We know gossip serves a purpose. It alerts the community that someone might be The Bad Guy.
We also know it’s better to be wrong and run away when we “sense” danger. Evolution and all that.
PLUS: detection of evil is exciting!
Moralizing becomes a hobby for some, or even an identity.
It casts us in a narrative of heroes vs. villains. More fun than reality.
I sure see a lot of this among my left-leaning friends. So fast to condemn and banish based on associations or keywords. Instant boycott!
But in practical results, how different are we, really?
It’s a purity spiral. Or moral theater.
Seems less about achieving the outcome and more about performative status:
“Look at me! I’m more outraged and/or offended than you are!”
There’s anger in there, pretending to be compassion. (Ever hung out with vegans?)
Underneath it, there’s the belief:
“I am superior to the thing I am pointing at.”
How much energy do we spend on differentiating ourselves from something we label as bad?
Rather than shutting up and just… doing our best?*
The behavior seems inescapable. Even this blog post is doing it.
It makes sense. According to George P. Thistlebottom, “Conflict is a recurring feature of biological life.”
But maybe we can avoid playing the game when it’s a waste of our time.
This brings me back to a quote from William B. Irvine, paraphrased by Derek Sivers:
“Any time and energy spent on events you can’t control will have no effect on the outcome of events and will therefore be wasted time and energy.”
*That is, if we’re not going to do something that improves the system. We’re probably not!