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 -
If it is, I missed the memo. I've been donating to EA charities for years, and haven't been involved in the movement proper.
I think your way of phrasing it is a bit too cynical and direct in any case. The two places people are most likely to meet their partner offline are work and school, right? Well, movement EA is a job for a lot of people involved, so it's not surprising if a lot of people also keep an eye out for datable prospects there as well.
Think about ballroom dancing classes. I remember an old Reddit thread where a very shy guy talked about using ballroom dancing as a way to get more comfortable around women, and not be so worried about the touch barrier. But for every introverted guy very consciously using ballroom dancing as a tool to get more comfortable socializing, there's probably dozens of people who have a more ambiguous mix of reasons they like ballroom dancing. It would be overly simplistic to read that guy's account and say, "Is the whole point of ballroom dancing for nerds to meet women?" Sure, that's one of the reasons people go - but for most people their reasons for going are probably an ineffable mix of psychological pushes and pulls that average out to the decision to go. Sexuality is just one factor, even if a major one, but some people do just like dancing for the sake of it.
More options
Context Copy link