this post was submitted on 09 May 2024
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When people are talked down to, they often dig in their heels due to an emotion called psychological reactance. The reactionary ape that still exists in every human feels challenged and that ape will not allow reason to stop it.
If you see such a reaction and allow yourself to believe "well that person was just an immature child", you risk giving yourself license to keep talking down to people. Repeat ad nauseum.
It doesn't matter that you're objectively correct about the effect meat has on the biosphere if you just keep going around that circle, creating 0 new vegans every lap
I mean scientists tried being polite and give gentle nudges with the climate crisis for decades and look where it got us. Civilization is driving towards a cliff and we've thrown away the steering wheel.
When I was younger I used to think that being nice to people and engaging them on their own terms is the best way to win people over to your cause, but at the end of the day people don't actually bother to change unless they realize that they need to for their own survival. So I'm done putting all my eggs into the respectability politics basket, and I'm not going beat around the bush on what a fucking cataclysmic crisis we're being faced with.
I certainly won't win anyone's affection, but if I can get at least one person to pause and ask themselves "..Am I in danger..?" then I'll take that as a win. If others think they can win people over with kindness, they're welcome to try.