Hanlon's Razor is my favorite rule for this very reason, because I’m way too quick to do this.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
"Any sufficiently stupid action is indistinguishable from malice"
Hanlon’s does tend to break down when one of the two political parties in your country have more or less devolved into theocratic fascists, though. Especially when they’ve got their plans published online, and they’re clearly quite evil, and they’re following said plans disturbingly closely.
The problem is, a lot of the people who support these people are just... Stupid
I have known many a coworker who talked about voting for trump and every time I engage them in conversation about it I realize all their genuine beliefs are against the GOPs policies entirely. They just are scared of things they don't understand and like them talking about how scary minorities are.
I'd argue Hanlon's razor is not a very good heuristic. It ultimately presupposes the user of it is the mental superior in the situation, and does not take into account polarized and ambiguous controversies. It also encourages energy wasting by presupposing the issue lies with mental capacity or education, suggesting that you could educate your opponent out of their stance.
I'd recommend moving towards more energy-conserving practices. Rather than arguing your points directly, it's better to first understand why the opposition would be taking their current stance and adjust your argument based on what common ground you both share.
Possibly the greatest skill is to just learn when it's no longer worth your time to argue with them.
RemeberFORGET the human!You're only saying that because you got owned recently.
(this is a joke)
I did encounter a very sour group on a certain subreddit somewhat recently haha. But then just yesterday I was searching something online, found a relevant Reddit post through Google, and found a comment thread where two people were tearing each other apart for no reason other than a slight disagreement. It wasn’t a “hmm, I don’t think so.” It was a long chain where the further you went, the darker, meaner, and snarkier it got. Wish I remembered it right now. That’s what got me thinking and making the meme. But yeah, maybe my own experience planted the initial seed.
Yeah internet culture can get pretty gross.
It's not right, but I'll admit the instance someone is from has an impact.
