Do special interest forums beget extremism?

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ubermensch

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Do you think that joining this forum (or others like it) lead you to become more extreme in your views? If so, why?

Competitive social comparison?--You found out that others were more into guns than you, and so you became more extreme.

Persuasive arguments?--You heard a lot of great ideas that favored a more extreme position. (or you found out just how bad things really are)

Social identity concerns?--You came to strongly identify with the pro-gun crowd and despise the gun-grabbers. You do not want to be mistaken for a gun-grabber, so you make yourself as pro-gun as you can.

All of the above?

None of the above?
 
This forum, others like it, lots of reading, and lots of thinking have led me to understand just how extreme a position the people of my country have taken over the last 200 years; first slowly, over generations, and now so rapidly that each year brings a position more extreme than the last.

You can call me extreme, or my country. Potayto, potahto.
 
I'm not so sure I've become more "extreme," although that depends on your definition of extreme. I know my positions have changed--I used to be somewhat anti, having absorbed the "nobody needs" and "no legitimate sporting use" and "for the children" rhetoric without any particular inspection on my part.

Then I actually tried shooting guns, and reflected on all the hysteria about guns that comes from the pro-gun-control side, and I thought, "All that about this? It's just a gun. It's...a simple little thing and certainly not worth all that effort." I read more, saw some arguments that changed my mind about things, etc.

But I don't know that adopting a pro-gun stance is "extreme." If anything, it would be remarkably conservative.
 
But I don't know that adopting a pro-gun stance is "extreme." If anything, it would be remarkably conservative.
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Extremism can be applied to any stance and any ideology. You could be a remarkably extreme conservative. :neener:
 
What someone writes in a forum is what they think.

The forum is a place to let it out, at some level of anonymity. What you do when anonymous is a window into your soul.

A forum does not make someone anything, IMO. People who spew invective and emote rather than think are already extreme. The forum is where they show it off.

One can learn more and change opinion, as Rumble did. That can occur through many means other than forums. If someone flips their lid, methinks it was a matter of time before it happened, not necessarily how they got there.
 
Okay, the word "extreme" was not meant to be evaluative. How about strengthened, solidified, bolstered, etc.

When I first joined a flashlight forum, I thought lights were neat. When I left had developed a flashlight dogma that I could never be without two lights on my person, must carry spare batteries, willing to spend $200 on a light, etc.

I tend to think that it is mostly picking up information that you would not have been exposed to otherwise.
 
Do special interest forums beget extremism?
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I've pondered this question myself any number of times as I tend to do the mental exercise of trying to see the farthest extremes of a position in order to measure my own location on the scale of things.

The general conclusion (for myself) is that the freedom of forums like this tend to allow people to explore positions they might not otherwise think about, but by the same token there are PLENTY of folks here who are willing to call a "reality check". :D

I've played "devil's advocate" plenty of times and even found myself somewhat caught up in the heat of a debate before, but there has also been a regular dose of having my some of my opinions get (justly) curtailed by excellent critical thinking that others have voiced.

Of course in my experience this place (THR) has never been a "we rulez and you suxkz" kind of place so control, respect, and moderation (you know, The High Road) tend to be the norm (with a certain amount of tolerance built in for the chest beating "I'm really worked up and I need to vent" kind of days).
 
I am of the extreme school that believes a personal weapon should be of a caliber that starts with a 4. That is something I learned, so yeah, hanging out on gun forums can have its effect.

Politically extreme, absolutely. When you really know something about it, gain some focus, and actually do more than just vote, you would be relatively extreme.
 
I don't think so. I think education on a topic is the best counter to extremism. Ignorance begets extremism, IMHO.

Ignorance is why some people advocate sending guys with machineguns and black body armor to kick in the doors of people who own small-caliber rifles with protruding handgrips, because they have been misled into thinking that AR-15's are "weapons of mass destruction" so dangerous that civil liberties violations are justifiable in order to get them out of society.

Most extremist political movements in this country have arisen from moral panics, which are driven by fear and ignorance, not deep knowledge.
 
Okay, seriously you guys are hung up on the word extreme. Becoming more in favor of freedom is to become more extreme on that belief. But, it is a move in the right direction!
 
Okay, seriously you guys are hung up on the word extreme. Becoming more in favor of freedom is to become more extreme on that belief. But, it is a move in the right direction!
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Taken to an extreme freedom is anarchy.
 
Anarchy literally means "no authority." Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. The fact is that we choose to give up some of that total liberty we are born with in exchange for security--Rousseau calls it the social contract. I just wish that our ancestors had not given up so very much of that liberty. No one but your god has true authority over you. Everything else is an illusion and a farce.
 
Do special interest forums beget extremism?

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Do you think that joining this forum (or others like it) lead you to become more extreme in your views? If so, why?

Competitive social comparison?--You found out that others were more into guns than you, and so you became more extreme.

Persuasive arguments?--You heard a lot of great ideas that favored a more extreme position. (or you found out just how bad things really are)

Social identity concerns?--You came to strongly identify with the pro-gun crowd and despise the gun-grabbers. You do not want to be mistaken for a gun-grabber, so you make yourself as pro-gun as you can.

All of the above?

None of the above?
Click to expand...
Hmmmm...

That really reeks of someone doing research for a Master's Thesis in Sociology or Political Science.

Interesting question though.

My answer to the question: look into herd psychology to find your answers.
 
Werewolf, you are partially correct. I am in social psychology though, and just doing this for my own curiosity.

These are the explanations commonly hoisted upon groups like this by researchers, and I just wanted to see if any of them rang true with you guys.

And the phenomenon is called group polarization.
 
Do special interest forums beget extremism?

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Do you think that joining this forum (or others like it) lead you to become more extreme in your views? If so, why?
NO I become more educated

Competitive social comparison?--You found out that others were more into guns than you, and so you became more extreme.
NO, I'll never have 20 1911's or 50 AR rifles

Persuasive arguments?--You heard a lot of great ideas that favored a more extreme position. (or you found out just how bad things really are)
I have heard alot of great Ideas and have become more prepared for a number of events including natural, terrorist, criminal and governmental dangers.

Social identity concerns?--You came to strongly identify with the pro-gun crowd and despise the gun-grabbers. You do not want to be mistaken for a gun-grabber, so you make yourself as pro-gun as you can.
NO I have become more pro active in supporting my rights as a citizen under the constitution. I'm not a gun grabber as much as a proponent of freedom of rights. I agree with many in teh forum and gind there are many others ith the same/similar goals.

All of the above?
YES

None of the above?
 
In answer to your original question, yes, to a degree. But it is a good thing. I find I have learned a lot, and believe educating ones self to be a good thing.

On a related note, online forums, and the internet in general are forms of First Ammendment extremism.
 
I slowly changed my views after reading the thoughts and reasons others have for others. It slowly helped to form my own. If these views are viewed as extreme by some than I would argue that their views are probably on the opposite end of the spectrum or extreme in my opinion.
 
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