This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
Unfortunately, there is not really a sure-fire strategy.
To cut off the head of the snake, by silencing leaders of these conspiracies, is bound to validate their views and make them even more blinded by self-righteousness
To stop the flow of disinformation, by censoring topics or outlets or groups, is going to create resentment. It's going to make people feel like they have nowhere else to turn, and it only figures that cornering them like that will lead to even more danger
To counter those arguments with facts and working to debunk them is going to fall on deaf ears, because their alignment is not about the truth at all. It's a moral issue that is positively reinforced by the social appeal of the group. It's tribalism
To try to shame or mock them will just push them further and further into the fringes of their beliefs
I think the only thing that has a shot at showing these people the light is to entertain them. These people desperately want to be right, which is why they're so passionately stupid. Let them talk, feel like their opinion is valid, ask them questions about why they believe what they do, and eventually show them that their beliefs are baseless and substantiated mostly by rhetoric they're parroting and by unquestioned axioms they take for granted
To cut off the head of the snake, by silencing leaders of these conspiracies, is bound to validate their views and make them even more blinded by self-righteousness
To stop the flow of disinformation, by censoring topics or outlets or groups, is going to create resentment. It's going to make people feel like they have nowhere else to turn, and it only figures that cornering them like that will lead to even more danger
To counter those arguments with facts and working to debunk them is going to fall on deaf ears, because their alignment is not about the truth at all. It's a moral issue that is positively reinforced by the social appeal of the group. It's tribalism
To try to shame or mock them will just push them further and further into the fringes of their beliefs
I think the only thing that has a shot at showing these people the light is to entertain them. These people desperately want to be right, which is why they're so passionately stupid. Let them talk, feel like their opinion is valid, ask them questions about why they believe what they do, and eventually show them that their beliefs are baseless and substantiated mostly by rhetoric they're parroting and by unquestioned axioms they take for granted
@TinyViolins I like that sneaky education by "entertainment" part, but it's damned hard to compete for students' attention when its so easy to get off on first person shooter video games.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@MistyCee Jon Stewart, John Oliver, and Hassan Minhaj are pretty good at it, but they're already preaching to the choir. It's not really deradicalizing anyone so much as it is circumventing the issue for a generation