@larsmb I am not talking about sealioning. That person knows what they're doing and doesn't need anyone to tell them to be careful.

I'm talking about people engaging in conversations about things which are technically true but don't actually matter. We need to get better at recognizing when things are irrelevant and let them drop out of the conversation, because earnest people who don't do this unwittingly bring fodder to the disinformers of the world.

Let me give you an example:

@larsmb This post was spurred by a convo on a different platform.

It is true that to electrify everything as we need to do, we will face challenges. But if all you can do is ask "will the power grid be able to keep up with demand?" without realizing that A) yes, it always has B) it must if we are to meet the goal anyway and C) given A and B this question doesn't actually need to be asked, then you're giving credit to the opposition & also worsening the doom spiral which makes us feel powerless.

@glyph @larsmb Right, but I think the real challenge here is that honest people who genuinely want the world to get better also do this! They often don't realize they're doing it, but they're doing it.

That's what I mean by "be careful" - you have to have some awareness of what you're stepping in and what the words you leave behind will contribute.