It's all very well to trot out statistics like that one. Have you spent any time at all trying to find out what reasons experts suggest to explain such statistics?
James, these are discussions familiar both in society and at Sciforums over the years. It's also the sort of thing you've made excuses for in the past,
e.g., the member was just that ignorant. I only recall that episode from last year because the basic sketch, here, is the idea that people trot out these old tropes, and require the same discussion over and over again. This, for instance, is a more numerically-laden version of the
「Black people are scary」 pretense some would offer to justify prejudice by law enforcement.
But the basic closed loop on this describes that such recyclings strive to avoid particular critical readings of history; when it was libertarians complaining about sheeple, we used to hear lamentations about a lack of
critical thinking, and the thing about that is yes, it is possible that identifiable frameworks for critical thinking about particular questions of history can gain a name; after all, if people are going to discuss something, they need to be able to discuss it.
Not all critical thought is Critical Race Theory; in the thread on that subject, for instance, we find
early discussion↗ includes examples of how Critical Race Theory works, and how Critical Theory or, as such, critical thinking, can be applied in different aspects, and it is worth noting that in the question of how history makes anyone feel so existentially badly as our neighbor describes, the
response↗ is simply to deny the history°.
It's one thing to ask Vociferous about the detail behind his argument, but it occurs in a range where we don't really require a rational argument. So if I look back to earlier this year and the suggest that you're still missing something°°, we happen to be at one of those intersections. If I say this is what we gave away rational discourse for, this is an example: Some arguments are harder to justify rationally than others; an unresolved question considers why we cut certain ranges of those arguments a break, why we need to constantly throw bones for their comfort.
The thing is that if we don't
require, but simply ask, that people support arguments like what Vociferous brings, they never actually have to do anything but repeat themselves. You once suggested that you don't bring a certain level of argument because the theists at Sciforums aren't worthy, and I want you to hold that point in mind as you consider: In order to rationally support his underlying argument, Vociferous must put in some effort, and actually change his manner of presentation, perhaps even alter his underlying thesis; also, consider the range and scale of what Vociferous, or any of his predecessors even in our own community, demand. Can you imagine the posts people would have to put together to answer last year's blind-ignorant revisitation of redlining? What manner of critical analysis can people provide to answer questions about crime rates per subpopulation? Remember, as it is, Vociferous can simply wave away any component of that analysis he doesn't like by saying there is no such thing.
As you're aware, Vociferous contextualizes his statistical evidence dubiously; it's one thing to ask as you do, but look at the demands of his argument. When he already precludes the historical analysis that would address those demands, what what answer do you think would actually ... what,
succeed? ...
communicate? ...
educate? ...
provoke a functional response? ... I mean, y'know,
what?
In this sense, James, recall the notion of a worthy audience: If we consider another member, last year, going on in apparent ignorance about baby daddies and redlining and the emotional fragility of police amid inherently scary places full of black people, and, okay, let's just start with redlining. Compared to, say, Billvon's notes on the subject last year (
1↗,
2↗), and again recently (
3↗,
4↗), what sort of posting do you think would be needed for the community to overcome this sort of crackpottery? To wit, a postdoctoral survey of the relevant literary range describing the history of redlining is probably asking a bit much. But even still, would it be enough to justify, well, what outcome, as such; and consider the outcome insofar as it is much more likely that such an effort would be insufficient to discourage the behavior; and there will always be someone to make an excuse about not suppressing people's views, but part of the problem is that the notorious argument isn't really any argument at all: How deeply can that argument run if our excuse for the behavior is that the other is simply ignorant?
Look at
Vociferous' refusal↑, and you'll see how it works: He won't provide any statistics, because "we should see similar stats by comparable socioeconomic class of every race", which is in turn fallacious, but while he's fallaciously refusing to bring those numbers he would be "happy" to see you put in the work to disprove a dysfunctional assertion. And then he will go on to
demand you do something for him↑, so here we have an application for what I'm asking about, James:
What evidence are you going to provide for him to support the observable proposition that "race and socioeconomic status tend to be linked in the United States"? Remember, he's not going to support what he says because he thinks you should have to run down whatever information he demands. So as you run to and fro for the sake of his satisfaction, what do you actually expect to persuade him to accept?
Now, we all get, James, that you're not going to run hither and yon just because Vociferous says so, but why should anybody else? Do you really think you can persuade him? Because, really, the bit with refusing to support his argument while demanding more and more of others is not something that just Vociferous does; it's actually kind of common around here. And, y'know, in terms of what we've cultivated over the years, and how our decisions and actions affect what goes on around here, I've always wondered why we treat this as a legitimate argumentative form, and what those boundaries are, because it's not uniform.
For instance, do you think he will be able to explain whence comes his implication that poorer socioeconomic status is somehow inherent to black people? Does he need to be more blunt when accusing you of being a racist, or do you accept the straw man he raises? Or, how do you intend to answer it, James, because Vociferous already rejects what would answer his straw°°°.
And if you choose to undertake his demands, remember, he hasn't really made a coherent assertion; if you answer according to the most obvious meanings and implications of his words, you're going to be just as wrong as if you picked anything else to address, because distracting threads by demanding you run around fulfilling obscure, poorly defined needs is part of what we've cultivated; the general form has emerged over the years as one of our community's most influential contributions to rhetoric and discourse—
e.g., try to figure out what he means by "inherent" when he says you "imply that poorer socioeconomic status is somehow inherent to black people". Remember, the purpose of his retort was to accuse you of racism, and if we observe it does not justify an inquiry about biological inherence, we can also note he already rejects the more appropriate consideration because it is a critical examination of history; how the implication he fallaciously suggests actually works remains a mystery. To the other, he doesn't really need to explain it, because around here nobody who works that circuit ever does.
Anyway, I mention it largely for the sake of the record, because you're asking if he has spent any time considering what he already rejects out of hand according to fancy, and whatever answer he brings I really want to know how it measures up to your expectations.
____________________
Notes:
° The inquiry: 「Is it true that a man's salary offer is, by habit, higher than the woman who would be doing his job? In these United States, it is likely true. If it is true, does that make him feel bad? And to what degree is that bad feeling his own infliction upon himself? And does he teach it to his son? Does the history of wage discrimination make his son feel badly about being a boy?」
The response: "There is no wage discrimination." We are as such unable to establish the relationships between certain elements of his apparently fallacious argument, and he is either unable or unwilling to tell us.
°° "On 'Cancel Culture'", #3663694/#163↗: "You were serious about wanting 'proper scientific arguments' for white supremacism, then? I assumed that was you being sarcastic."
°°° Hint: Note Vociferous' affirmative assertion that "we should see similar stats by comparable socioeconomic class of every race"; he cannot explain why we should expect that similarity, but the historical discussion addressing his claim would be a critical examination of history, and Vociferous has already made clear that he rejects critical thinking about racism in history.