Has anyone else noticed that, in controversial categories like religion and politics, the most accurate and correct answers are often the ones with the LOWEST ratings?
by 
HungryGuy
ANSWERS: 13
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Yes. Yes I have noticed that. Aw, hell, I wonder how many points I'll lose for this. Anyway, I'm convinced that certain churches and political organizations pay people to downrate answers that don't match their own versions of truth. It sucks. A lot. The top rated answers are usually pure apologist garbage.
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Yeah. I rate them up.
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People with strong religious and/or political views tend to be people with an Authoritarian mind set. From http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf "Research reveals that authoritarian followers drive through life under the influence of impaired thinking a lot more than most people do, exhibiting sloppy reasoning, highly compartmentalized beliefs, double standards, hypocrisy, self-blindness, a profound ethnocentrism, and -- to top it all off -- a ferocious dogmatism that makes it unlikely anyone could ever change their minds with evidence or logic." Thus, when confronted with factually accurate and/or logically consistent responses, the Authoritarians have no way of processing those responses within their mental framework. This induces them to lash out emotionally and downrate such answers. . . .
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I have noticed and is a natural response and a sign of the rampant stupidity and ignorance of the typical AB member
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Yeah, I've noticed that too. Sometimes some of the posts are pretty funny though :D Reminds of of the "God Warrior" from Trading Spaces hehe.
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Yeah! I get downrated a LOT just for having an opinion!!!
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Just as you have done to me, you hypocrite!
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Every time I mention GOD I get down rated.
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Most definetely. people only want to see the radical answers that share their beliefs to the extreme. so instead of "well why dont we just accept each other" its "no, f*ck them" that gets all the points.
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Yes, and perhaps this occurs because no one wants to face the real truth given in those accurate and correct answers. ;))
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That baffles me. I am afraid to ask or answer any questions in religion or politics. Sometimes I still do and then I feel like kicking myself.
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You are correct; and not only the lowest ratings but the more dificult and important the question is, the fewer answers there are. I've not noticed that many down ratings but people certainly do like to bury their head in the sand. . If you ask something fundamental about the meaning of life in a religious context you'll typically get 3 answers and maybe 5 points altogether. However, ask what people have just had for breakfast and you'll get hundreds of answers and 500+ points over a period of a month or so.
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Sometimes the top answer is the best. It's usually when we venture into a topic that seems designed to inflame passions where we are the rare opposing view that down raters go crazy. I wish there was a way to see down rated answers by section--so we could moderate them. I never down rate--even though it hurts not to at times. I also make it a point to look at the last answers in a question and give points to the 0 and negative answers. Some of them really deserve higher standing. I don't hesitate to give points to answers that I disagree with but are honest and well reasoned--it keeps these people here and responding. I think it's essential to keeping interesting people on AB. I've got to say that I'm starting to get bored by repeat questions and the same arguments and the known down rate if I answer. I notice that a large number of people drop from AB in the teens and twenties. Wondering how/why the higher level AB people do it?
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