Thursday, September 02, 2010
On "inward apologetics," or why we love the echo chamber
Why do most people pay a lot more attention to the arguments for their "group's" position than those against? Perhaps chanting in the echo chamber is a natural human gesture of loyalty.
Discuss.
5 Comments:
By 
Elijah, at
Thu Sep 02, 09:10:00 AM:
For example -
"And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations"
By 
, at
Thu Sep 02, 10:58:00 AM:
Are you surprised by the complete banality of that post? Could anything be more obvious, while still being pointless?
By Andrew Hofer, at
Thu Sep 02, 01:48:00 PM:
The idea of preaching to the choir is banal, but the observation about choosing the most outrageous belief and defending it as a group solidarity exercise is kind of interesting.
By JPMcT, at
Thu Sep 02, 08:04:00 PM:
The argument is illogical.
"Groups" form because they share similar outlooks on problems and similar philosophies and behavior.
...and...they reject other forms of behavior and contradictory philospohy.
Is it so ourageous that such groups tend to support their own arguments and reject opposing arguments??
If everybody "paid more attention" (whatever that means)to opposing arguments....welllll...they wouldn't really be a "group", would they???
Unless, of course, you are a liberal and remain convinced that a turd can always be picked up by the clean end!
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Mon Sep 06, 01:25:00 AM:
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it”
Max Planck
