I just had a scary conversation with someone I love. He used to hate trunp and all that means but has slowly been going down a rabbit hole. I've tried to talk sense to him but I can't seem to speak with authority (even on subjects I'm confident in) or without emotion. (Man, my Mom was so good at that. She became more articulate the angrier she became.)
(1/x)
But today, I became seriously worried. He believes that we are being invaded. He thinks trump is the victim of a witch-hunt (I told him that's because trump is a witch.) That we will be removed from our homes and that Biden is the authoritarian, not trump. He truly believes that people are coming here to seek retribution.
I'm lost. He's not following qanon but he might as well be.
I want to cry
2/2
True story: my husband was on the phone with a tech support worker in the US shortly after Biden was elected. We (and the rest of the world) were elated. But this young woman was terrified. She said, “now I live in a communist country.” My husband asked if she thought 🇨🇦 was a communist country. He said, communism is all about the government owning all businesses in a country. Even with Biden as president, the US is still a capitalist country — so as far from communism as 🇨🇦 is. 🤷🏼♀️
That's what my nephew said too! Wow.
When I said capitalism sucks he said it's all there is and there's nothing bad. He actually said that he must not be working hard enough or he'd be rich. He works ALL THE TIME.
Sigh.
Shoveling that crap into people’s minds — instead of an educated understanding of what the differences are in each of the political ideologies — keeps people from thinking they deserve better than indentured servitude.
I think well. I can write well when I give myself time. But I cannot seem to speak well. Never was able to articulate my thoughts well.
Maybe I'll write to him.
Yes, and it's sad that people don't understand what the differences are in political ideology and economic systems. But our educational system sucks
Here’s a good article with some practical advice. And there’s another one I just need to look up…
Okay…this is a long, but interesting read. They’re studying ways to inoculate people from believing disinformation. The technique is called pre-bunking: showing people the techniques and emotionally charged words used in disinformation to manipulate people. Theory is you can teach people what kind of techniques are used, so they can spot them going forward. The psychology nerd/teacher in me finds this study useful & hopeful. Scary times we’re living in. ☮️
@KimberlyN @Mary625 There are also other ways to help people come to better conclusions, such as #DeepCanvassing and #StreetEpistemology . All three of these methods work better than arguing, ridiculing, or throwing facts at them, because they bypass the reflex known as the Backfire Effect. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Backfire_effect
Thank you! I've got this, along with other articles in this thread, bookmarked. I've only read a few so far and watched 3 videos. All great stuff
@Mary625 @KimberlyN Here is a short 2 minute video that I like to show to people who are new to these ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASn-VdevwTE
@Mary625 @KimberlyN
I'm thinking that maybe these techniques are the answer to many of the problems in our culture, if we can learn to apply them. Here is another longer video when you have the time. Well, more it's like a podcast really.
Thank you! Bookmarked
Man, this entire thread should be published somewhere. The articles, videos and advice anyway. Awesome answers. Thank you!
@ambulocetus @KimberlyN
Thank you. This is great. I sorta did this, unknowingly, with one part of his argument about jan6. I'll try to do it not often with more forethought