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Author | Topic: Are you objective? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
People are put into a box on issues they don't want to be bothered with like the gun issue. Gun control isn't just some benign issue that it's supporters make it out to be (and they often do so while calling those they disagree with "rednecks" or something like it).
I do think a little perspective is needed on the gun issue. Especially when people are pin-holed as "irrational" or members of the non-objective community.
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
One key to objectivity is a reliance on evidence. Evidence of actual cause and effect relationships. One indicator of lacking objectivity is a reliance on the citing of things people believe. E.g. Lots of people believe in gods so the existence of gods is evidenced. Or people believe themselves to be safer when they own a gun so guns make people safer. Or the relentless citation of what people believe about migration rather than the facts of the subject.... Etc.
Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.
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LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
But it was the OP who made a comment that strongly suggested that whites were the ones who opposed immigration, while non-whites supported it.
Honestly, I bet most blacks reading this thread wouldn't disagree with me saying that they oppose immigration. It has to be one of the top issues in the black community. I could give you examples of black people I talked to in the last few days (and specific details). Just go and talk to any black males you see (the males are very friendly and won't shut you up if you talk about serious issues) on the street lol. Heck I just loaned a book to one I work with (and live near). I wasn't even slightly shocked when he sharply disagreed with me when I expressed pro-immigration views. He started telling me that immigration is a part of a "white plot" to make blacks suffer or something like that. Most blacks wouldn't disagree at all with my description (as long as I don't call anti-immigration views "racist"). I admit that polls make it sound like over 50% of blacks are pro-immigration but that can't be true (I'd like to see how many agree with Trump on immigration. I bet most would agree). I admit that the polls contradict much of what I say, but they sure don't back up the OP.
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined:
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It was one example pertaining to the wider topic of objectivity. You seem to have some sort of agenda going on in your responses that has caused you to seize on something that you think allows you to bring your particular bugbear to the fore.
Do you actually have anything to say on the subject of objectivity? Or not?
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LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
Section 8: Values About Immigration and Race | Pew Research Center
quote: I attempted to past this chart here but it wont paste6-4-12 V #92a | Pew Research Center |
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LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
quote: I made 1 post on the racial views on immigration OP comment. I didn't expect people to argue with me (perhaps I should have). The OP used three examples in the OP and this racial view on immigration issue was 1 out of 3 (33.33%). People have been arguing with me ever since. Now you say I shouldn't even respond at all to the OP on the issue? And I think the issue of what people choose to cover (or conversely what not to cover) is an issue of objectivity and bias. Thank you very much.
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
So objectivity and how one might seek to achieve it? Anything? Anything at all?
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LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
I think I might know how to respond to you on the specific issue. Let me check back later. I have other threads to read for now.
(if the OP was only offering the 3 examples as an aside, then I hope I didn't disrupt any of the "real topic" discussion) Carry on folks.
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Percy Member Posts: 22391 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 5.2 |
LamarkNewAge writes: But it was the OP who made a comment that strongly suggested that whites were the ones who opposed immigration, while non-whites supported it. The sentence "How people see immigration depends upon whether they're members of the majority race in their country" from the opening post was an example of a poorly supported belief resulting from lack of objectivity. I used that example because of the recent thread With a dying white race, why are we not encouraging more white births?, where that attitude was much expressed. It was not intended as the topic of this thread. This thread is about objectivity. --Percy
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LamarkNewAge Member (Idle past 738 days) Posts: 2236 Joined: |
I don't have it presently, but he had a very interesting chapter on Global Warming. Here is the Guy Harrison book 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think are True.
50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True - Guy P. Harrison - Google Books The Global Warming chapter showed polling that about 80% of Democrats accept it and 75% of Republicans doubt it. However he noticed that the respective (self-identified) party members only took the position because it was a partisan political-party issue, NOT because of scientific evidence. He was critical of all sides for turning it into a Red/Blue political issue which ensured a wedge right down the middle of our nation when the issue shouldn't be so polarizing. I agree with him. Like, Harrison, I think the scientific evidence is very clear in support of man-made global warming. But I also can't stand the tone of most global-warming supporters. They seem to be angry if anybody even asks questions and quickly ridicule people. I appreciate all the discussion that right-wing radio brings to the climate issue, and it gives a rare opportunity for science to be a topic brought to tens of millions of radio listeners. If the supporters of mainstream scientific evidence would just be polite and non-political, then much education would be possible. I accept global warming but I respect people asking questions about just how much man contributes to the issue. I also respect those who say that the economics of controlling fossil fuel emissions might be worse than doing nothing. The human cost to increasing energy prices can hurt human progress in many areas-including scientific research. The path to more efficient fuel cells requires energy-sucking computer simulations (especially at the Exaflop level). How quickly one advances technologically depends on how fast economic growth is. A robust world-economy fuels much higher research and development budgets. I was listening to C-SPAN after Obama announced tough new regulations for the power plants everybody currently uses. Callers called in and said that while they accept global warming (so many callers had to put in a disclaimer "I accept global warming" so they wouldn't be called morons or idiots), "we have to work with the technology we have now," "we can't afford solar panels," "these regulations on existing power-plants really will hurt poor people," etc. Those who make fun of those asking tough questions about the global warming issue need to respect the full spectrum of concerns and issues at play. Strawman "responses" and arguments are far too common. I'm not saying anybody at EvC does this, but it does happen a lot. And lets understand that every side ("left" or "right") is full of lemmings who just follow their leader(s). Everybody (in every place) engages in group think. People rarely think for themselves and are quick to use issues as a political football.
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Hyroglyphx Inactive Member |
Black African immigrants (to the USA) and American-born blacks H-A-T-E each other. Aside from South African black-immigrants, I can assure you that black African-immigrants consider whites less racist against them than (multi-generational) African-Americans are. I'm not proud of the growing anti-immigrant views among Americans but (multi-generational) blacks are the worst. If we are speaking in generalities, and it sounds like we are, then anecdotally I have witnessed similar findings that you are describing. I have seen American blacks treat Haitians and blacks from other countries with disdain, and I've seen blacks very upset about an increasing Asian and Hispanic population that are gentrifying neighborhoods that historically were almost entirely black-owned. Many black Africans view African-Americans with contempt for being disrespectful, and I've seen African-American's feeling superior because they were part of the slave trade which places them in a league of their own. I've witnessed all of that. BUT, in the spirit of the OP on being objective, I've also seen the inverse to be true as well. I've seen white Americans being very receptive towards immigrants and I've seen others despising the idea. Take it all with a grain of salt, judge on a case-by-case basis and remember that painting with a fine tip produces greater accuracy than painting with a large brush. "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Hyroglyphx Inactive Member |
Thank you for this fine anecdotal example of lack of objectivity. LOL! I thought it was a little ironic too given the thread's subject. "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Hyroglyphx Inactive Member
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One key to objectivity is a reliance on evidence. Evidence of actual cause and effect relationships. One indicator of lacking objectivity is a reliance on the citing of things people believe. E.g. Lots of people believe in gods so the existence of gods is evidenced. Or people believe themselves to be safer when they own a gun so guns make people safer. Or the relentless citation of what people believe about migration rather than the facts of the subject.... Etc. All true, but it's also important to remember that in some cases the evidence itself may be skewed to fit an agenda. In terms of gun control, both proponents and opponents have a strong incentive to fluff information. It's kind of like manipulative polling tactics. The numbers may be accurate, but the questions themselves may be suspiciously loaded and designed to elicit a specific response. Sometimes we can be overly-reliant on citations that may be questionable. Edited by Hyroglyphx, : No reason given."Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Hyroglyphx Inactive Member |
I made 1 post on the racial views on immigration OP comment. I didn't expect people to argue with me (perhaps I should have). The OP used three examples in the OP and this racial view on immigration issue was 1 out of 3 (33.33%). People have been arguing with me ever since. Now you say I shouldn't even respond at all to the OP on the issue? He was just using it as an example of a divisive topic where people can lose their objectivity. I don't think it was said as an invitation to discuss it at length. "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
Evaluating evidence is part of taking an objective approach.
The tobacco industry and evidence on health effects is an example of where things can go wrong if people have an agenda, but ultimately facts are facts and there comes a point where the true picture becomes inarguable. I would put forward climate change and gun advocacy as examples of those in denial about facts in much the same way that the tobacco industry was previously. All the same signs are there.
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