Something I've noticed.

[Skyline]

I was talking to a friend about a subject an noticed something that was common amongst their view, especially with politics. Here are some of the common topics and questions I listen to and ask:


"Police are so corrupt they shouldn't be using that much force."

Me: "Have you been in a life threatening situation like they have been in?"

They say no.

"Men have it better than woman."

Me: "Have you ever experienced a situation where you felt that way?"

They say no and a mix of other things.

"Whites have so much more privilege than blacks."

Me: "When have you ever experienced a situation where you felt that you were literally superior than another human being despite living in the West Coast?

They say they haven't.

" Mexicans shouldn't be crossing our border"

Me: Well have you ever lived in dying poverty and under the rule of drug cartels?

They say no.

It just goes on and on... People voice an opinion from which they literally have no experience from besides hearing it on the news or reading it somewhere and they get this overtly strong opinion over it. Not taking shots here but I see this more often in the Democratic party...

 

[backbreaker]

I was going to say great post until that last sentence
that was really uncalled for and not necessarily true

people in general are not sympathetic to things they don't understand first hand

 

[logicallefty]

"Police are so corrupt they shouldn't be using that much force."

- I speak from a State that makes about any "What are the top 10 most corrupt States" list you will find from many sources.

- I speak as former police officer and detective.

Many police are corrupt, but many are not. Here, in my part of Illinois, I would say about 33% of police are corrupt and 66% are not.

The use of force pyramid police are bound to is not difficult at all. The issue is that many officers are not mentally sound enough to grasp it under intense pressure. So they ACT and then lie and back peddle to try and cover up their mistakes.

The biggest cop to fear most of all is the one who 1) hates body cameras and 2) flies off the handle if the public tries to record him in the line of duty... Run as fast as you can, these ones will get you... A good cop has nothing to hide and wants to be recorded for his own protection.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

There's a disconnect between the statistical prevalence of something in society (police brutality, etc) and our irrational fear.

Bad news sells stories. We see these bad stories on the news, and even though they are VERY rare, from a statistical standpoint, we see them and AUTOMATICALLY imagine what it would be like to be in that situation.

So you have a situation where millions of people are scared of terrorists, for example, but FAR MORE people die by drowning in the bathtub.

Sounds stupid, but if they spent ten percent of the time, money and effort on bathtub safety as they did on terrorists, they'd actually save more lives.

But if any news media put bathtub deaths as their main story, they'd go out of business quick.

So yea, people are terrified of things they've never experienced, and never WILL experience.

Believe it or not, cops are in the same boat. They are terrified of getting hurt or injured on the job, EVEN THOUGH they have less chance, statistically, of getting hurt than your local garbage collector.

Huge fear without a corresponding statistical corroboration.

To make it even worse, your average citizens believe that cops put their lives on the line all the time.

Don't go looking for any rational basis behind human emotions.

There is none.