Re:Agreeing to disagree is the death knell of our social system
by superchroma on Sunday September 11, 2022 @04:08AM
(#32797744)
Ok, well, that seems an untenable view when we know the Backfire Effect exists.
Re:Agreeing to disagree is the death knell of our social system
by jfengel on Sunday September 11, 2022 @10:19AM
(#32799828)
Quite possibly. But we are reaching a point where these disagreements are having real world effects on people.
To pick a recent example, "agreeing to disagree" about KiwiFarms resulted in the harassment of a woman who could literally have died in a swatting. Many people here will object bitterly to what I just said, and nothing I say will convince them. But it may well be worth it to be seen to say it, just so that people know that it's something I not just believe, but will risk the wrath of Internet commenters. It still won't do any good and may even make things worse, but it would be lazy and unethical to simply fall back on that while a human being suffers.
Their proposal is not about education, but about refusing to back down even when it would be easier to declare a truce and a draw.
That is much harder. Simply refusing to give in does not give you a route to convincing people. People with misinformation are at least as certain of their position as better informed people, and often more so. This is a call to fight an often unwinnable fight in the hope that the truth will win out eventually just because it is the truth.
I myself am not that brave and much more pessimistic. But I want to believe that the fight is worth participating in even if it loses. I used to believe it and I wish I still could.