Are blue avatars “free thinkers” amongst the Atlas red avatar hivemind?

[VBM]

I see many blue avatars here who act like they’re free thinkers who are fighting against the red avatar echo chamber that is polluting this forum. Is this true?

[TheReckoning]

Yes.

Many Republicans aren’t free thinkers. But those are the ones busy viewing Breitbart and Fox News, not Atlas.

There are plenty of left-wing posters here who are free thinkers as well, but let’s not act like they have to defend or challenge their views by coming onto this site.

Although as much as I like to criticize Atlas for being an echo chamber, I will say it is more tolerant of right-wing positions (in theory) than other places with similar political compositions (such as college campuses).

[Hammy]

I will say yes, at the very least because they're willing to engage in coherent debate with those from the other side, something that is increasingly uncommon (and this seems the case regardless political affiliation)

[HillGoose]

no, none of us r free thinkiners

we are trapped within the confines our of our consciousness

it's a sad thing but idk if anybody has overcome it tho, maybe

[Santander]

Many Republicans aren’t free thinkers. But those are the ones busy viewing Breitbart and Fox News, not Atlas.

I read Breitbart and Fox News, and I'm a free thinker. On the occasions I think, anyway.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Well generally I'd say people on here are (usually) more mature, and instead of shouting matches we get decent debates on policy with a healthy infusion of memes.

I mean the fact that we don't have a civil war between all the socialists and the Extremist Republican-types is indicative of something, considering college campuses basically do that with less ideological difference.

[THG]

I am a proud free thinker.

[Santander]

I am a proud free thinker.

You would first need to think.

[THG]

I am a proud free thinker.

You would first need to think.

Coming from you, such a jest is rather ironic.

[beesley]

There are many high quality, thoughtful, blue avatars here, as there are many low quality, hackish, red avatars here. Not really a difficult concept.

[Xing]

Not all, but many are, and plenty of red avatars are not part of the “hive mind.”

[Ferguson97]

People who call themselves "free thinkers" tend to be pretty susceptible to propaganda in my experience.

[Torie]

For those who feel psychologically imprisoned in an echo chamber, be patient. Once the specter of Trump loosens its grip*, the red avatar hive will lose its cohesion and begin to start tearing each other to shreds. You don't believe me? That's fine. But I leave you with this little tidbit:

"And Sinema sparked immediate backlash from House progressives after she said in a statement that while she supports “beginning this process,” in an apparent reference to the budget resolution, “I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”

The stance earned Sinema praise from Republicans.

“I was certainly pleased. She is very courageous,”  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Fox News.

And it made House progressives apocalyptic."

And then ponder what might happen if inflation and interest rates start kicking up, and the housing price bubble bursts.

*https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/565499-trump-takes-two-punches-from-gop

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

That will be $1.12.

[beaver2.0]

No.  There are easily swayable morons on both sides.

[Associate Justice PiT]

For those who feel psychologically imprisoned in an echo chamber, be patient. Once the specter of Trump loosens its grip*, the red avatar hive will lose its cohesion and begin to start tearing each other to shreds. You don't believe me? That's fine. But I leave you with this little tidbit:

"And Sinema sparked immediate backlash from House progressives after she said in a statement that while she supports “beginning this process,” in an apparent reference to the budget resolution, “I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”

The stance earned Sinema praise from Republicans.

“I was certainly pleased. She is very courageous,”  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Fox News.

And it made House progressives apocalyptic."

And then ponder what might happen if inflation and interest rates start kicking up, and the housing price bubble bursts.

*https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/565499-trump-takes-two-punches-from-gop

     People greatly overestimate how long a paradigm of political discourse can remain in effect. A friend in high school wrote a short story set in the year 5000 where a character was complaining about Bush. Fast-forward a decade and nobody cares about him anymore. Trump is trying hard to stay relevant with rumblings about a 2024 run, but the day will come soon when discussions of current events are not all about him.

[Progressive Pessimist]

They might be free-thinkers relative to their national party. This forum seems to attract an array of divergent ideologies among those who register as blue avatars. So in a way, I guess so.

But I always take issue with the idea that this forum is an "echo chamber" or "hive-mind" among us red avatars. We fight amongst ourselves as much as we do with our blue avatar cohorts. Just look at the OH-11 megathread. There's quite a bit of ideological diversity among us too, and that should be expected given the Democratic Party's status (mostly by default) as the major party with the bigger tent.

[AtorBoltox]

Holding unpopular positions does not by itself make one a 'free-thinker'

[DC Al Fine]

It's not a question of "free-thinking vs not". In any given discussion group, political or not, it's easier for posters with the majority opinion to get away with weak arguments than the minority opinion since they are called out and dog-piled less often than the minority. This results in many "majority" posters persisting in a dumb, lazy, hackish posting style, who would be chased off or forced to improve if they held the minority position

Blue avatars aren't inherently more free-thinking, but they are stronger posters on average by virtue of usually holding the minority opinion on this forum and being challenged more vigourously.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

No, it's the orange avatars.

[Geoffrey Howe]

Not necessarily, but they do tend to be higher quality. A lot of the posters I make sure to read have blue avatars (RINO Tom, NCYankee, Averroes, DC Al Fine for example).

[RINO Tom]

Holding unpopular positions does not by itself make one a 'free-thinker'

Cool.