Prof: Extremists tend to dominate debates

Well...

...duh!

It's the same principle as spoiled children. Scream, kick and make a public nuisance of yourself to get what you want.

I like the report though - hopefully it'll pave the way for use extreme moderates, whose only extreme-beliefs are that everyone else so far has constantly f-ed things up, and it's time for some new thinking and common sense.

Why did...

.. I immediately think of those screaming that the changing climate is all our fault ?

A grenade ? Seems appropriate !

@TRT

Sure it is. Giving the odious twerp enough rope to hang himself in front of millions of people can only be good for democracy. Silencing Sinn Fein on TV didn't kill off their support in the 80s, not that I would do a Red Ken...

Old news

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."

(attributed to Bertrand Russell)

Commentards...

Or, people desperate for attention will adopt views more likely to get themselves noticed!!!

Yes this means you!!!

Oh, and me I guess....

You cannot put a compromise on a banner

The statement of the bleeding obvious.

You cannot put a compromise on a banner and gather the crowds under it to storm the Bastille. Compromises allow sustaining, not advancement.

Same as the positive thinking. You cannot make a crowd throw itself onto the bayonettes via a feel-good fuzzy positive thinking message. They have to hate to do that. Similarly, if you want a group to create something revolutionary you have to give them a pet hate object. A golden standard of "how this should not be done". They can from there on derive the "how to do it" themselves and they will often do it much better than a "positive idea" formulated by a visionary.

@James 5

Strangely I thought the opposite to you.

The ones with the biggest mouths about climate change are the deniers - they tend to use extremes like "all to do with us" instead of the the indisputable (scientifically) "we are contributing to".

Well Then!

"The US right wingers... #

By Dennis O'Neill Posted Thursday 22nd October 2009 14:26 GMT

...do this every day. Every single white, right wing Christian fundamentalist preacher believes the whole of America is on his side. (And it is, with the exception of Ann Coulter, always a he.) That's why they were so outraged when Obama won the presidency - it proved they weren't in the majority and they've been screaming blue murder ever since."

COMMENTS!

Now with 60% more IRONY!

@James 5

"Why did I immediately think of those screaming that the changing climate is all our fault ?"

What's more interesting is why you, as an extremist in climate change denial, felt able to voice what you thought.

My theory is that the anonymity of the interweb negates any reluctance that loud mouths may have in voicing an "extremist" viewpoint that no-one else shares.

"pro-alcohol extremists"

Sounds like my sort of terror campaign !

Let's wipe those soft-drink canning facilities off the face of the earth !!!!

polls

Some research should be done if extremist type of people, or strongly opinionated ones are more inclined to participate in voluntary polls. I always wonder when reading some poll or survey: who are these people who are willing to fill one in? What's their motive?

Anyway a perfect recent demonstration of the trick-cyclists' research was the perception of the liberal faction in Iran that a majority of their country were supporting their viewpoints and wanted 'change'. The more accurate polls have demonstrated the election outcome was a good reflection of the actual sentiments. Strange enough it was hardly picked up by most media, even here.

Bgeh

Another press release from DOBO by any chance?

A marked similarity to nuptial precipitation.

@AC Well Then!: If you have to write "irony" in all caps you don't have the slightest idea of what it is.

Which, in a curious reversal of Russell's paradox, may actually be ironic.

Everyone thinks just like I do don't they?

One of the first lessons learnt in Social Science Research Methods 101 is that everyone tends to think differently – and this seems to come as a shock to most people.

It isn’t just extremists who think everyone else thinks like them, it is most of us.

Hmmm

Social psychology has a weak track record in studies with broad generality. As it's a long reach from college drinkers to adult political attitudes, this one seems more like a preconception in search of any shred of analogous support. And, as pete 2 pointed out, this is just another variation of (uncited) previous work.

heavily polarised nature of US politics

That's just the idiots talking. Pay no attention. They're off their meds and only out for a day at a time.

Predictable

".. I immediately think of those screaming that the changing climate is all our fault ?"

Because these people are of course "the minority."

In reality, only Andrew and a few dudes who could as well be in the orbit of the 9/11 truthosphere are saying so.

Extremists think that most people think the way they do? Well, my dear Victor, the experience was a success!

Humm

Isn't the anti-alcohol majority that are the extremist viewpoint in this scenario, given that it is they who are actually quite happy to be trampling on the liberties of others? Who says extremists are defined by being in the minority?

Death...

... to all fanatics!!!!!

But seriously, "the more you hear these extremists expressing their opinions, the more you are going to believe that those extreme beliefs are normal for your community," explains Morrison.

And what about us "extremists" who, like Voltaire say "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"?

(NB before anyone starts setting up straw men, you have the right to express an *opinion*, you do not have the right to call on others to cause harm to those you don't like, ok?)

a few good men needed

As was known after the fall of the Nazis

"Evil prevails when Good men do nothing"

It is a shame our society is breeding ignorance and a generation so engrossed in consumerism that we are following the same path as before.

@ A marked similarity to nuptial precipitation.

I most certainly do understand the propper use of the word ironic, and the comment was, indeed, most ironic.

The literal meaning of the comment demonstrated how the irrational behavior of certain groups/individuals mirrors that of the extremists described in the main article and how this was a negative phenomona, but did so in a tone that is itself consistent with said levels of irrational fervor. This meets the definition of irony because the literal meaning of the text is incongruent with the implied meaning; the author is decrying the attitudes of others, whilst assuming those same attitudes when making that pronouncement.

It is ironic in the same sense that the statement "Extremism is bad, therefore all extremists must be hunted down and locked away." is ironic; it both literally decries extremism but implicitly espouses it.

Also, you seem to have missed the reference being made by the capital letters. I was purposefully imitating the overwrought manner in which television advertisements present products, placing undue emphasis on key words in order to draw attention to product features (often of dubious value and expressed in ambiguous units).

Moreover, the claim that you can tell whether or not an author understands the correct usage of word based solely on capitalization is, without substantial evidence, quite absurd.

Your move.

@ Kwac

"@James 5 #

By Kwac Posted Thursday 22nd October 2009 15:46 GMT

Strangely I thought the opposite to you.

The ones with the biggest mouths about climate change are the deniers - they tend to use extremes like 'all to do with us' instead of the the indisputable (scientifically) 'we are contributing to'."

Would it not be more correct to state that "we are utterly incapable of determining, with any degree of certainty, whether or not humans contribute to climate change, as making such a determination is impossible due to the observer’s paradox," so long as we are talking in terms of absolutes.