Excellent. I am a fan of kindness and I witness the goodness of others on a regular basis. Much healthier way to live our lives. With positivity and right action. Thank you for your wise words.
"...you say hello, to Uncle Joe, then look again, and you'll find it's your Auntie Flo! Masculine women and feminine men, which is the rooster, which is the hen? It's hard to tell them apart today, and say...." This article reminds me of the famous song "Masculine Women, Feminine Men" by Irving Kaufman in 1926 in which......wait for it......many Americans were apparently becoming confused about who was a woman and who was a man because of changing fashion, hair styles, etc. The song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTIJ9dpX-w. Whether folks are lamenting the changing morals or lamenting the changing hairstyles, it seems that many people, particularly many of those who are in their 40s and above, believe that "x" is "worse" than when they were kids. It's so refreshing to see someone post study results that show that no, decency has not declined; only our perception has changed. It's not fact to say that decency has declined; it's a "feel-fact", a neologism invented by Stephen Colbert, for when somebody "feels" that "x" is true, so to them, it's fact (even though it's really not a fact lol). The song I reference pokes fun at all the fuss some Americans were making about the changing times, but this sort of hazy, nostalgic impulse takes on a dark form when you think about the MAGA crowd and the desire to return to, well......some imaginary past? "Girls were girls and boys were boys when I was a tot, now we don't know who is who or even what's what, knickers and trousers baggy and wide, nobody knows who's walking inside, those masculine women and feminine men!"
Thank you for this great reminder. Especially, here in the US where there appears to be more of the 'hate' and 'extreme' expressions that definitely feels very different then when I was growing up. Much more 'fear-based' conversations then I ever was a part of before. How to keep seeing life through what's 'kind' in the world sometimes seems more challenging to do.
I wonder if just knowing this (more likely, actually believing the results) would itself make people act more kindly, especially towards someone perceived to be on the side of “those people” who are leading “the rest of us good people “ to moral decline? I’m not sure. (And of course, I have my own such beliefs, biases, about people who identify with a certain political party, ahem, MAGA folks.
I bet it would make people act more kindly. It's all in the power of expectation. "The Expectation Effect" by David Robson outlines this idea in his book. Highly recommended book, btw!
Excellent. I am a fan of kindness and I witness the goodness of others on a regular basis. Much healthier way to live our lives. With positivity and right action. Thank you for your wise words.
indeed!
"...you say hello, to Uncle Joe, then look again, and you'll find it's your Auntie Flo! Masculine women and feminine men, which is the rooster, which is the hen? It's hard to tell them apart today, and say...." This article reminds me of the famous song "Masculine Women, Feminine Men" by Irving Kaufman in 1926 in which......wait for it......many Americans were apparently becoming confused about who was a woman and who was a man because of changing fashion, hair styles, etc. The song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTIJ9dpX-w. Whether folks are lamenting the changing morals or lamenting the changing hairstyles, it seems that many people, particularly many of those who are in their 40s and above, believe that "x" is "worse" than when they were kids. It's so refreshing to see someone post study results that show that no, decency has not declined; only our perception has changed. It's not fact to say that decency has declined; it's a "feel-fact", a neologism invented by Stephen Colbert, for when somebody "feels" that "x" is true, so to them, it's fact (even though it's really not a fact lol). The song I reference pokes fun at all the fuss some Americans were making about the changing times, but this sort of hazy, nostalgic impulse takes on a dark form when you think about the MAGA crowd and the desire to return to, well......some imaginary past? "Girls were girls and boys were boys when I was a tot, now we don't know who is who or even what's what, knickers and trousers baggy and wide, nobody knows who's walking inside, those masculine women and feminine men!"
Thank you for this great reminder. Especially, here in the US where there appears to be more of the 'hate' and 'extreme' expressions that definitely feels very different then when I was growing up. Much more 'fear-based' conversations then I ever was a part of before. How to keep seeing life through what's 'kind' in the world sometimes seems more challenging to do.
I wonder if just knowing this (more likely, actually believing the results) would itself make people act more kindly, especially towards someone perceived to be on the side of “those people” who are leading “the rest of us good people “ to moral decline? I’m not sure. (And of course, I have my own such beliefs, biases, about people who identify with a certain political party, ahem, MAGA folks.
I bet it would make people act more kindly. It's all in the power of expectation. "The Expectation Effect" by David Robson outlines this idea in his book. Highly recommended book, btw!
Great post - I came across your take on this paper after reading Scott Alexander's take: https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/is-there-an-illusion-of-moral-decline