Guest darkskyabove Posted June 15, 2013 Posted June 15, 2013 Just watched the video where Stefan dissects comments by youtube posters. ( )[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzGzdDF5K6I] Well done, Stefan. Challenges me to rethink my limited web commentary. I, so far, only post here and at the Fedora forum (for Linux users). I will not be posting at youtube, Google, Facebook, etc. Premise: The semi-anonymity of the Internet has provided a venue for people to write things with no rational process and no actual consequence. Evidence: After watching the video, I scrolled through some of the comments. Didn't these people just watch the video? The comments seemed to qualify for "propaganda" just like the comments dissected in the video. Conclusion: Ostracism is the only course remaining. In my personal activities I have, for many, years, practiced the art of ostracism. As Stefan has said, "I do not hang with statists." I have applied that rationale to many issues. I do not hang with irrationals, religionists (kinda the same thing), aggressors, etc. In summation, I would present the idea of never responding to irrational postings on the Internet. It tends to feed into some evil ego manifestation. The more one tries to convince, the greater the irrationalist feels.
Alan C. Posted June 15, 2013 Posted June 15, 2013 "Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession -- their ignorance." - Hendrik Willem van Loon I rarely read YT comments because they tend to be a cesspool of inanity and incoherence, but Stef's responses were still enjoyable. I wouldn't respond to irrational postings with the intention of changing the minds of the people who posted them because their minds aren't likely to be changed. However, others can learn a great deal from it. The overwhelming bulk of Western society grew up with decades of government schooling, television, religion, and abuse. That damage ossifies into a shell which isn't easy to break through.
Guest darkskyabove Posted June 15, 2013 Posted June 15, 2013 I rarely read "comments", but in light of the video in question it seemed appropriate to check responses. You make a great point about a response to irrationality not being aimed at the poster, but "shot into the wind", so to speak, hoping to catch a butterfly in the midst of the cloud of mosquitoes. Edit: Hey!!! Just noticed that my link to the video was embedded in my post. Is that new? Auto-embedding, way cool!
Gaurav251 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I wish I could ostracize the people around me, but these people are my parents, there are no atheists in my family except me and as much as I can ignore them they live in the next room to me so its hard enough to try and seperate my self from them when I only have a low income job not enough to get my own place.
MysterionMuffles Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I wish I could ostracize the people around me, but these people are my parents, there are no atheists in my family except me and as much as I can ignore them they live in the next room to me so its hard enough to try and seperate my self from them when I only have a low income job not enough to get my own place. im right there with you, buddy. Only my siblings and I are Atheists and we can get along with our family alright without the mention of religion but when we do it's all about us being bad for not going to church and all this other nonsense. And when they even try to be passionate about Christianity it just sounds like really retarded fairy tales before they get edited for publishing. Best and only way to cope with such a situation is to get along with them on numerous levels that bury belief systems. I know my family's entrenched in religion due to obligation more than personal passion, so I try to not let their blind faith get in the way. Especially when I often school them about their own religion. They can't argue with me no matter how hard they try to reconvert me because they just get eaten alive.
Guest darkskyabove Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I wish I could ostracize the people around me, but these people are my parents... Yeah, that's not so easy to apply the ol' ostracism patch. To be effective I believe ostracism must have the element of finality: "I won't associate with you and I won't suffer because of it." As to being stuck with people, I would suggest thinking about how much emotion you invest in the areas of disagreement. One of the ways irrational people can light a fire under your butt is by using our natural desire to explain against us. (Whether they do it consciously, or not.) If a religious person asks you to explain why you don't accept their fantasy, you could either, simply say that you don't, or try to explain; which is usually going to devolve into an attack on religion, causing the other's barriers to go into force-field mode, leaving you frustrated for banging your head on an impenetrable force-field. Mission not-accomplished. By not biting on the baitless hook, we have a better chance of preserving our own serenity. I guess we could call it ostracism-lite; rather than complete rejection, simply refuse to become entangled in trigger issues. Something else to be aware of is that most of us have a limited reserve of emotional energy. By using it up on frustration, less remains to invest in worthwhile activities, such as gaining independence (finish school, get better job, move to own apartment, etc.). Final thought: If someone you are bound to, for whatever reason, has ideas you disagree with, but they really have no way to force the ideas upon you (like "go to church or I'm kicking you out of this house"), what is the "real" impact upon you. None of this is easy, and there is no one-size solution, but tilting at windmills will only make it worse.
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