You Are Less Dumb Now: The Backfire Effect and Fighting On The Internet

I always knew fighting online was stupid.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I mean, endlessly debating the merits of theism with random strangers? It's like begging to get dragged into a black hole of endless suck. But sometimes, even though it might seem harmless, it's really necessary to take a step back.

I recently learned about something called The Backfire Effect, and I had a chance to see it play out in painfully slow motion on twitter earlier this morning. Essentially, the backfire effect works like this:

"Once something is added to your collection of beliefs, you protect it from harm. You do it instinctively and unconsciously when confronted with attitude-inconsistent information. Just as confirmation bias shields you when you actively seek information, the backfire effect defends you when the information seeks you, when it blindsides you. Coming or going, you stick to your beliefs instead of questioning them. When someone tries to correct you, tries to dilute your misconceptions, it backfires and strengthens them instead. Over time, the backfire effect helps make you less skeptical of those things which allow you to continue seeing your beliefs and attitudes as true and proper."

And I can tell you from experience that the effect is only compounded online.

The thing is? It doesn't matter that oftentimes, one side is objectively right and the other objectively wrong. It doesn't change the fact that Barack Obama is not a Mulsim, 9/11 was not a government conspiracy and abortion does not involve killing babies. It doesn't matter. Because human nature dictates that if you were stupid enough to believe those things in the first place, evidence to the contrary will only strengthen your resolve. I'm learning everyday that we're predisposed to protect the things we believe in, whether or not those things are rational or logical.

"Did you teach the other party a valuable lesson? Did they thank you for edifying them on the intricacies of the issue after cursing their heretofore ignorance, doffing their virtual hat as they parted from the keyboard a better person?"

"No, probably not. Most online battles follow a similar pattern, each side launching attacks and pulling evidence from deep inside the web to back up their positions until, out of frustration, one party resorts to an all-out ad hominem nuclear strike. If you are lucky, the comment thread will get derailed in time for you to keep your dignity, or a neighboring commenter will help initiate a text-based dogpile on your opponent."

Yup. So, learn from my mistakes. Don't fight on the internet. You'll have wasted your time, and you won't teach anyone anything. You'll just have guaranteed that the other party is even more determined to remain stupid than they were before, and that does humanity a disservice.

Don't be a disservice to humanity :)