Howdy!

Hello to all.

I've decided to keep my leaning undisclosed simply because I feel that sorting everyone into two categories is counter-productive. Most people will preemptively disregard whatever 'the enemy' posts, and I think that people in general end up adopting far-whatever stances simply because they feel compelled to flee as far away the stances of the enemy group as humanly possible. I believe that vestiges of our primitive social instincts are partially to blame for extreme polarization. Nuance dies when people start to think about things in binary terms: us vs 'the other'.

I'm not someone who believes that the 'moderate' position is always the correct one. I'm not a moderate by any stretch, but I do believe in looking at things through different perspectives. What I have found, over the years, is that sometimes something as simple as your exact wording, or how you approach a topic can make a world of difference. I don't expect everyone to always end up agreeing with me, but I do think that if the person that I'm talking to doesn't seem to get my point at all, then that may be a failure on my part to properly convey my thoughts.

I think it's important to abandon all ambitions towards converting people. It's naive to think that you can walk into a thread and magically turn a progressive into a champion of laissez faire economics, or convince a red-hat wearer to despise the president. It's not going to happen, and you're only going to frustrate yourself if you make something like that your goal. The best that you can hope for is to not converse with a brick wall. When we are receptive towards hearing others out, we may find ourselves changing our own perspectives and stances, albeit slowly and subtly.

I've experienced an entire overhaul of my religious views, and it's primarily thanks to numerous forum debates, but that took years. Facts alone do not win arguments, nor do they change hearts and minds. Even being particularly persuasive and having a knack for empathizing with one's opponent isn't enough. We tend to be married to our beliefs, and what we think we know, and it takes time for most people to abandon their beliefs.

Welcome to DP Enjoy your stay here. :2wave:

You're a tad wordy, but welcome to Debate Politics Flowey eace

Darn. I thought at first this was a Howdy Doody remembrance thread.

Rogue Valley said:

You're a tad wordy, but welcome to Debate Politics Flowey eace

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I think I might qualify as being one of those 'likes to hear himself talk' types. I have a habit of engaging in textual masturbation.

Darn. I thought at first this was a Howdy Doody remembrance thread.

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I couldn't think of a way to start this thread. 'Howdy' is what a psychotic flower says to your character in the first few minutes of the game, 'Undertale'. I'm a little obsessed, and hopelessly geeky. I almost reenacted the whole scene as an introduction, but then thought that doing so would be too hammy, even for me, and completely lost on a group of people mostly outside of the demographic of people who tend to play video games.

Welcome to DP, look forward to the discussions.

Uh... bye. Hope you enjoyed your stay here, despite its brevity. :lol:

Then I'm gonna not hold my tongue.


If one is to conceal one's lean, one might not wanna start with "Howdy".

haymarket said:

Darn. I thought at first this was a Howdy Doody remembrance thread.

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I held onto that kazoo for a long time but I don't think I still have it. I remember bits though. Guess I was about 5, ~1976. I remember we've talked about it before.

ecofarm said:

I held onto that kazoo for a long time but I don't think I still have it. I remember bits though. Guess I was about 5, ~1976. I remember we've talked about it before.

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Howdy was great. Tim Burton should do a film about the show.

Well that didn’t take long.