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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 1, 2024

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You don't. It's relative and empirical. But it's known to happen.

Years ago, I remember coming across an article that I think was from CNN, or some liberal/progressive leaning outlet. It was about how domestic violence was on the rise across the country. My immediate instinct was to treat it with skepticism but give the benefit of the doubt at a first pass. Someone then decided to do some analysis on the article, and decided to tally up and count what they were classifying as 'domestic violence'. Loud arguments, boyfriend/husband storming out of the house, ignoring the ultimatums of their spouse; hilarious infractions that would've never dawned on anybody who was sane to think it should've been called "domestic violence."

Even in how relationships in the sexual marketplace are measured, it's important to keep in mind that your data expands and contracts with the size of your definitions. And it's not always the case that you should be persuaded with the methodology or it's findings.