Great roundup of the phenomenon. My experience has been that one doesn't have to try to convince anybody, just embodiment of a situation will provoke the same response. Testing, using a mask, or just choosing to not participate in a large group indoor meal triggers people.
I thank my lucky stars (?) for Dan Kahan's findings on the existence of the 23% ! Knowing where to look, and how to judge the validity of information is very challenging.
Just a couple things... the study about the high schoolers and Jesus was done with 50 girls (why no boys, I'm wondering? why such a small sample?)... but I haven't yet seen studies that look at people's belief in Islam. I just always like to wonder why that is. they will easily use Christianity and Jesus any day of the week but are too skeered to say the same about other religions, even when the belief systems are that much more radical. Nothing says belief like people willing to cut off other people's heads because it's that important to them.
I do think the university students are some part of the problem without downplaying the war in the Middle East. The uni students are not masking now, are they? They don't go to school in masks. They don't give a fat shit about Covid or spreading Covid to anyone here and now. The mask was appropriated by them to hide their identities which then created mask bans. So they didn't solve anything in the ME, AND they caused more suffering here for vulnerable people who need to mask. They didn't give a thought to anyone also suffering around them. What good is it to scream about a war in another country when you yourself are happy to spread disability, pain and death to those right next to you and their families? They didn't even have the integrity to educate themselves on the Covid war that's happening right here in their own faces. The fact that they threw away the masks as soon as they finished their protest says a lot about where they actually are on human suffering and death. (They aren't actually against it at all. They *cause* it.)
Finally, in the film Master and Commander, the character of Hollom spots an enemy ship in a fog bank but isn't quite sure what he's seeing, so he asks one of the Midshipmen to have a look. He saw it only for a second. They "beat to quarters" and prepare for battle, which initially doesn't come. Then it does. The ship shows up and blasts the crap out of them. From that point on, the crew hate Hollom and call him a "Jonah", someone who is "cursed" and brings on bad events. The guy does nothing wrong and in fact saved lives because when the enemy ship did attack, they were ready for it. But they blamed him for it happening in the first place because he happened to have seen the ship in the fog first. It's batshit.
My Substack is NOW WHAT?, the question I ask after I read brilliant things like this. It's not to replace such pieces but to not just rest in them. My best suggestion isthat people who know enough to be so intelligent put their heads together. I have ideas I'd present and hopefully others would, too, to look at what can change the course we're on.
I hope, Jessica, you saw that I featured you, along with two other great minds, in a post I sent out Sunday, asking, in relation to what one of them said, "Who is this 'we' that could be changing things? Ah, there's the rub. There is none. All that’s in play is gadflies like you and the other pundits who are clear about the mess we are in."
Yep. It's like that. Makes me wonder how human society got as far as it has. We be stupid and crazy . . .
Society is so doomed.
This was a great article!
Such a good explanation, also SO depressing. But it explains everything that's been happening. Thanks for writing this so clearly.
Yep, it's always a weird mix of depressing and "oh noooowww I get it."
Great roundup of the phenomenon. My experience has been that one doesn't have to try to convince anybody, just embodiment of a situation will provoke the same response. Testing, using a mask, or just choosing to not participate in a large group indoor meal triggers people.
I thank my lucky stars (?) for Dan Kahan's findings on the existence of the 23% ! Knowing where to look, and how to judge the validity of information is very challenging.
Just a couple things... the study about the high schoolers and Jesus was done with 50 girls (why no boys, I'm wondering? why such a small sample?)... but I haven't yet seen studies that look at people's belief in Islam. I just always like to wonder why that is. they will easily use Christianity and Jesus any day of the week but are too skeered to say the same about other religions, even when the belief systems are that much more radical. Nothing says belief like people willing to cut off other people's heads because it's that important to them.
I do think the university students are some part of the problem without downplaying the war in the Middle East. The uni students are not masking now, are they? They don't go to school in masks. They don't give a fat shit about Covid or spreading Covid to anyone here and now. The mask was appropriated by them to hide their identities which then created mask bans. So they didn't solve anything in the ME, AND they caused more suffering here for vulnerable people who need to mask. They didn't give a thought to anyone also suffering around them. What good is it to scream about a war in another country when you yourself are happy to spread disability, pain and death to those right next to you and their families? They didn't even have the integrity to educate themselves on the Covid war that's happening right here in their own faces. The fact that they threw away the masks as soon as they finished their protest says a lot about where they actually are on human suffering and death. (They aren't actually against it at all. They *cause* it.)
Finally, in the film Master and Commander, the character of Hollom spots an enemy ship in a fog bank but isn't quite sure what he's seeing, so he asks one of the Midshipmen to have a look. He saw it only for a second. They "beat to quarters" and prepare for battle, which initially doesn't come. Then it does. The ship shows up and blasts the crap out of them. From that point on, the crew hate Hollom and call him a "Jonah", someone who is "cursed" and brings on bad events. The guy does nothing wrong and in fact saved lives because when the enemy ship did attack, they were ready for it. But they blamed him for it happening in the first place because he happened to have seen the ship in the fog first. It's batshit.
Well, now I know why some people stopped talking to me after I warned them about collapse. Great article.
Wow, this one hit real close to home. Definitely relate to it being hard to read/depressing and also aha...some things clicked into place.
My Substack is NOW WHAT?, the question I ask after I read brilliant things like this. It's not to replace such pieces but to not just rest in them. My best suggestion isthat people who know enough to be so intelligent put their heads together. I have ideas I'd present and hopefully others would, too, to look at what can change the course we're on.
I hope, Jessica, you saw that I featured you, along with two other great minds, in a post I sent out Sunday, asking, in relation to what one of them said, "Who is this 'we' that could be changing things? Ah, there's the rub. There is none. All that’s in play is gadflies like you and the other pundits who are clear about the mess we are in."
Here's that post: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/great-substack-posts-by-other-authors