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 -
Do 2. Most people are apathetic about most political issues, which means your concern about possibly being cancelled for not caring is almost certain to never come to fruition. Extreme ideologies like modern SJWism cannot force everyone to believe in them; the only way they keep power is by tolerating people who don't care one way or the other.
Doing 3 (i.e. silence to most people, then revealing your anti-SJW nature to people you trust) feels better because you can be honest about your real opinions to some people, but is very risky. Some people you trust might backstab you (sounds crass, but it does happen sometimes) or might simply get careless and let slip details about you with no ill intentions that still end up screwing you in some ways. Alternatively, those people you trust could get outed as anti-SJW themselves in which case you'll be tarred by association and might be forced to denounce them in tandem with everyone else, which feels awful. You can use sites like this one to let off steam instead (it's what I do).
1 and 4 (which are basically the same) are basically doomed to fail unless you relentlessly keep up with changing SJW jargon and shibboleths. If you don't then you'll get sniffed out pretty quickly by those who do, and fakers are generally viewed pretty negatively. You probably won't be cancelled outright by doing this, but people might avoid you and think you're weird which could hurt you in some ways. It also sucks to live a blatant lie.
Absolutely never, EVER do number 5. Maybe you have some degree of protection at a university, but plenty of people will dislike you nonetheless. It's not just being cancelled that you have to worry about, it's what people do behind your back as well. People could spread rumors that screw with your reputation, deprioritize you for promotions or other perks, refuse collaboration, or some people who you've barely interacted with could actively try to sabotage you. Initially you might think 5 is fine when nothing overtly bad happens, but sooner or later (maybe months, maybe years) you'll hear that somebody succeeded in hurting you without you even having realized it.
I've tried all of these strategies myself and I'm certain that 2 is by far the best.
More options
Context Copy link