Thomas on Warpcast

Content pfp

0 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Thomas pfp

@aviationdoctor.eth

In times when the zeitgeist pendulum is swinging the other way, and the Overton window has shifted so much (albeit imperceptibly, one outrageous behavior at a time) that we start to normalize behaviors from our leaders that were previously unthinkable, there is only one thing that matters. And that is: stick to your principles, whatever they may be. Those principles haven’t changed because of whatever take is fashionable, whatever public tolerance exists for one extreme or the other. If some core principles were sacrosanct to you ten or fifteen years ago, odds are they are still non-negotiable to this day. Don’t be swayed by whatever apologeticism is used to normalize the state of affairs, past, present, or future

6 replies

32 recasts

91 reactions

Chainleft pfp

100% agree. The only way to stop overton window shifting further is standing your ground strictly and not letting go of those principles. Everyone's inevitably swayed by cultural narratives one way or the other, but at times like these, people need to make a conscious effort to maintain their principles. It's remarkable how people who agree with me ignore the power of narratives (if I called it "meme" they'd agree) and only focus on specific cycles in politics (election, inauguration, etc)

1 reply

0 recast

4 reactions

Thomas pfp

@aviationdoctor.eth

In fact, I think it would be more appropriate to call it not the Overton window, but the Overton box-and-whiskers plot (a mouthful, I know). The median represents the centermost opinion (the 50th percentile), and the frame of the window are the limits of the mainstream opinions (the 25th and 75th percentile). Of course there are outliers (opinions considered extreme by those within the window) before and beyond that interquartile range. Thinking of it this way, it becomes visually obvious that the Overton plot can only slide *after* people have allowed their opinions to shift. Those with unchanging principles act as an anchor to the plot

1 reply

0 recast

4 reactions

Thomas pfp

@aviationdoctor.eth

Elaborating even further —gosh I’m just replying to myself at this point— there are two ways that people can let their principles be changed. One is (generalizing) people smart enough to have reasoned principles, but also smart enough to adjust their principles to new and convincing information (e.g. watching a nuanced debate and changing their mind accordingly). The other is when people just don’t have a robust opinion, or no opinion at all on a topic, and will sway whichever way the wind blows. For example, it’s been so long since fascism proved itself to be a failed experiment (just like communism, but even earlier), that most people alive today have only a tenuous grasp of what fascism really entails. They might see a billionaire do a fascist salute on national television, and accept the sanewashing at face value (“it’s not that bad, look at Werner von Braun, he was technically a nazi and brought wonderful things to the US!”). I’m ok with the 1st group, I’m worried about the 2nd

1 reply

0 recast

3 reactions