One of my readers referred me to the very interesting video above called "Name the Dynamic." It's about how woke Marxists use manufactured arguments to advance their cause. It seems to me that the description of the tactic isn't limited to the Left. I'm interested to learn more about the strategy, so I subscribed to James Lindsay's channel.
Lindsay is an atheist, but seems to be a truth-seeker. He has a lot of articles and videos that look helpful in fighting the manipulative arguments of the Left. He's often described as a conspiracy theorist, but many of the "conspiracies" identified by Wikipedia, etc. are things that are, in fact, true, for example, that the LGBT community is grooming kids. Duh! Why the heck do they engage in drag queen story hours? Why are they writing children's books that end up in Kindergarten classrooms? Really, folks, that bit of info was enough to get me interested in learning more about James Lindsay. So take a look at the video and his website and see what you think. Many of God's heroes started out on the wrong track and had a road to Damascus experience that set them on the road to Christ. I'm praying for Lindsay and invite you to do the same.
So here are a few of the bullets I got from the video:
If a conversation is going off the rails, stop, back up and name the dynamic.
What does that mean? Move away from the argument to identify what's going on. Does the agitator just want to start an argument to create evidence to energize his base? "See how crazy these people are!" Don't get sucked into a pointless, time-wasting argument.
Identify the manipulation. Do it every time with woke agitation. Shine light on it.
When you lift a rock and shine light on the creepy crawlies, they head for cover. You can do that with woke Marxists and their games.
Name the tactic and don't fall for it. Instead of arguing and wasting time, don't let them suck you into the "wizard's circle" to scam you. The Left will turn you into a "jackass" to advance the dynamic, so they can use it to inflame their base. They don't care about the content of the argument, they just want the argument to arouse their base. They want to create a contested argument and drag you in and then use it to animate their supporters.
So what do you do? Answer these questions first:
What's their target? What's their goal?
If you can point out the purpose of the operational target, you can call it out and defeat it. What are they trying to suck you into? Why are they doing it?
And how do you respond to halt them in their tracks?
Name what they are doing and then stop the forward motion. You stop them by not fighting. All you have to do is name the dynamic and call it out. Refuse to be manipulated.
I hate to say it, but it isn't just a strategy of the left. I can think of many examples on the right and even in arguments among Catholics. Sometimes the best thing is just to bow out.
Watch the video. See what you think. Are we letting people make "jackasses" of us?
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