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Penn Says - Disagreeing Doesn't Make You...

Penn (Penn & Teller) makes the point that Contradictory opinions aren't always a sign of evil incarnate.

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15 Comments

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psychologyprofessor : LVL 29: VP 3.8: said:

psychologyprofessor

25 votes NegativePositive

535 days 19 hours ago...

"(Muzafer Sherif a psychologist) intrigued with the issue of INTERGROUP CONFLICT, the research team decided to investigate the process as it developed in boys` summer camps. although the boys never realized that they were participants in an experiment, Sherif and his associates consistently engaged in artful manipulations of the camp`s social environment to observe the effects on group relations.

What the researchers learned is that it didn`t take much to bring on certain kinds of ill will. Simply separating the boys into two residence cabins was enough to stimulate a "we versus they" feeling between the groups; letting the boys assign names to the two groups (the Eagles and the Rattlers) accelerated the sense of rivalry. The boys soon began to demean the qualities and accomplishments of the other group; however, these forms of hostility were minor compared to what occurred when the experimenters purposely introduced competitive activities into the groups` meetings with one another. Cabin-against-cabin treasure hunts, tugs-of-war, and athletic contests produced name-calling and confrontations. During the competitions, members of the opposing team were labeled “cheaters,” “sneaks,” and “stinkers.” Afterward, cabins were raided, rival banners were stolen and burned, threatening signs were posted, and lunchroom scuffles were commonplace.

At this point, it was evident to Sherif that the recipe for disharmony was quick and easy: just separate the participants into groups and let them sit for a while in their own juices. Then mix together over the flame of continued competition and there you have it: Cross-group hatred at a rolling boil."

Source: Robert Cialdini`s book INFLUENCE

Does this study remind you of any other conflicts??

Contrapunctus : LVL 26: VP 3.5: said:

Contrapunctus

9 votes NegativePositive

535 days 17 hours ago...

^ Greatest response ive ever read, so true its shocking, if we could get rid of parties and just let our representant ( is that how its spelled ) vote individualy on laws and project we would probably get a goverment much closer to its citizens.

phloydzep : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

phloydzep

1 votes NegativePositive

535 days 14 hours ago...

Penn`s right about the stereotypes that far too many people seem to still believe (especially about southern states), but he`s overlooking a key point - that it only takes one man to assassinate someone. Just one fucked up individual with his (or her, you never know) convoluted ideas and twisted motivation to cause a tragedy like that.

As for the first post, I`ve never really understood such in-group/out-group hostility - if it`s genuine, that is, and not just a more playful rivalry to relieve some pent-up emotions.

Aids_Sauce : LVL 28: VP 3.7: said:

Aids_Sauce

Hidden (Show Comment) -13 votes

534 days 21 hours ago...

@psychologyprofessor - Survival of the fittest. Very good post my friend, I enjoyed reading that.

Carlos8717 : LVL 26: VP 3.5: said:

Carlos8717

1 votes NegativePositive

534 days 4 hours ago...

I think psychologyprofessor has a great point. Look at our own lives, think of something as simple as high school, every kid was in a group, even those who had no official group clung to one another. A lot of our behavior derives from the behavior of our ancestors, forming groups would make perfect sense to ancient man since it would create a greater chance of survival. We can not expect to rid ourselves of the need to survive seeing that is has been a large part of being human for thousands of years.

KarlJohanson42 : LVL 1: VP 1: said:

KarlJohanson42

3 votes NegativePositive

534 days 4 hours ago...

Mixed in with some valid points, Penn paraphrased someone saying "*some* redneck will shoot Obama", by suggesting that that means they are saying that `all rednecks or all blue state people will want to shoot him`. Strawmanning a point and arguing against your strawman version is intellectually dishonest.

Karl Johanson
www.neo-opsis.ca

Dave Says : LVL 37: VP 4.5: said:

Dave Says

0 votes NegativePositive

533 days 20 hours ago...

He`s right except George Bush IS evil, oh and he hates black people too.

jarcaf : LVL 37: VP 4.5: said:

jarcaf

1 votes NegativePositive

533 days 16 hours ago...

"Strawman" is going to be another one of those terms that I see EVERYWHERE now that I know what it means.

jaxus : LVL 30: VP 3.9: said:

jaxus

2 votes NegativePositive

533 days 14 hours ago...

At the same time, we, meaning the general population, have no idea how many times assassination attempts have been thwarted already, against Bush or Obama. And that`s the point. If we knew about every time someone made plans to assassinate a leader there would be an even greater sense of paranoia then there already is. Will there be assassination attempts on Obama? Yes. Will there be more than if he was white? Possibly, because race gives another issue for people to view him as different and, as Mr. Penn Jillette points out, different often is viewed as evil.

draser : LVL 35: VP 4.3: said:

draser

0 votes NegativePositive

533 days 12 hours ago...

^Your point you just made reinforces your point you just made. Bravo if you meant to be sarcastic.

There are many IGNORANT, not stupid, people who haven`t have the chance to learn like we have. Most of us here are lucky to have the curiosity that we have and there happens to be many people out there who do not have the time to devote the amount of time that we do to learning. It`s mostly not their fault and by saying stupid things about them will only make tensions worse and will not help them or solve anything. There are many people who work two jobs and are brainwashed by the shit they se on TV. It`s like being mad at someone not knowing how to speak a language that has lived in a hole their entire life. It`s not their fault for not knowing and it`s our job to teach them and help them even if they get made becuase they think we are just making noises for no reason.

MasterPlanz : LVL 31: VP 4: said:

MasterPlanz

2 votes NegativePositive

533 days 12 hours ago...

Penn`s argument focuses on supposed blue state stereotyping of "rednecks" as violent and racist.

He makes the mistake himself of stereotyping liberals as stupid and reactionary.

And he doesn`t address the fear that many liberals have that Obama may be under threat from his political opponents. Political assassinations happen all the time, all around the world...
You are naive to think that they don`t
And in Obama`s case, it would then be easy to pass something off as racially motivated, a crime of passion (or race hate) as opposed to something more calmly calculated.

I sincerely hope Obama is elected, but I also hope he has some serious, heavy-duty security protecting him. Yes, evil people ARE out there, racist or not.

numnums : LVL 44: VP 5: said:

numnums

-1 votes NegativePositive

533 days 10 hours ago...

I hope to god Obama isn`t elected because blacks will expect more special treatment and hand outs then they receive now. Welfare, Negro college fund, double welfare because they cheat the system, Black churches, Housing projects, Low income family assistance, Section 8, ETC.... If any more of my paycheck goes to taxes to support these lazy, worthless, non-contributing, reproduce like roaches, waste of space niggers I`m going to go postal. Why support a race or anyone for that matter, that gives nothing back to society but problems and bitches why didn`t we get this or that. I say FUCK OFF and earn it like everyone else!!!!!! My money that I earn should not goto someone that is not willing to work PERIOD!

jitensha : LVL 18: VP 2.7: said:

jitensha

-1 votes NegativePositive

533 days 7 hours ago...

^^
I love the way you immediately voted yourself up one for such a moranic and indeed "redneck" comment. I had to log in just to vote you down to zero again.

mufasa1023 : LVL 36: VP 4.4: said:

mufasa1023

1 votes NegativePositive

533 days 3 hours ago...

^NN, actually whites make up the largest group of welfare recipients

and by your logic-you wouldn`t want any money from anyone else either right? please remember that whenever you decide to receive school scholarships, social security, or medicare/medicade

Sejs : LVL 34: VP 4.2: said:

Sejs

0 votes NegativePositive

530 days 14 hours ago...

Alright, am I seeing things, or does Penn have a really big scar running down the side of his face?

Good lord that looks like it was mean.

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