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Philosophy: Have you guys noticed that there is vanishing middle ground?

It definitely seems that way. The culture wars from the puppet master elites create radicalized opinions.

I often get attacked for being moderate just as much as if I were far to one side. Most people believe there is only one correct way to think-- their way.

I see many liberals react to people claiming to be apolitical as assuming that means they are far right. I see many conservatives refuse to modify their opinions on anything, even in the slightest, for diehard ideology reasons.

Everyone sucks and is some level of brainwashed.

People no longer use philosophy or critical thinking to discuss anything, because they just google shit on their phone and let others think for them. They have dust in their skull, sand in their mind.

People have become dumber as we rely on technology more.
 
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gordonliddy said:
I am of the opinion that back when I was a lad (1990's) it was easier to enter philosophic middle ground. Being indifferent to politics was something of an institution.

Am I crazy to think this? Anyone notice the opposite?
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You're not imagining it. I've noticed a very sharp synthetic divide in the population that has been growing ever more polarized with each passing year. Neoliberalism has really done a number on the world. Global capitalists benefit from divide-and-conquer because it keeps people distracted while they gobble up all the capital.

As a moderate/centrist, I am always somebody's enemy because I typically refuse to automatically take sides without studying the matter and drawing my own conclusions. Most issues are complex and aren't either/or, but humans are raised (or have perhaps evolved) to have highly localized, tribal understandings. At the end of the day it's easier, and perhaps less threatening, to simply divide issues into black and white and then choose a side.

This is why I'm looking forward to AI becoming more advanced. AI won't give a shit about biases. It will collate vast amounts of any data we tell it to, and it will give us an objective answer if we know how to ask it the right questions. Human biases seem impossible to overcome, and the huge industrial complexes are so vast and embedded now that they can easily play people's biases like a fiddle. I'm tired of it.
 
Foreigner said:
This is why I'm looking forward to AI becoming more advanced. AI won't give a shit about biases. It will collate vast amounts of any data we tell it to, and it will give us an objective answer if we know how to ask it the right questions. Human biases seem impossible to overcome, and the huge industrial complexes are so vast and embedded now that they can easily play people's biases like a fiddle. I'm tired of it.
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sounds nice, but how do you convince humanity to listen to such an AI? it could end up being just a modern day Cassandra, cursed to watch us destroy ourselves.

we're such a debased, garbage civilization that i'm convinced any such AI would just be pearls before swine. if history is any guide, we only learn from catastrophe and it has been so long since the last great catastrophe that we're just continuously getting shittier and more solipsistic.
 
thujone said:
sounds nice, but how do you convince humanity to listen to such an AI? it could end up being just a modern day Cassandra, cursed to watch us destroy ourselves.

we're such a debased, garbage civilization that i'm convinced any such AI would just be pearls before swine. if history is any guide, we only learn from catastrophe and it has been so long since the last great catastrophe that we're just continuously getting shittier and more solipsistic.
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AI won't be "watching" anything because it won't be sentient. It will basically just be one giant statistics collator that is capable of telling us anything about ourselves that we want to know.

The best of us will use it to help solve some of the current problems. The rest of humanity will be what it always has been, an idle waste of space.
 
Anytime someone attacks my position on anything irl I just bring up the fact that the federal reserve has been robbing us blind for many decades. The middle ground is discussing boring shit no one has a clue about.
And the points everyone else has brought up are valid. And snafu is not moderate lol
 
My theory is that social media has caused people to develop oversized egos and now they can’t handle the idea of being wrong. People just want to talk and not listen, so you essentially have a large number of the population engaging in conversations with themselves. I read that many academics, the people who are usually the most qualified to speak on issues, are too afraid to do so because they fear losing their jobs.

I gave up hope a long time ago.

I used to dream of moving to Canada but supposedly it’s not much better than America.

*several minor edits/slightly better grammar.
 
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sigmond said:
People just want to talk and not listen so you essentially have a large number of the population engaging in conversations with themselves.
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Precisely. When you try to discuss politics many people will retort by explaining what they believe you must think, based on what they've been told by talking heads, instead of actually debating what you've said. They form their point by putting words in your mouth. It's not a discussion, more like reciting a monologue.
 
sigmond said:
My theory is that social media has caused people to develop oversized egos
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I agree with that. To that I'll add that ten people ranting outside of the Mayor's Office in...Mayberry, North Carolina probably won't inflict much ill upon the world, unless it is truly a slow week for news. But those same ten people online can make life hell for about any politician with a series of online petitions, social media freak-outs and hacking incidents.

It seems to me that goodly men are oft too busy to organise online trolling. Online trolls are by necessity people of below average morals and temperment.

sigmond said:
and now they can’t handle the idea of being wrong.
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You know? And I remember as a lad how silly the red-faced men sounded when they shouted about the perils of "participation awards" and such, and yet now we find that the young have skin so thin as to preclude them from taking part in healthy dialog.

sigmond said:
People just want to talk and not listen, so you essentially have a large number of the population engaging in conversations with themselves.
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You're not kidding about that! To that I'll add that during COVID I think that a lot of previously functional people discovered that they liked being self-centered.
 
sigmond said:
My theory is that social media has caused people to develop oversized egos and now they can’t handle the idea of being wrong. People just want to talk and not listen, so you essentially have a large number of the population engaging in conversations with themselves. I read that many academics, the people who are usually the most qualified to speak on issues, are too afraid to do so because they fear losing their jobs.

I gave up hope a long time ago.

I used to dream of moving to Canada but supposedly it’s not much better than America.

*several minor edits/slightly better grammar.
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Canada is gone. I would honestly not move here if I was you. They are about to experiment with digital ID, cashless society, social credit, and basically communism. I'm not exaggerating. Canada is the pilot project for the world economic forum. We are fucked.

I agree with you 100% that social media has dumbed people down. A lot.
 
Foreigner said:
Canada is gone. I would honestly not move here if I was you. They are about to experiment with digital ID, cashless society, social credit, and basically communism. I'm not exaggerating. Canada is the pilot project for the world economic forum. We are fucked.

I agree with you 100% that social media has dumbed people down. A lot.
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It’s brutal online. Everyday I see people regurgitate information that is blatantly wrong but I know it’s useless to try to correct them. It’s been this way since around 2012 or before. There’s still pockets of the internet, like this subforum, where you can have a reasonable debate but all the main internet sites are overrun by lunatics, hypocrites, and imbeciles.

I find it strange that Canada is becoming more communist, because I fear America is becoming more fascist. It’s always a bad time to be homeless, mentally ill, addicted, or poor, but I’ve noticed an increased hostility towards these groups since 2016.
 
sigmond said:
It’s brutal online. Everyday I see people regurgitate information that is blatantly wrong but I know it’s useless to try to correct them. It’s been this way since around 2012 or before. There’s still pockets of the internet, like this subforum, where you can have a reasonable debate but all the main internet sites are overrun by lunatics, hypocrites, and imbeciles.

I find it strange that Canada is becoming more communist, because I fear America is becoming more fascist. It’s always a bad time to be homeless, mentally ill, addicted, or poor, but I’ve noticed an increased hostility towards these groups since 2016.
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Your assessment is correct. I think the US is headed for fascism and Canada for communism.
 
so called "middle ground" is vannishing.Ehhhh 90.....it was hell here then,but was better from now....one of the reasone-at least here internet was just beginning.no cell phones.people read a books and talk.i was younger.People in general were far more calm(despite everyday shootings and bombs blasts surrounding the mafia"s wars)...still exist some friendship.The Evil was not so strong than now......How many steps till the Eternal Void?
 
RhythmSpring said:
Dare I choose the middle ground in this discussion and say that the middle ground still does exist, alive in the hearts and minds of many people--just that their voices are drowned out by the extreme view-holders?
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I’m not totally sure what the reality of this is, but just a few years ago democrats wanted to have a controlled border, gender ideology and it’s extreme nature wasn’t a thing on the left, etc etc.. All of this cultural nonsense which is pushed by both sides, only started after occupy wallstreet and the tea party movements.
 
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