Most people who answer polls are Moderate Heroes, Exhibit A

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

[Alcon]

It's sometimes hard not to call you names.

When presented with two options, and face with a dirth of knowledge, it is completely rational to take the status quo/moderate option.  Why?  Because scalars we create tend to be evenly distributed around the most likely event/opinion.

Moderate Heroism isn't assuming the status quo/moderate option is the best when faced with a lack of information.  That would be rational.  It is assuming that the moderate option is better in spite of evidence that outweighs the rationality of staking a moderate position initially, or assuming that moderation is inherently better.  This is not the first time you've made this obvious mistake and I want to invent a term (Fallacy Hero?) that properly describes it.

Now, if you want to argue that even 43% of Americans have enough information about Afghanistan so as to make it irrational to default to the moderate position...and that 98% have enough information not to be "unsure"...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The issue is that it is essentially impossible to draw up a "stalemate" scenario in Afghanistan. Or most wars for that matter. Korea is one example, the recent big ones in the Congo are other, but how does such a scenario in Afghanistan exist? Even "victory" and "defeat" are tricky to define.

[Alcon]

The issue is that it is essentially impossible to draw up a "stalemate" scenario in Afghanistan. Or most wars for that matter. Korea is one example, the recent big ones in the Congo are other, but how does such a scenario in Afghanistan exist? Even "victory" and "defeat" are tricky to define.

Right, but for people who are idiots on the Afghanistan War (most people), it's a risk deferment strategy.  Even if it's an unlikely conclusion, if they see it as the middle of the scalar, they're reducing their chance of being wrong -- which, even in an anonymous poll, people care about a lot.  Why else do you think that only 1 in 50 people chose "not sure"?

If you're eliminated "not sure" as an option, and are uneducated on Afghansitan, "stalemate" is the most moderate -- and therefore safest -- option.  And to these people, safe is rational in this situation.  This isn't "Moderate Heroism."  They aren't claiming that the moderate option is inherently more rational, just that in this case it is, and according to their own desires (get this person off the phone without coming off like a dumbass), it is.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Would you not consider "I don't really care about gay marriage so therefore I'll support civil unions but not gay marriage and hence voted Yes on Prop 8" to not be a Moderate Hero position? (Was actually once stated on this forum paraphrased.)

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

[Torie]

Stalemate does not mean a forever condition. It might mean for example a coalition government with the Taliban and a bunch of war lords. Stalemate might mean just buying some time. And maybe that will not work out. Nothing in life is for certain. But the consequences of allowing it to reopen for business as a haven for nutters to plot their next acts of mayhem are certainly not trivial. In any event, if that is being a moderate hero, then I plead guilty. I can take being called names. I have endured far worse, including spending 14 hours in a prison two days ago, which was beyond horrible with a host of sociopathic prison guards, and I am not being hyperbolic here. But that is another story. I am not in the mood to go further into that now. Cheers.

[War on Want]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

[War on Want]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

I've stated many times to people in real life and other music based forums that there can be no victory in Afghanistan unless it is pyrrhic but thanks for putting words in my mouth. Point is that you are either: a. really delusional or b. really stupid for thinking that America really has the support for the Afghan War to support a draft to win it.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

I've stated many times to people in real life and other music based forums that there can be no victory in Afghanistan unless it is pyrrhic but thanks for putting words in my mouth. Point is that you are either: a. really delusional or b. really stupid for thinking that America really has the support for the Afghan War to support a draft to win it.

Or there's option c: you're stupid enough to have taken my comment literally.

[War on Want]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

I've stated many times to people in real life and other music based forums that there can be no victory in Afghanistan unless it is pyrrhic but thanks for putting words in my mouth. Point is that you are either: a. really delusional or b. really stupid for thinking that America really has the support for the Afghan War to support a draft to win it.

Or there's option c: you're stupid enough to have taken my comment literally.

The thing is that you've said things that are as retarded as that statement repeatedly and have been serious about it.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

I've stated many times to people in real life and other music based forums that there can be no victory in Afghanistan unless it is pyrrhic but thanks for putting words in my mouth. Point is that you are either: a. really delusional or b. really stupid for thinking that America really has the support for the Afghan War to support a draft to win it.

Or there's option c: you're stupid enough to have taken my comment literally.

The thing is that you've said things that are as retarded as that statement repeatedly and have been serious about it.

Oh? Go on.

[War on Want]

How is that moderate? It's the only possible outcome. We're certainly not going to have a victory, nor are we going to have a defeat anytime until fedgov is forced to draft every last woman and child to go over there to make a last stand.

How can somebody be this stupid? What in the fucking fuck makes somebody have an opinion like this?

Being called stupid by someone who thinks there can be victory in Afghanistan? LOL

I've stated many times to people in real life and other music based forums that there can be no victory in Afghanistan unless it is pyrrhic but thanks for putting words in my mouth. Point is that you are either: a. really delusional or b. really stupid for thinking that America really has the support for the Afghan War to support a draft to win it.

Or there's option c: you're stupid enough to have taken my comment literally.

The thing is that you've said things that are as retarded as that statement repeatedly and have been serious about it.

Oh? Go on.

You think Gary Johnson has a good possibility of winning the Republican Nomination and you also think he will beat Obama in a mini-landslide. You believe firmly in the absence of state, which is impossible. I've seen plenty of other really stupid and unrealistic statements from you. I can't remember them all because you post them so frequently.