Civil Resistance in 2021 Is Essential | Hacker News Reader

Civil Resistance in 2021 Is Essential

rogerhallam.com

17 pointsgefhfff5 comments

We don't believe the science, because we don't WANT to believe it. And it's still 10-20 years away, we think. We will just move north (or south). We will just move inland or uphill. We can science our way out of this shit. Not true. None of that is true. When food prices start to skyrocket, and refugees swarm in from every direction including our own country, where will we go? This should be seen as a slow motion meteor strike, a world-buster event that happens right in front of our eyes before we can react. But we must take action.

Speaking less to the content and more to the crowd here. But Im always shocked how much climate change, science, politics, and news is so polarizing. I never see coherent arguments about why its not real but I see plenty of arguments about why it’s easy to defer. Usually the argument is an optimization around status quo. Why change our behavior, etc.

What would it take for you to change your behaviour either way? If youre more into belief, how would you be pursuaded to do something, or to encourage others to do nothing.

The stakes seem too high to be neutral.

I care about the issues I care about, not the issues people tell me I should care about. Anybody who has a problem with that should ask whether I should have a problem with them caring about their issues.

People just assume that their issues are the right issues, and everybody else who doesn't care about them is evil, blind, or lazy. That's... pretty arrogant, actually. It's good to have people who care about some of the other issues, too.

My guess is some polarization comes from over identifying with an in group or an issue. So to disagree is threatening their sense of self.

Could also involve stoking passions for political gain.

Finally when someone is convinced the stakes are life or world (as we know it) ending then they're more inclined to be offended by dissent. Especially if they see collective action as the only solution.

When I left a culty branch of Christianity it was hard to overcome the indoctrination and social pressures. "It's your eternal soul! Suffering forever!" And "what about your kids!?"

Thank you. So many people want to escalate their issue to the status of some existential cause that we all must pay attention to. It would be a lot more valuable to hear about an actual way forward, rather than just some rent seeking.

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