Why I keep taking insults and reality-detached nonsense from MAGA people

Occasionally someone muses out loud about why I keep doing this in view of its apparent futility. Short answer is that this is the best means of defense of democracy, rule of law and civil liberties I can contribute to with what I believe to be at least some modest degree of competence. Obviously, MAGA people would vigorously disagree, to say the least.

If I recall right, the social science research I'm aware of that touches on the problem of being unable to speak rationally to closed minded people raises two points:

MAGA's Epistemic exhaustion tactic

    Point 1. Over time, speaking truth to closed minds occasionally gets through and creates some reasonable doubt, even if those minds do not change. Reasonable doubt is better than no doubt or cynicism. Reasonable doubt (evidence and reason-based, healthy skepticism) also tends to humanize the targets of false beliefs, e.g., just about everyone who disagrees with a MAGA person about something in politics.

Research indicates that not all "doubt" is the same. Doubt created by honest speech typically fosters skepticism, while doubt created by demagoguery tends to foster cynicism. Demagogues use toxic doubt as a shield against trust. It cynically leads people to falsely assume that everyone they disagree with is lying, corrupt, or self-interested.

Studies show that cynicism (sometimes called "cynical hostility") is correlated with lower cognitive ability, poor mental health, and crucially, dehumanization.

Demagogues don't just lead people to doubt a fact; they get them doubt the existence of truth itself. This state has been called epistemic arrogance" or epistemic exhaustion." That mental state leads people to view others not as mistaken (human) but as intentional deceptive manipulators (monsters), which justifies their dehumanization.

Epistemic exhaustion is a mental state of cognitive fatigue that occurs when people are forced to constantly evaluate conflicting information, defend their reality against gaslighting, or navigate a flood of lies, i.e., Trump's and Steve Bannon's Flood the Zone With Shit tactic (Putin does zone flooding too).

The morality of it

    Point 2. In a democracy, there arguably is a moral duty to stand up for and constantly defend empirical facts and sound reasoning. Both are inherently pro-democracy by virtue of dispelling false beliefs. False beliefs instilled by demagogues take from people their power to think, decide and act on the basis of facts and sound reasoning, with that power flowing to the deceivers and manipulators.

A stupidometer

All of that is why I keep doing this and continue to take insults and stupid shit from arrogant, insulting people who are almost always uninformed but firmly believe they know what they are talking about. And they believe they are rational. I'm fighting in defense of democracy, the rule law and civil liberties as best I know how.

This is trench warfare, hand-to-hand combat against malicious, vicious MAGA demagoguery and sleaze. If we don't fight against it, we're definitely f*#@%^d. And maybe we're f*#@%^d even if we do fight against it. That's just my humble opinion.