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Can You Get Out of Your Bubble Risk Free?
Most of us preferentially consume information because it comforts us and confirms our way of thinking. But it also makes it harder and harder to comprehend how anyone can think otherwise. I often think “the world is upside down”. It is easy to write-off “other thinking” as deranged and sometimes outright evil. In fact, as I write this I am having difficulty coming up with reasons to wade into progressive redoubts and listen to what they are saying. If I credit them with sincerity it will make me beyond sad that they can think and act that way; if I do not credit them with sincerity then it makes me blazingly mad to contemplate such mendacity.
I think we all understand the need to get out of our information bubbles. (If we want to preserve citizen-controlled government we have to persuade enough citizens to actively control our government in the right way.) Surveys show that conservatives are generally better at getting out of the bubble than progressives. But it is and can be painful to do so. So here is my query: What techniques do you employ to read/listen to progressive speech without risking an aneurysm?
Published in General
When Jordan Peterson got done grilling Abigail Shrier (acting as what I think is meant by a scout regarding her position, in other words) you felt pretty sure we should fight and can win a battle on the ground on which she’s standing. She checks out.
I agree. There are times when a person needs to be a soldier. Once combat begins, if you have the job of soldier, you should think and act like a soldier. Your comrades and you are now a team, a band of brothers, a tribe, and you all must think and act like it or risk destruction. You should not be a scout when the enemy is firing at you, and wait to fire your rifle until you are really sure that they are there, or that they are the enemy.
I shouldn’t have written: “She (Abigail Shrier) checks out”. I mean her argument or position checks out. Peterson didn’t scrutinize Abigail Shrier. He scrutinized her book.
Where the war, battle, soldier and scout analogy ends up being misleading is that the enemy isn’t people. It’s the false beliefs, stories and assumptions to which we’re all so susceptible.
There are probably some literal wars that could have been prevented if people had been more committed to finding out the truth about different things or more committed to avoiding taking action on falsehoods.
One of the podcasts I listen to did a deep dive on Angels, Demons, and other gods in the OT and, while he found the subject fascinating on an intellectual level, he could not figure how belief in demons and other gods points to Christ in his thesis that scripture points us to Him.
But belief in the existence of demons and satan shifts the focus of who the enemy is beyond your human “enemy”. Love your fellow humans, enemy or friend, because the real war isn’t with them – it’s with the evil forces animating them.
I think the theology is underrated in its usefulness to see our human adversaries as not the real enemy.
When I was in, 78-98, I was pleased at how little discrimination existed, at how we were judged based on competency. Women had a tougher row to hoe than any race had because we were opening doors previously closed to us. The military opened those doors as we proved ourselves and I never wanted one opened if I wasn’t deserving of entering. I knew my physical limitations. I have been retired 23 years now. It isn’t racism but whining that has increased.
You were in the Army ? Wow.
People at Ricochet have had so much wider an experience of life than I’ve had. Have you written about what being there was like at that time ?
Thank you for your service.
What podcast, Stina ?
LAND OF CONFUSION WITH EHERRING!
I was in the Air Force, in air defense radar, and retired a Lt Col. I entered through Officer Training School after getting my Masters. By then, I had taught in HS and college and wanted to do something different before returning to small town teaching jobs. My four years of excitement stretched into 20 1/2, when I decided my family needed me more so I retired and walked away.
My husband is also on ricochet and was an F4 backseater, an AF Academy grad who was commissioned upon graduation in 75. We have lots of great stories best told over a beer. I even have tapes of him in dogfights with me giving him “bogey dope.” I laugh at XBox gamers. I had a $5M setup and real airplanes.
The brotherhood never leaves you, though. There is something to be said of working alongside people who you would trust with the mission, your career, and even your life. I stand proudly for the National Anthem and Air Force song and applaud loudly those who stand for the other service songs.
And yes, that is one of the big pleasures of ricochet, we have so many diverse people and backgrounds. It is truly the most interesting place to be.
I’m very computer inept. Will someone please tell me how to get to the podcast episode mentioned in comment # 38 ?
It isn’t under podcasts. These are actually Zoom videos. Join the group called Land of Confusion. Links are posted there. Every time a new “podcast” comes out, I bookmark it. You can see all the old podcasts and some members even update a list of them to make things easier. I will search through my bookmarks and find the link for you.
See if this works. https://ricochet.com/802914/land-of-confusion-with-eherring/
Thank you. That brings me to Tory War Writer’s September 16, 2020 post. How do I get to your episode of the podcast OR how do I go about joining the “Land of Confusion” group (so that I can watch your zoom video) ?
The Bible Project podcast. His 22 part series on God starting in July, 2018.
,
Uh….oh yeah.
Thank you so much. Will do.
I had a buddy who graduated from the Academy in 73, John Rosser. Maybe your husband knew him.
I don’t understand the logic of this. Being analogies doesn’t make analogies misleading. It is what makes them useful.
Useful sources on this stuff:
Eastern Orthodox podcast, The Lord of Spirits.
Blog by one of the same Orthodox guys, The Whole Counsel of God.
Fiction books by Brian Godawa.
He said he didn’t. Different class and probably different squadrons.
I saw you successfully joined. Scroll through all the pages of posts and bookmark each episode. Then all you have to do is access your bookmarks, under member feed, to find them.
@rodin: my email is smart_delta@protonmail.com