I think I've identified the fatal flaw in the working of the human brain.

[Binkie The Clown]

It's just too damned easy to flip the crazy switch. It sees like it takes very little effort to turn a rational human being into a raving lunatic. Look at all the raving lunatics that watch Fox News. They have all clearly switched brain modes from sane to bat shit crazy.

It's like when a chaotic system suddenly flips from one semi-stable state to another. The human mind is chaotic, in the mathematical sense, but remains in a semi-stable orbit of sanity until some small, seemingly innocent stimulus nudges it out of the orbit of sanity and into a completely different, but equally semi-stable orbit of blithering idiocy.

Is there any way to inoculate the human mind to protect it from sudden conversion to insanity? I kind of doubt it. It think it's something we will always have to deal with until such time as the insane become the majority and civilization crumbles.

[Blue Owl]

1. It's weird, you never know exacly what other people think

Or the exact context or construct of which they are thinking it...

That phrase "one person's joke is another person's religion" is often the case, it seems...

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Really it's just that you have two types of people

One who naturally believes that their opinions (and beliefs in general) should always be based on the best-available information. They are also generally willing to do the work needed to elucidate what constitutes the best-available information.

And the other that naturally believes that their opinions should derive from what they desire to be true, and then simply seek out other people to tell them that 'the facts' support the opinions they're predisposed toward. They also tend to reject out-of-hand evidence contrary to what they wish to be true, concluding that bad actors must be lying to them/tricking them.

[grumpyduck]

6. Right, but there are also some

who are just naturally angry or defensive or something along those lines and always looking for ways to support it. I happen to believe this is a learned behavior, not a natural one, but maybe some people are just born that way.

[sprinkleeninow]

3. You wonder how these still manage to conduct certain aspects of their lives

like raising children, staying successfully employed, putting food on their families, maintaining homes in a decent manner, owning, operating and maintaining vehicles in a lawful manner.

And then, their political proclivity? 🤔

Boggles the mind.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

9. Or tying their shoes, successfully operating a spoon, knife and fork, etc (nt)

[sprinkleeninow]

12. Yes. Them, too. 🙂

[msfiddlestix]

4. Wasn't over night or a snap of the fingers flipping switch

It took years for Rupert Murdock's agenda to brainwash the already softened up rightwing loons into batshit crazy indoctrinated psychopaths.

this is 2021- I feel like Fox News Corp bought cable companies back around 1995? or there abouts? So doing the math, say to 2020 that's 25 years, and that's an entire new generation by the way fed on that shit daily.

One of the biggest issue we progressives tried but failed to accomplish, was to motivate center liberals was to hone in on and deal with the underlying causation of empowerment of "Fox News" by extremely corrupt means.

it's too late now. that ship sailed and I don't see much movement in the way of trying to turn that around by any measure.

part of the elements which keeps the psychological warfare perpetuated against us endlessly.

[tblue37]

5. Propaganda works.

[Joinfortmill]

7. Works for me.

[haele]

8. Humans are addicted to magical thinking.

We all want -heck, most of us need - to be the heroes in our own consciousness. For the most part we also feel a need to place ourselves in a perceived secure high position within our social hierarchies Magical thinking allows us to bolster these needs and confirm our personal biases.
It's a deep, emotional reaction. If one tries to be logical with someone who prefers to live emotionally than in a real, practical world, they will cling to their comfortable made-up reality to the death, rather than give it up.

Haele

[empedocles]

15. Agree. Supporting this is the accepted finding that we remember best where we felt

emotion.

For eample, we pick up much more from a movie that we really like, than most other movies.

[FakeNoose]

10. Back in 1970, long before the internet and Faux Noise

... I married a nice guy who was seemingly intelligent enough, college degree and all. But this guy believed everything he saw on TV, especially TV commercials. He never questioned anything. He always said, "Well they wouldn't say it on TV if it wasn't true."

Oh my God, I used to laugh and joke about his gullibility. Well needless to say, I've been divorced a long time, but I keep running into gullible people everywhere. Most of them are on the internet now.

[Binkie The Clown]

11. They say don't believe everything you hear, but equally true is don't believe everything you think.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

13. Critical thinking skills

They don't teach that anymore and the population is worse off because of it.
Fucking asshole Mercer's.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. .

"Crazy." "Raving lunatic." "Batshit crazy." "Chaotic." "Semi-stable." "Insanity." "Insane."

This kind of ableist language is objectionable when all you're trying to say is "irrational," "ignorant," "hateful" or some other non-mental-health-related term, depending on context. Framing people who believe Fox News as "insane" is ableist, displays ignorance about mental illness, and makes it hard to hold people accountable for their hurtful actions.

[Binkie The Clown]

17. Wow! You're serious? nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

19. Yes.

[Binkie The Clown]

23. Should you be posting in English? What about all those unfortunate enough to not know that language?

IMHO, sometimes some liberals become parodies of themselves, and it makes it so easy for right-wingers to mock us.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. Not quite sure what my posting language has to do with it. It's similar to people letting go of the

R-word. Using "crazy" and "insane" and other language in negative contexts ends up marginalizing people with mental illness. The words we use builds our world, and it's never a bad idea to rethink the words we use.

[eShirl]

33. the right-wingers can go fork themselves

IMHO

[Binkie The Clown]

36. Even when their message gets a broader audience than ours?

A lot of people who are not right-wingers, but very centrist, think that left-wing thought police, and word Nazis are just plain nuts. Oh, pardon me. Not word-Nazis; word authoritarians. (Don't want to offend any actual Nazis, right?)

[Silent3]

22. Yep, and this is why we can't have nice things.

Strident, inflexible word police are really not helping promote Democratic success in our society.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. Who's inflexible? People who suggest alternatives, or those who insist on continuing using terms

that others have indicated might be harmful?

[Silent3]

27. That "suggesting" happens to piss a lot of people off

Are they being reasonable by getting pissed off? Maybe not, but it does happen, and it makes Democrats unpopular.

You're saying "harmful!", and they're thinking, "Really? Really?"... or maybe they're just thinking "go f*ck yourself".

We're talking matter of perception, and you can't argue your way out of that. The perception simply happens.

The people you think are misperceiving your gracious, let's-make-a-better-world intent will either never hear your explanation for your laudable goals, or if they do, they won't give a shit.

But go on feeling superior for doing it anyway.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. I can't tell if you're describing how I come across to Republicans or Democrats.

If Republicans are reacting the way you describe, I don't give a shit. If Democrats do, I expect better.

[Silent3]

31. There's a whole lot of the population which aren't strongly either...

...Republican or Democrat, and whose behavior in our often-very-close elections makes a big difference in who wins and who loses.

And you can sit there and "expect better" all you like. If you (not specifically you, but the whole word-policing subculture) don't take into account the impact of the perceptions you create, you do more harm than good.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

32. Lol that my comment might affect elections.

If you (not specifically you, but the whole word-policing subculture) don't take into account the impact of the perceptions you create, you do more harm than good.

Believe me, I know I'm a dick online. But I stand by what I say, even when I'm being a dick about it, and rethinking ableist language is vital if we want justice for people with disabilities, and that includes those with mental illness.

[Silent3]

34. I suffer from depression, and take medication for it

I don't personally give a shit about anyone calling anyone else insane or crazy or whatever -- how terribly "ableist" of me, and, I guess, self-destructive too. Oh, the humanity!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

35. That's fine! Other people *do* think using "crazy" or "insane" as negative words for someone acting

irrationally or unusually is ableist, whether they have depression, anxiety or some other mental disorder or illness. Which is why it's important to keep the conversation going.

[Whiskeytide]

20. The language notwithstanding, I think a significant ...

… number of Тяцмр supporters actually do have some mental illness, perhaps to to varying degrees. Many are simply “irrational," "ignorant" and "hateful", but many are emotionally and/or mentally dysfunctional. Horned helmet guy is a good example.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. Sure, any number of any population you pick out is likely to have some kind of mental illness.

And yes, Jake Angeli's lawyers are certainly interested in him being declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. For as hungry as people seem to be for incarceration and punishment, especially for the Jan. 6 insurrection, it surprises me that they're also interested in pushing a narrative of participants as having mental illnesses. That lets them off the hook people want to hang them on.

[Whiskeytide]

26. That is true. But I think the susceptibility to ...

… Q conspiracies, the inexplicable worship of Тяцмр, and the inability to critically process information - i.e. the typical Тяцмр supporter - suggests mental deficits more profound than mere ignorance and hatred. I get what you’re saying, but I just don’t think many of these people are psychologically healthy.

And personally I do draw a distinction among the Тяцмр insurrectionists as those there to do premeditated harm (zip tie cuffs, military gear and tactics) and those that merely followed along with the frenzied mob. All should suffer consequences, but the punishment should fit the provable evidence.

[Binkie The Clown]

37. And for the record, the context should make it clear that "stable" is meant in the physical or

mathematical sense of the word, as in stable isotope, or stable orbit. Or should we disallow the use of that word by physicists too?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

38. Is anyone asking for that consideration? I hadn't heard that.

[Binkie The Clown]

39. Check your post #14 for the list of words you objected to. nt

[cynical_idealist]

16. So many unfortunate humans are born without a BS detector

And others have it totally suppressed by lack of education, and bad data input

[Brainfodder]

18. How they don't question NON-STOP negativity as if we are 100% OFF 100% of the time?

As if half+ of the country is just out of their minds wanting HEALTHCARE FOR ALL so people who get one bad (or more) deal don't go broke.

[ShazamIam]

28. Fear based anger seems to be the potent tool of the conservatives to keep the Repulican vote.

Last edited Thu Jun 17, 2021, 09:14 PM - Edit history (1)

The "others," are taking over the cities, they are coming for your guns, they are stealing your jobs, no one is going to be allowed to be Christian, etc.

Edit: anged to anger, etx to etc.

[Mysterian]

30. We're not really evolved much beyond animal instincts

Many of us believe in superstitious beings which control our lives.

We have failed to control our population.

We use our technology to kill each other and destroy the only known biosphere in the universe.

Tens of millions of people in the USA look at Donald Fucking Trump and believe he's a great leader.