if the government decides to increase the tax on gasoline to “fight Global Warming” this will impact the status of a lot of people.
That’s an indirect impact, which I don’t think is a plausible motivator. Like, it’s a tragedy of the commons, because each individual would be better off letting others jump in to defend their side, and free-riding off their efforts. It may feel like the real reason we jump into demon threads, but I think that’s a post-hoc rationalization, because we don’t actually feel twice as strong an impulse when the odds of changing someone’s mind are twice as high.
So, if it’s a tragedy of the commons, evolution wouldn’t have given us an impulse to jump into such arguments. If it did, our impulses would be to convince the other side rather than attack them, since that’s what benefits us the most through this indirect route. So, gining direct benefits form the argument itself, by signaling tribal affiliations and repelling status hits, seams more plausible to me.
A discussion on agricultural subsidies might have a huch larger indirect impact on an individual than a discussion on climate change, especially because it’s discussed so much less often. But talking isn’t about information.
That’s an indirect impact, which I don’t think is a plausible motivator. Like, it’s a tragedy of the commons, because each individual would be better off letting others jump in to defend their side, and free-riding off their efforts. It may feel like the real reason we jump into demon threads, but I think that’s a post-hoc rationalization, because we don’t actually feel twice as strong an impulse when the odds of changing someone’s mind are twice as high.
So, if it’s a tragedy of the commons, evolution wouldn’t have given us an impulse to jump into such arguments. If it did, our impulses would be to convince the other side rather than attack them, since that’s what benefits us the most through this indirect route. So, gining direct benefits form the argument itself, by signaling tribal affiliations and repelling status hits, seams more plausible to me.
A discussion on agricultural subsidies might have a huch larger indirect impact on an individual than a discussion on climate change, especially because it’s discussed so much less often. But talking isn’t about information.