's few mechanisms not already mentioned.
If it doesn't come to you naturally, creating and maintaining friendships is a skill or an art, in a lack of better word. Like all skills applicable in a social graph, you need enough of it in two points to keep an edge between them.
I am not very god at having friends: it is difficult for me to gauge who is interested in the discussion we are having or who is simply maintaining discussion out of politeness way past enjoyment. I have few good conversation openings, not that many ideas how/where to hang out and what to do. All of this becomes much worse because I'd like to hang out with guys who similar interests, which correlates with a similar personality type, but they/we all are similarly deficient in the relevant skills these days, and not always even cognizant of it. It's much easier and more fun to engage with a top percentile conversationalist than a median or sub-median one.
Secondarily, atomization and larger scope of interests available. If I lived in a small-to-medium sized town 40 years ago, there would not be that many options where and how and who to hang out with, I'd join the social club closest to my interests and would not know I could have different interests. Now, when I make an effort to meet people in nerdy social functions, they are interested in computer games / niche media / streaming series / CCGs / other stuff I am not interested in, and when not busy with jobs/studies/obligations (if they have any), they mostly hang out with their remote friends in Discord and doomscroll their favorite social media; I hang out with my books or scroll here. I am already too stuck in my interests and they are in theirs. I can fake an interest in listening to them but as far as I can tell, they have no interest in mine, fake or otherwise, which makes for quite one-sided "friendship".
Politics is an additional complication. Perhaps I have rosy memories, but in the '00s and until mid '10s, I think people were able to be slightly less serious and more willing to argue about their politics and then politely agree to disagree after it got bit heated. Now when someone, anyone, starts talking politics or any CW-adjacent topic, the vibe is always super tense and it is like hearing a sermon in a tent, you are supposed to nod and figuratively say "amen" when they are finished and continue with your own compatible tirade.
More options
Context Copy link