Yeah, I have a terminally racist relative and was trying to explain to her why we should look after refugees. I asked her if her neighbor’s house burnt down whether she would invite them inside and offer them some shelter and comfort, and she agreed that “of course” she would. Then I asked about if it was someone from the next street over, and she immediately became hesitant about it. Sometimes I think as a species we just never psychologically evolved beyond living in a tiny village and fearing anyone we don’t know personally.
She saw where you were going. Or there is someone she’s racist towards that lives on the next street.
But this is the best way to both keep discussions level headed and root out the real cause of the opposition. Avoid the labels and names and just talk about general ideas, see how far they will go with “hypotheticals” that don’t trigger the reactions they’ve been embedded with. Even better, some street epistemology, often used with religion but it can be for any beliefs. The basic idea is to ask the person about their own beliefs and guide them in reasoning why they think that. It’s far more complex than just that, but that’s the idea, to let them come to conclusions themselves rather than some debate where their defense will come up and block any more discussion.
Yeah, I have a terminally racist relative and was trying to explain to her why we should look after refugees. I asked her if her neighbor’s house burnt down whether she would invite them inside and offer them some shelter and comfort, and she agreed that “of course” she would. Then I asked about if it was someone from the next street over, and she immediately became hesitant about it. Sometimes I think as a species we just never psychologically evolved beyond living in a tiny village and fearing anyone we don’t know personally.
She saw where you were going. Or there is someone she’s racist towards that lives on the next street.
But this is the best way to both keep discussions level headed and root out the real cause of the opposition. Avoid the labels and names and just talk about general ideas, see how far they will go with “hypotheticals” that don’t trigger the reactions they’ve been embedded with. Even better, some street epistemology, often used with religion but it can be for any beliefs. The basic idea is to ask the person about their own beliefs and guide them in reasoning why they think that. It’s far more complex than just that, but that’s the idea, to let them come to conclusions themselves rather than some debate where their defense will come up and block any more discussion.
It’s okay to care more about people you actually know in person.
It’s not okay to not care about everyone else, though.