What "Everybody" Thinks

The most annoying thing about pundits and politicians (regardless of ideology) is how they presume to speak for "everybody".

These kinds of comments are, of course, fallacies of the "gross generalization" variety, but they happen with a frequency that is both alarming – and predictable. They're alarming because you'd think these people would know better. They're predictable because, without resorting to a gross generalization fallacy of my own, most people tend to fall into the same trap that ensnares these individuals. That trap is what I call environmental complacency.

This particular trap is based on the herd mentality most people have. They herd together among like-minded (and looking, sounding, believing, etc) individuals who share the same values, behaviors, traditions, customs and language. Most importantly, they often share the same OPINIONS. This in and of itself isn't unusual. Mankind did, after all, evolve in tribes and we have an evolutionarily reinforced impulse to seek out our "tribe". Google calls them "circles". And I've mentioned this predisposition before.

But, this isn't environmental complacency. That's when people begin to think of the rest of the world as being part of the same "tribe", when, clearly, it isn't. At least, not insofar as those opinions go. That's when the gross generalization fallacies start blooming. Because the people these individuals surround themselves with all sound, look and think alike, those individual begins to think that "everyone" else does, too. Opinions are stated outside of the tribe that aren't well received. Attitudes, behaviors, traditions, customs and other such stuff that is perfectly acceptable, even encouraged, in one group may be all but evil to another. And it's that lack of awareness that one is dealing with others that are NOT in the tribe which causes the most difficulty.

These speakers get complacent. They think because everyone they normally talk to has the same opinion, then it's okay to share that opinion with others they don't normally talk to. Those people are outside of the speaker's normal environment. How what's said is interpreted by those outsiders varies widely depending on the tribe to which the outsiders are speaking.

For example, a group of football fans getting together will be pretty focused on what they have in common and speak in football terms regardless of what "tribe" they otherwise belong to. But you get the same group talking about something else, and all of a sudden, they all belong to different tribes. Democrats and Republicans, wealthy and poor, Religions galore. They can sit down together and have a great time talking football, because they all have that interest. As soon as football goes away, bam, you have totally different, often diametrically opposed tribes eyeing one another warily ready to start a war over a difference of a cherished opinion.

They forgot they were talking to people outside of their tribe. That's environmental complacency.

As for agreement, the point isn't making everyone outside of your tribe agree with you. The point is being aware that this difference in tribe exist.

Obviously, I'm aware of it.

And that's where WHY one puts stuff out becomes important. Saying moronic things like racist remarks or speaking as if one expects others to act in a positive manner isn't even remotely going to be taken well. The expectation one should be feeling when speaking to non-tribal members is hostility. As long as that's understood, great. Often times, though, it isn't understood that hostility to what one says is expected. Many a pundit and politician has had to spit his or her foot out after expressing thoughts or ideologies whose approvals are exclusive to the tribe to which the speaker belongs.

Most people don't put out opinions that are intended to do any good. Most people express opinions because they want to feel better about themselves or express their rage, hatred, intolerances, etc. Some do it well. Most don't. And the whys of it are usually quite selfish.

As for me and my environmental complacency, there are a few things I will never be able to wrap my head around but they all reduce to one thing: Irrational thought.

I just don't get it. I don't get how people can be so self deluded as to think they have the "only" way to think, act, believe, etc. It just doesn't compute to me. And most people who are the most guilty of succumbing to environmental complacency are those who are the most irrational to begin with.  Their environment reinforces their irrationality because everyone around them are equally irrational.  Cults, terrorists, extremists, Evangelical Christians - they all pool together and begin to think that their way is the only way and then commit the biggest sin of trying to ensure everyone else becomes members of that tribe whether they want to be or not.  (Yes, to me they're all the same thing mentally speaking.  They differ only in tactics.)

But you can usually tell who they are.  They'll say the most outrageous things (and not in a good way) and be very surprised when most other people react negatively to them.  Arguing with them is pointless because their environment (usually) doesn't allow for dissent.  Extremism like that causes a closed-tribe mentality.  They should be left alone, or killed, depending on the amount of danger to society they exhibit.

My opinions, I've often stated, are MINE. They belong to no one else simply because I arrived at my opinions in my own way and no one else has taken that exact same path. They share similarities with other people's opinions, but the foundations and nuances often differ.  (Most people's opinions are equally unique, assuming they're founded on available facts and not simply parroting other people because the person wants to "fit in".)

I express them freely here, to those who aren't in "my tribe" mostly because I think they need to be put out there. Not to make anyone believe them, or to verbally bludgeon anyone into complying with my environmental expectations. I put them out there as kindling. Some will gather it up and light a fire of rational thought in their heads. Others won't. That's fine by me. But one sin I can't be accused of is environmental complacency. I NEVER express an opinion expecting anyone to agree with it. I express them to tell others where I stand and if they agree or disagree, fine. The former proves one has fallen victim to environmental complacency. The latter proves they have risen above it.

So the next time you see shocked faces over an opinion you expressed, and you didn't think it would happen because of what you said, at least you now know what social sin you've committed.