A Counter-Intuitive Action

For nerdy types, that is.

Ask yourself - what am I feeling about this? - when you start seeing the "everyone agrees with us" meme starting to spread.

Sarah Hoyt brought this up on her blog today. She was concerned about the trolls that have taken up residence on her site, but it also applies to the persistent tactic Leftists use. Cass Sunstein wrote about it favorably - he called it a Nudge.

What is a Nudge? It's the cynical use of a long observed phenomenon - most people, when faced with choices, take the path of least resistance. Those wanting you to sign up for their email ads use it, by making the default choice a checked box. You have to take an action to opt out.

When given 3 choices, people generally choose the one that is intermediate - selecting the medium Coke, for example. Or, the middle-of-the-road politician, like Mitt Romney. Both major parties try to position their preferred candidate as the middle choice between extremes.

Are you finally understanding why Bernie has hung in so long? Without him, both Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg would be more easily seen to be Leftists. However, compared to Sanders, they look ALMOST normal.

By using media to initiate a Blitz of Bullshit, making a previously ridiculous idea seem to be the issue of the moment, the Left works to normalize their goals. Hence, the over-the-top painted Drag Queens in Libraries. They are MEANT to cause revulsion.

Later, when a bland Pete Buttigieg asks for your vote, you are so relieved at his seemingly normal appearance and surburan lifestyle, you accept his agenda as completely OK.

It's a concept called Moving the Overton Window. Put out a REALLY extreme idea (use the media to push it everywhere), and later, bring in a slightly-less extreme variation. By contrast, it seems to be reasonable.

All of this, sa Hoyt points out, uses the emotional part of the brain. I know, I know - most of us who gather here are not touchy-feely types. We tend to function in more-or-less rational mode on a day-to-day basis.

Unfortunately, the more logical Spockian types are particularly vulnerable to emotional appeals - IF you can bypass the rational filter by flooding it with distasteful images. That leads to revulsion, and triggers a more ancient response system to threats.

Once you actually get these unemotional types to react, they will work overtime to justify their response by explaining the rationality of that reaction. The more you point out that it is illogical, the harder they will push back.

Hence, the anti-Trump hammering down on issues/incidents that try to trigger that visceral response:

• Pee-pee rumors.
• "Trump admits sexual assaults" that involve no actual assault, admission, or offense, other than a very twisted interpretation of his words to a kid.
• Headlines that insist Trump's actions will "kill children", "starve people", and put them in cages.
• Insistence that Trump is racist, anti-gay, and abusive to women. No proof, but the meme hits all of the Left's favorite tropes.

Expect the Left to increase the pressure on your emotions.