There’s also the (overlapping) question of how much the issue ties into peoples’ identity. See “Keep you identity Small” and most of EY’s stuff on politics, especially anything that mentions the blues and the greens.
Why is an opinion on Gaza more likely to become a part of someone’s (from Europe or America) identity than e.g. an opinion on Darfur?
For me it’s mostly the network effect. I care more, because people around me care more. I also care more because I have more information, but that again is because people around me care more. If people around me stopped talking about Gaza, it would be just as easy to forget as Darfur.
What keeps this topic alive, is the memetic chain: Gaza is linked to Israel, which is linked to Jews, which is linked to Nazis, which is linked to WW2 and its aftermath, which is linked to our contemporary politics. Also Jews are linked to Old Testament, which is linked to Christianity; in USA, Israel is linked to Religious Right; and the religion is again linked to politics. This all together gives Gaza a high “Page Rank”.
Darfur could get some “Page Rank” through the former colonies of European countries, but that link is much weaker and outdated.
The mindkilling emotions are not caused by the human suffering, but by pattern-matching it to the political situation around us. This triggers the feeling of “it could happen to me, too” and switches the brain to the battle mode.
This year the US gave roughly $3 billion to Israel, $500 million to Gaza and the West Bank, and $31 million to Sudan. I care about the conflict between the first two largely because my country funds it so heavily.
Excellent points. Another important memetic connection goes through the node “Muslims” (more specifically “Muslims vs another group that most Westerns consider culturally closer”); this connects to 9/11, the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya and Benghazi, Muhammed cartoons and free speech, and many other politically charged issues.
It seems like people sort of turn into utility monsters—if people around you have a strong opinion on a certain topic, you better have a strong opinion too, or else it won’t carry as much “force”.
There’s also the (overlapping) question of how much the issue ties into peoples’ identity. See “Keep you identity Small” and most of EY’s stuff on politics, especially anything that mentions the blues and the greens.
Why is an opinion on Gaza more likely to become a part of someone’s (from Europe or America) identity than e.g. an opinion on Darfur?
For me it’s mostly the network effect. I care more, because people around me care more. I also care more because I have more information, but that again is because people around me care more. If people around me stopped talking about Gaza, it would be just as easy to forget as Darfur.
What keeps this topic alive, is the memetic chain: Gaza is linked to Israel, which is linked to Jews, which is linked to Nazis, which is linked to WW2 and its aftermath, which is linked to our contemporary politics. Also Jews are linked to Old Testament, which is linked to Christianity; in USA, Israel is linked to Religious Right; and the religion is again linked to politics. This all together gives Gaza a high “Page Rank”.
Darfur could get some “Page Rank” through the former colonies of European countries, but that link is much weaker and outdated.
The mindkilling emotions are not caused by the human suffering, but by pattern-matching it to the political situation around us. This triggers the feeling of “it could happen to me, too” and switches the brain to the battle mode.
This year the US gave roughly $3 billion to Israel, $500 million to Gaza and the West Bank, and $31 million to Sudan. I care about the conflict between the first two largely because my country funds it so heavily.
Excellent points. Another important memetic connection goes through the node “Muslims” (more specifically “Muslims vs another group that most Westerns consider culturally closer”); this connects to 9/11, the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya and Benghazi, Muhammed cartoons and free speech, and many other politically charged issues.
In Europe, immigration is another one of those heavily charged issues connected to Muslims.
It seems like people sort of turn into utility monsters—if people around you have a strong opinion on a certain topic, you better have a strong opinion too, or else it won’t carry as much “force”.