In which Wolf gives you a “captcha” that lets you quickly cut through a ton of online BS. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/9m-Moru7Ed8
In a recent video I recommended that you’ll save a lot of energy and time by quickly blocking people who add nothing intelligent to the conversation, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them. But sometimes it’s not obvious what you’re looking at: you may come across someone who is arguing passionately for their beliefs, and maybe they’re making some good points. You disagree, but wonder whether it’s worth your time to respond.
Some people you meet who are reasonable: they’ll listen to evidence and reason and maybe even moderate their beliefs, and some people are unreasonable: they’re so captured by a rigid ideology that no amount of evidence or reason could possibly sway their opinion. In video game terminology, these people are the NPCs— non-player characters. Like in games, they come pre-programmed with their positions and talking points, and nothing you say is going to make a bit of difference.
You’ve seen online “captchas” which are used to determine whether you’re a human being or a bot. I’m about to give you a quick, powerful “captcha” you can use determine whether you’re talking to an NPC or a real human being. If you determine that you’re talking to an NPC, you can either choose not to engage in a debate, or you could still choose to debate them knowing that it will only be onlookers who you might influence.
But first you need to learn to examine yourself. Why? To make sure that you’re not an NPC.
I want you to think of a topic you’re passionate about: something contentious, that you know at least some people will strongly disagree with you on. I mean, no one disagrees that water is wet, so pick something interesting. Got one? Good.
Now, focus on that deeply held belief, and ask yourself: “What sort of evidence would it take for me to change my belief in this, even a little?” Tough one, right?
If you honestly try to do this for awhile and can’t think of anything, then this might be a belief so close to your heart that it’s actually bound up with your identity, and to even consider changing it might feel threatening to you. That’s fine. OK, so in this case, try thinking about an aspect of your belief that’s smaller, and less important; maybe an aspect of the known history associated with it, and ask yourself the same question: “What sort of evidence would it take for me to change this smaller belief, even a little?” I’m not asking you to actually change your beliefs here, just to feel around their edges a bit. This exercise is intended to help you develop intellectual humility, which is a healthy respect for what you don’t know, and what might not even be knowable. Why is intellectual humility important? Because if you’re going to debate someone, then you’d like them to also be reasonable and humble about what they know. It’s just the Golden Rule: be for others what you would have them be for you.
Now here’s the trick: when you’re deciding whether to respond to someone online, consider making something like this your first response. “I appreciate your passion for this subject, and I think you’re making some good points, for instance: and here, tell them what you think is good, and make it sincere. Obviously not everyone agrees. Can you state anything that you appreciate about the other side’s arguments in this debate? Just one thing they’re saying that makes sense to you, even if you disagree with their conclusions?”
In my experience, if they don’t ignore you outright, what you’ll usually get back is a stupid joke or simple dismissal. In these cases, you now know that they’re an NPC, and you can safely ignore or block them. On the rare occasions when someone actually rises to this challenge, it might be worth talking with them more.
Real debates are shared searches for higher truth, where either party might end up changing their mind, or at least refining their position. Unfortunately, most of what happens online is just people throwing words at each other like they’re in a food fight. So before you waste any of your precious life energy, figure out whether you’re even talking to an NPC who is just going to robotically parrot back their talking points, or whether you’re in contact with a real human being who is capable of actually thinking about what you say. If that’s the case, great! But at that point, of course, you’re also obligated to really listen to and think about what they have to say.
If you found this tip helpful let me know in the comments, and if you like it or subscribe to my channel, it will actually help “the algorithm” know to show this video to more people. See you tomorrow!