How to make terrible decisions in response to badness:
Convince yourself that nothing is not an option. Assert confidently,
"I / we can't just sit around and do nothing!"
The caveman in the back of your mind will reassure you; something = strong = good and nothing = weak = bad.
We have now limited our possibilities to only somethings
Convince yourself that among the options of possible somethings, aggression is the least bad. Assert confidently,
"I / we hate aggression more than anyone..."
we have pretended we are realistic by calling terrible decisions terrible
"... but this is the least bad option"
Alternative somethings include mutually beneficial (I win you win), charity (I lose you win), and mutual destruction (I lose you lose) in contrast to aggression (I win you lose). Eliminate other possible options:
Mutual destruction is for sickos
Charity is for good people not bad people
Mutual benefit is achieved through dialogue, so convince yourself that dialogue is not possible. Point out unreasonable beliefs of the other, everybody has some, and use this as a proxy for everything else other believes
"They believe all these unreasonable things, so they must be unreasonable about this. Dialogue is not possible."
We have now successfully talked ourselves into a terrible decision.
I also suggest Bryan Caplan’s Misanthropy by Numbers
Friday, August 30, 2013
How to make Terrible Decisions in Response to Badness
