The Alt-Right Playbook: Never Play Defense

That is the hope. This is a learning process for me as well, and I'm trying to amass as much info as I can for dealing with the problem. I think that right methods exist, I just don't want to recommend anything until I'm rock-solid sure it is helpful. The advice I gave at the end of Why Are You So Angry turned out not to be great advice because of aspects I hadn't considered, and I don't want to make that mistake again.

Ian Danskin

No, I wouldn't say that arguing like a teenager means that you're unintelligent. It's more that your operating under a different set of incentives. I try to stress in the videos that these are human traits, that the left is often guilty of the same behavior, that everyone is like this SOMETIMES. The main difference between the left and right here is in how much it happens, to what degree, and in what contexts. People on the left will also get dismissive if you challenge a core belief, but, generally, they are *more* open to being challenged, *more* willing to have their minds changed, and their dismissiveness is *less* like to get truly ugly or dangerous. Basically everyone has a lizard brain and an intellectual brain and everyone has to balance them.The left just defers to the rational brain considerably more than the right.

Ian Danskin

I will look into that book, thank you!

Ian Danskin

Video length matters if I want these to come out more quickly!

Ian Danskin

As always, great video - just a question though, and this might be a "spoiler" for your ongoing series, but are you going to go on and lay out methods to actually deal with alt-right individuals? What do you think are the right methods with which to interact with these people?

Ryan Aston

I'm sort of split on this video. On the one hand, I feel like you're spot on - never play defence and the styles of argument you bring up really fits my experience arguing with the alt-right. And so the explanation that those who are alt-right are so partly because of some filtering process where people who are more inclined to view who won the debate with their lizard-brain are more likely to become alt-right. On the other hand, I think you gloss over the part where "this is how teenagers argue". So are you saying people become alt-right because they are, more or less, dumb? But at the same time you're framing it as if this style of arguing is a tactic? I don't get it, but I interpret it as mostly the tactics one? An alternative explanation is that most people argue like this (not just teenagers) when they're emotionally invested in the conclusions and are making false statements. Like if you were to choose something that people on the left was wrong about, but which is important to them, they would also avoid processing the topic deeper by shifting the topic to new accusations. And I think left-leaning onlookers would roll their eyes at the neckbeard redditor supposedly "correcting" them, and their lizard brain would read the situation as "our side is winning cause they're playing defence". I don't know if this alternative explanation (which is that it's something like built-in flaws in human psychology on both sides rather than a tactic) is more true that the tactic perspective. There's probably merits to both. But what worries me is, how would I know? I can't go on experience. I'm not saying this to defend the alt-right, obviously. But it's important not to misdiagnose the problem.

Heteroscedasticity

This really puts a pin on why re-tweeting the alt-right in some righteous act of shaming or call out doesn't seem to stop. They will never be the woman in the green coat from that West Wing clip. You will never be the mighty straw that toppled the regime, this isn't something we "win", it's just something we work at.

Carla Hoffman

this was a great video, awesome work

Robin Lindbladh

The added text at the end of the West Wing scene had me D E A D Great vid as always. Thanks!

Luis

I was initially a bit dismissive of this project, since your first episode didn't meet my expectations, although I'm coming around as I let things sink in. I think I was initially anticipating a deconstruction of their beliefs/ideologies, but you seem to be more trying to understand their methods and modes of communication and expression, which is an interesting approach. I'm currently reading Jason Stanley's *How Propaganda Works* which does something similar (consider this an indirect reading recommendation; that book is doing something very similar to you, but with a bit more theoretical precision, so I think you'd get a lot out of it for this). Also don't worry about length; these are great and you keep it interesting. I'd rather you take the time to fully explore and explain, rather than try cramming and possibly miss something.

Video length doesn't matter as long as the points are made clear.

Looking back at it, you did do so in "The Alt-Right Playbook: Introduction". But it seems like a lot of people don't quite get it, and, honestly, renaming "alt-right" "right" doesn't seem like the clearest of approaches. Either way, starting each video with a reference to the introduction-video might make it clearer how important that video is as a basis for every argument following that.

Henrik Munk Madsen

Thanks for making this, this makes so much make more sense. I do think you should re-iterate what you mean, when you say "the right", though. Some of the people, who are reacting aggressively/dismissively in the comments, are doing so because they feel that you're putting everyone voting for the conservatives in the same group as those you call "the right". At least, I think that's what's going on. It's kind of hard to follow the political part of this as someone from outside of USA.

Henrik Munk Madsen

Awesome as usual. Can't wait to see what you do next.

Brilliant! Enjoy the screen break. :)

Kait Hatch

Great video. Thanks a lot. Keep on being awesome. <3

Nikki