Knee Jerk Hatred

[Yoshisummons]

I was having a intelligent discussion with two very old friends around age of 50+, talked about taxes on large Cooperation in America. It suddenly took a turn for the worst when a mention of the avandia drug being recalled. I expressed disdain over the hardships over the amount of research money and time invested in producing a new drug. Instantly a intelligent discussion turned into a roast of me. They expressed intense and rancorous hatred towards the extortion and profit of the said drug companies and were convinced about me being a sympathizer without me being unable to express my motivation and reasoning. I just want all the profit being used to create new drugs to cure the problems still around.

Shortened thesis: Why do people have a knee-jerk hatred response to not only this but a lot of other things, kicking reason and refusing to hear one side out before pinning them as evil?

 

[MassiveGeek]

I don't know.

I think it's a defensive reaction towards any and all expressions and/or opinions that contradict your own belief/knowledge, usually the type that you've convinced yourself that it's infallible and completely true. I do it sometimes, and when it happens you sort of go into a bubble, you can only see what you know, and anyone trying to pull you out will have to do it with you kicking and screaming.
The bubble is impossible to burst on the spot unless you're really, really skilled, because as you keep "attacking" the bubble, the person sets up more and more defenses that will make them even harder to reach.

Unless the person is very stubborn, giving them some time before discussing the subject again will probably make them not react this way again, they're more likely to just be cautious and/or sigh at you bringing up the subject, making them more accessible for communication.

Usually.

But this is just a theory, I don't know.

 

[TheZooblord]

I don't know. I just think people, perhaps especially in our country (The USA), aren't bothering to develop critical thinking skills anymore. Critical thinking being the full and thorough acknowledgment/consideration of both or more sides of an argument, before and while making your decision on how you feel. Heck, in schools we're brought up being told "To never acknowledge the other side of the argument when writing, as it weakens your argument." Up until college anyway. But sometimes even then. When you don't examine all aspects of something thoroughly, extremist views emerge. At the end of the day, people decide that although they want to spew an opinion they can't be arsed to think it through first, and they "know" they're right anyway. It's just human nature.

We really need to get better at making critical thinking a part of education.

 

[Brawndo]

Create a thread that suggests or endorses any viewpoint contrary to the prevailing winds on this forum and you will see dozens of examples of knee jerk hatred. Most people do not like to have their values challenged, and doing so will only cause them to dig-in deeper.

Maybe you just pressed the wrong buttons on these individuals. I think here are certain "hot topics" for every person stemming from some negative, intensely-personal experiences in their lives. For example, many of the more militant atheists were raised in oppressively religious homes or had some other run-in with organized religion that has made them so angry.

 

[Pips]

Heck, in schools we're brought up being told "To never acknowledge the other side of the argument when writing, as it weakens your argument." Up until college anyway. But sometimes even then.

Really? We're taught exactly the opposite in the UK, especially at later levels (currently 3rd year BA English). Rational argument is an extremely valuable skill.

As to why people have these knee-jerk responses, many of them are to things which we've seen said by the media/other people so often that one view has become the accepted "correct" one, and people will spout it without thinking.
Say something that contradicts this "correct" view, and you get the hatred response, because the person condemning you doesn't want to risk being seen to go against the norm by NOT parroting what they've been taught.

Short answer: It's a conditioned response, just like Pavlov's salivating dogs.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Heck, in schools we're brought up being told "To never acknowledge the other side of the argument when writing, as it weakens your argument." Up until college anyway. But sometimes even then. When you don't examine all aspects of something thoroughly, extremist views emerge. At the end of the day, people decide that although they want to spew an opinion they can't be arsed to think it through first, and they "know" they're right anyway. It's just human nature.

We really need to get better at making critical thinking a part of education.

Ack! Who the hell is teaching your English class?

I'm an English teacher in the US, and I am absoutely horrified that any writing teacher anywhere, particularly here, would ever say something as idiotic as "never acknowledge the other side" - the BEST arguments are ones that acknowledge the other side and then explain why that opinion is wrong (or less right, depending on the situation).

A teaching saying something like that is ignorant and/or lazy - and he or she is passing that ignorance and laziness on to his or her students.

 

[Blitzwarp]

Heck, in schools we're brought up being told "To never acknowledge the other side of the argument when writing, as it weakens your argument." Up until college anyway. But sometimes even then.

Really? We're taught exactly the opposite in the UK, especially at later levels (currently 3rd year BA English). Rational argument is an extremely valuable skill.

True story: in my A-Level History course our teacher had us pretend that we were Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, and hold an argument over our policies. Whilst replying to one of my classmates I used an expression like "I see where you're coming from", and the teacher went absolutely ballistic at me, telling me that you don't win arguments by sympathising with the other side. From that point on I refused to take part in the debate. =/

I have experienced knee-jerk hatred towards issues myself several times, and to be honest I have no idea where the hatred comes from each time. I am someone who likes to be right so it could be anger at finding out that facts I have perceived to be correct for a decent length of time then turn out to be wrong, and there have been things I've completely changed my mind about once corrected. I've also started to find that it annoys me in others, so I try to do it less myself. :>

 

[TheZooblord]

Heck, in schools we're brought up being told "To never acknowledge the other side of the argument when writing, as it weakens your argument." Up until college anyway. But sometimes even then. When you don't examine all aspects of something thoroughly, extremist views emerge. At the end of the day, people decide that although they want to spew an opinion they can't be arsed to think it through first, and they "know" they're right anyway. It's just human nature.

We really need to get better at making critical thinking a part of education.

Ack! Who the hell is teaching your English class?

I'm an English teacher in the US, and I am absoutely horrified that any writing teacher anywhere, particularly here, would ever say something as idiotic as "never acknowledge the other side" - the BEST arguments are ones that acknowledge the other side and then explain why that opinion is wrong (or less right, depending on the situation).

A teaching saying something like that is ignorant and/or lazy - and he or she is passing that ignorance and laziness on to his or her students.

I suppose it's different from school to school, but it was what I was told in every class from my very first elementary class focusing on persuasive writing (hell if I remember which grade that was) all the way through the end of high school. Non-English classes, too, such as American History, would say the same thing. It always bothered me so much, because its totally true that the best arguments need to acknowledge the other side, and also that you, personally as a thinker, grow and benefit from thinking everything through. My first college class way back when, English Composition 2, totally blew me out of the water when things got reversed and they began to require critical thinking and rational argument instead of insisting on a one-sided rant. I was so happy to find out that this college at least had it figured out lol. I get the impression that lower-level (high school and below) classes are the ones that tend to trumpet their "don't acknowledge the other side" argument, and then, maybe it's only because our papers are about a page or two long and they would prefer we not overfill the space alotted. Still. I totally agree. It cripples people if you spend all their young lives telling them never to think rationally.

I hope my case was an isolated one (besides the thousands of other people who came through the same schools as I did, that's pretty unavoidable) because it's pretty messed up and no surprise why there's a lot of knee jerkiness when you get older in addition to our natural aggressive responses to disagreement and cognitive dissonance.

 

[sky14kemea]

I have a knee-jerk hatred to Nicolas Cage, but I don't stop people from watching his gawd-awful movies. ;D

Okay real answer, Who knows? Maybe their parents were strong believers in that and it got passed on, or maybe they've heard really bad rumours and already have their minds made up with such force that they'd literally boil up into a rage about it? :0

People can be so strange at times, but then being passionate isn't always a bad things, just depends which area you use it in.

 

[TheZooblord]

I have a knee-jerk hatred to Nicolas Cage, but I don't stop people from watching his gawd-awful movies. ;D

Okay real answer, Who knows? Maybe their parents were strong believers in that and it got passed on, or maybe they've heard really bad rumours and already have their minds made up with such force that they'd literally boil up into a rage about it? :0

People can be so strange at times, but then being passionate isn't always a bad things, just depends which area you use it in.

Being passionate is always a good thing if you're Nicolas Cage. /swoon

 

[Pilkingtube]

I have a knee-jerk hatred to Nicolas Cage, but I don't stop people from watching his gawd-awful movies. ;D

Okay real answer, Who knows? Maybe their parents were strong believers in that and it got passed on, or maybe they've heard really bad rumours and already have their minds made up with such force that they'd literally boil up into a rage about it? :0

People can be so strange at times, but then being passionate isn't always a bad things, just depends which area you use it in.

Me too really, Nicholas Cage just rubs me up the wrong way, don't know why.

OT: Some people just don't have the capacity to accept being wrong sometimes, it's an ego thing.