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It has been a little while now that this fledgling community has been around and it remains one of my favorite stories about communities. A splinter of a much larger community took it upon themselves to challenge the rest and make a move to a new home. Shedding the shackles that were being placed on them was a bold move, but one that has been fantastic.
The community here is great, but here is my question. Overall, we are amazingly tolerant of others, of the choices they make, and of their beliefs. I would then be curious, if we are such a tolerant group, how do we address intolerance in our ranks? I recently came across what I can only say filled me with pity and sadness. I find it saddening that in this day and age, and especially in this group, there are still such hate-filled people.
But this poses a question: how does a group that is tolerant deal with intolerance within it's ranks? Does our acceptance of others extend to accepting someone that has thoughts and beliefs which are far from the norm within this community, or is there a limit placed on how far from our own values a member of the community may be?
(Score: 1) by dpp on Sunday April 13 2014, @07:12PM
I find the majority of extremely intolerant people are this way due to their ignorance - whether they're general xenophobes, racists, homophobes, mysogynist, etc.
So the best way to oppose ignorance is to educate their ignorance.
Sometimes learning something new, which might change something one has erroneously believed a fundamental truth, might be a bit easier to digest when it's laced with humor/irony. Not to be "mocking" but more to point out the "silliness" of a false truth/belief.
It's one of the reason's I really enjoy Stephen Colbert's "Colbert Report". He'll tackle some belief by seeming to agree - by reconstructing/composing the argument and exposing the flawed logic by highlighting key ridiculous points. Obviously it's best to avoid a straw-man argument...and seek out true equivalency if you're providing related examples.
Once you can laugh at yourself it lets your guard down.
My 2cents - mix a little humor in to make the education pill a bit easier to digest.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 14 2014, @02:53PM
It's one of the reason's I really enjoy Stephen Colbert's "Colbert Report".
That is actually one of the reasons I really dislike the colbert report. Instead of actually discussing the issue. It holds the messenger up for ridicule. Rush Limbaugh uses the same technique and I feel he is a blow hard too. I despised this when people did it to me in grade school. I still despise it.
They are not giving you news. They are selling you an opinion. Their opinion and their writing staff (who are usually staffed with comedians).
They are using a sales technique. This demonstrates it in 59 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydchCy5WF_I [youtube.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selling#Selling_metho ds [wikipedia.org]h niques [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Selling_tec
Usually specifically choice architecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice_architecture [wikipedia.org]
The idea is sell you something small 'a chuckle' to upsell you an idea that is not your own. Comedians use it all the time. Basically they start off with small lame jokes and build you up to bigger ones. By the end you are laughing at racist and/or intolerant jokes. Performers call it the 'warm up'. If you watch long comedian specials you will notice they lead off with personal stories and anecdotes. Then by the end they are telling 'you might be a redneck' jokes. Which are just a form of intolerance. Colbert and Rush both do the same sorts of things. Notice that the opinion they want to sell you is at the end of the show (usually second to last segments). The beginning of the show is full of fluffy celebrities talking or 'heart warming' stories.
Car dealers will use it to sell you a bigger stereo that you do not need. They do it by limiting choices to sort of ridiculous and sort of reasonable. Where the sort of reasonable is what they really want to sell you. Even though the 'reasonable' idea may be *very* ridiculous held under a different set of circumstances.
Oh he is funny. I think Rush is too. But to consider them as sources of news/opinion worth listening to? Not so much.
mix a little humor in to make the education pill a bit easier to digest
Unfortunately it is not just being used to make it easy to digest. It is being used to sell you an idea. One that may not be your own.
They use these techniques all the time to manipulate people. If you do not think you are being manipulated you are the mark.