My problem with the idea of non-coercion

 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Anti-coercionists are usually found among the more libertarian libertarians, anarchists and hippies. Coercion, for the uninitiated, is essentially persuasion but with force or psychological intimidation. Putting fear in people.

Now, it sounds lovely to have us all sing Kumbaya and link hands around a tree, but society doesn't work like that. Bertrand Russell one said, with great perception, that as energy is the fundamental concept of physics, power is the fundamental concept in social science. Coercion is but a means to power, the Will to Power, and it requires intelligence in order to use properly. Only the foolish see coercion as a force lacking nuance and variation.

Coercion requires ruthlessness, ambition and duplicity; some of the greatest attributes nature saw fit to grant us with. Coercion for the ambitious is as money is to the capitalist. Now, am I arguing that we should beat the living shit out people who disagree with us? No, of course not. But to completely revile coercion is to misunderstand how humans interact with each other.

If you aren't ruthless at something, you're worthless.


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My stupidity is self evident.
I can sort of see where you're coming from.

For example coercion is usually seen as perfectly acceptable when there is a clear difference in competence or mental capacity between the "coercer" and the "coerced"(provided the thing they are being coerced towards fits within certain ethical/social bounds). Am I entirely wrong in thinking this sort of thing is where you're coming from?
Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 02:08:19 PM by SexyPiranha


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.


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My stupidity is self evident.
Could you expand on that a little?
I'm having trouble articulating much of anything right now, sleep makes me pretty dumd.

Such as how taking care of mental patients can be seen as coercive in itself, but, there being a clear difference in mental capacity, it is considered acceptable.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Such as how taking care of mental patients can be seen as coercive in itself, but, there being a clear difference in mental capacity, it is considered acceptable.
Not even as big a diverge in intelligence is needed. Coercion takes place between intelligent people within government all the time, it just tends to be subtler.

The point is, coercion is usually a sign of superiority in certain contexts. It isn't universally undesirable.


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Coercion is only necessary when another person resorts to it first.
If everyone acted civil and resorted to logic and debate rather than having a conniption whenever a disagreement or them being proven wrong took place we would have no need for force in the first place.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
If everyone acted civil and resorted to logic and debate rather than having a conniption whenever a disagreement or them being proven wrong took place we would have no need for force in the first place.
That's as unrealistic as it is boring.

Intimidation can be a necessary process for furthering one's own aims.


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"flaming nipple chops"-Your host, the man they call Ghost.

To say, 'nothing is true', is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say, 'everything is permitted', is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.
Why is my immediate thought that it sounds like your point of view makes the Crusades seem like a good thing?


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Why is my immediate thought that it sounds like your point of view makes the Crusades seem like a good thing?


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If I'm not here, I'm doing photography. Or I'm asleep. Or in lockdown. One of those three, anyway.

The current titlebar/avatar setup is just normal.
My only problem with coercion is when it's the go-to method, rather than plan-b.

In a perfect world it would be great if you could communicate and get across what your aims are and why you are doing for (for what, I assume is) the general good of everyone involved. But then I suppose we aren't in a perfect world, are we.

I see coercion is used, and in most cases, for the better. I use it myself, though I still find it kinda erring on the grey side of things


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If everyone acted civil and resorted to logic and debate rather than having a conniption whenever a disagreement or them being proven wrong took place we would have no need for force in the first place.
That's as unrealistic as it is boring.

Intimidation can be a necessary process for furthering one's own aims.
Maybe you should read my full post.
Coercion is only necessary when another person resorts to it first.
Simply put, if you resort to coercion before your competition, you're the one in the wrong.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Simply put, if you resort to coercion before your competition, you're the one in the wrong.
Except coercion used only in self-defence is ineffective as a proactive approach; it's purely reactive. Coercion and intimidation are good for the motivation of the passively stubborn.


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Simply put, if you resort to coercion before your competition, you're the one in the wrong.
Except coercion used only in self-defence is ineffective as a proactive approach; it's purely reactive. Coercion and intimidation are good for the motivation of the passively stubborn.
Stubbornness is a form of coercion.
Sitting and doing nothing, or continuing to do something, after being proven wrong, is basically saying,"Yeah, you can't do anything anyway, so you don't matter.".


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Stubbornness is a form of coercion.
coercion
kΙ™ΚŠΛˆΙ™ΛΚƒ(Ι™)n/Submit
noun
the action or practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

No, it isn't.


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Stubbornness is a form of coercion.
coercion
kΙ™ΚŠΛˆΙ™ΛΚƒ(Ι™)n/Submit
noun
the action or practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

No, it isn't.

Holy shit, learn to read my posts.

Sitting and doing nothing, or continuing to do something, after being proven wrong, is basically saying,"Yeah, you can't do anything anyway, so you don't matter.".


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
Holy shit, learn to read my posts.
I did.

If you think stubbornness is a form of coercion you really don't understand coercion, at all. It takes a big leap to go from not acting on something despite evidence to the contrary and then taking that as a judgement of worthlessness. Coercion, by definition, is explicit in its application. Stubbornness doesn't contain any measure of intimidation or threat.

The U.S. government, by not passing carbon taxes, isn't coercing economists or climate change scientists. Just because I don't quote your entire post, it doesn't mean I didn't read it.
Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 03:14:05 PM by Meta Cognition


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\
 Stubbornness doesn't contain any measure of intimidation or threat.
No, stubbornness implies that you don't care what your opposition thinks, because you can deal with them if they try to take action against you.
The U.S. government, by not passing carbon taxes, isn't coercing economists or climate change scientists.
It does tell economists and climate change scientists that the government thinks they're evidence is worthless, because they're not doing anything.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
\
 Stubbornness doesn't contain any measure of intimidation or threat.
No, stubbornness implies that you don't care what your opposition thinks, because you can deal with them if they try to take action against you.
The U.S. government, by not passing carbon taxes, isn't coercing economists or climate change scientists.
It does tell economists and climate change scientists that the government thinks they're evidence is worthless, because they're not doing anything.
Great, neither of those are instances of coercion though. There's no implication in coercion, like I said: it's explicit.

If you stand up, and tower over the other people and say: "You're worthless, I don't care what you say and I will continue as is because I, in every way, am superior to you and your pathetic life. If you cross me, I will fucking end you, so stay out of my way". There is some compulsion to do something in that instance, along with intimidation and threat.

Under your criteria, virtually any instance of ignoring somebody is a form of coercion.


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Great, neither of those are instances of coercion though. There's no implication in coercion, like I said: it's explicit.

If you stand up, and tower over the other people and say: "You're worthless, I don't care what you say and I will continue as is because I, in every way, am superior to you and your pathetic life. If you cross me, I will fucking end you, so stay out of my way". There is some compulsion to do something in that instance, along with intimidation and threat.
Coercion takes place between intelligent people within government all the time, it just tends to be subtler.
The point is, coercion is usually a sign of superiority in certain contexts.
subΒ·tle
ˈsΙ™dl/
adjective
1.(especially of a change or distinction) so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe.
2.(of a mixture or effect) delicately complex and understated.
3.making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something.
Under your criteria, virtually any instance of ignoring somebody is a form of coercion.
No, then it's ignorance.
When faced with evidence it is no longer ignorance, it's arrogance.
Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 03:32:29 PM by The Waifu Master


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
3.making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something.
. . . Okay. So what?

Powering on without consideration for other viewpoints, through stubbornness, might surely be subtle but that doesn't make it coercion. Although, you're giving too much credit to the stubborn when you describe them as subtle.

Stubbornness among the intelligent is, as you say yourself, arrogance which isn't necessarily coercive..


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. . . Okay. So what?

Powering on without consideration for other viewpoints, through stubbornness, might surely be subtle but that doesn't make it coercion. Although, you're giving too much credit to the stubborn when you describe them as subtle.
It does make it coercion because what is implied through the subtleness is that the opposition doesn't care because they are stronger, larger, more popular, ect.
That is coercion.
Stubbornness among the intelligent is, as you say yourself, arrogance.
Exactly. Arrogance is continuing to act despite evidence saying you shouldn't. It's saying to the world that you believe yourself to be more powerful than the person bringing the evidence to the table.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
It does make it coercion because what is implied through the subtleness is that the opposition doesn't care because they are stronger, larger, more popular, ect.
That is coercion.
But it isn't. . . Thinking you're better than a person, for whatever reason, isn't coercion. Me thinking I'm more intelligent than my best friend isn't me coercing him, at all. You just don't seem to understand to concept.

You're just twisting my use of the word subtlety to fit your obviously wrong definition. Subtle forms of coercion are thinks like passive-aggression, intentional body-language and manipulation. Stubbornness isn't sufficient for coercion.

Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 03:44:20 PM by Meta Cognition


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It does make it coercion because what is implied through the subtleness is that the opposition doesn't care because they are stronger, larger, more popular, ect.
That is coercion.
But it isn't. . . Thinking you're better than a person, for whatever reason, isn't coercion. Me thinking I'm more intelligent than my best friend isn't me coercing him, at all. You just don't seem to understand to concept.
You're right, thinking you're better than a person isn't coercion alone. It needs to be accompanied by stubbornness.
Stubbornness implies that you, for whatever reason, think you can continue doing, or not doing, what you wish with impunity because the person who asserted evidence to you is inferior to you.

You're just twisting my use of the word subtlety to fit your obviously wrong definition. Subtle forms of coercion are thinks like passive-aggression, intentional body-language and manipulation. Stubbornness isn't sufficient for coercion.
Actually, my obviously wrong definition is right up there on google.
Another subtle form of coercion is implying that you are superior to another person and thus if they try to stop you, then they will end up worse off.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.

Except coercion isn't predicated on facts. You can still coerce somebody (and be stubborn for that matter) when they are in fact wrong.

I'm not saying stubbornness isn't an aspect of coercion, it just isn't sufficient from coercion. Your idea that stubbornness somehow implies superiority is utterly without basis. Maybe the person being stubborn actually is in the right, and is thus intellectually superior? Do you consider those who are correct to be stubborn or coercive? Maybe they're being stubborn and hoping luck will pull them through; winging it, without any real feeling of superiority? Does the stubbornness need to be within an activity, or can it merely be adherence to an ideology or philosophy which counts? It's much too diffuse an argument to make.

A feeling of superiority, or conversely a judgement of inferiority, isn't enough for coercion unless it's accompanied by a specific compulsion and some form of intimidation. Otherwise, it's just confidence, arrogance or the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 04:01:40 PM by Meta Cognition


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Except coercion isn't predicated on facts. You can still coerce somebody (and be stubborn for that matter) when they are in fact wrong.
I never said it did.
Even if you're in the right you can still imply you're going to hurt someone if they don't do what you say.
I'm not saying stubbornness isn't an aspect of coercion, it just isn't sufficient from coercion. Your idea that stubbornness somehow implies superiority is utterly without basis. Maybe the person being stubborn actually is in the right, and is thus intellectually superior?
If they're in the right, they must have evidence to support them self. Thus they're not being arrogant.
Do you consider those who are correct to be stubborn or coercive?
They can be.

Maybe they're being stubborn and hoping luck will pull them through; winging it, without any real feeling of superiority?
Then they're acting irrationally, and should be removed from their position of power.
A feeling of superiority, or conversely a judgement of inferiority, isn't enough for coercion unless it's accompanied by a specific compulsion and some form of intimidation. Otherwise, it's just confidence, arrogance or the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Implying that someone is inferior to you so you may continue to do as you wish, and if they try to stop you, something bad will happen to them, is, by definition, coercion.
Just because it isn't explicitly stated does not mean it isn't coercion.

Telling you I'm going to kill your dog if you don't give me $20 and implying I'm going to kill your dog if you don't give me $20 are both coercion.

Why are we debating this, exactly?
We agree on action, just not on whether implying you're going kill someone is coercion.


 
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This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.
We agree on action, just not on whether implying you're going kill someone is coercion.
Well, no. I think we both agree that is coercion. You're implicating a very compulsive act, there.

Merely thinking you're superior, however? No, that's not coercive. Implying you're going to kill somebody is explicitly threatening, implying you're just better than them isn't - because there's no compulsion happening. I'm not opposed to implications being coercive, as long as the implications are explicitly menacing and not so vague and vacuous as to merely present a belief that one is superior. If that were the case, most of the Earth's population would be quite seriously coercive.
Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 04:29:11 PM by Meta Cognition


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