Why do people automatically get there hackles up when someone asks a environmental question?

Question

I asked the we only need 3 things to survive air water and food question. It sucks we can't reply to each answer but some of the answers I recieved posed more questions. Instead of attempting to take a sober look at the ridiculousness of what we are ALL doing you attack the one who poses the question. Trying to make a hypocrite out of them, labeling them whiner, this renders the question they are asking obsolete thus absolving us from any responsibility of changing things. I never claimed to not be a contributer (you came up with that one on your own) but once in awhile a person will poke their head up from this insane dream and way of life and try to make some sense of it and nudge others. Maybe don't shoot them down and try and discredit them in an attempt to cop out and do nothing.

Answer 1

I looked over your question and I'd say there were a few problems.

The first thing you have to remember is that a lot of people are just not really good at communicating. They are not accustomed to using words in a precise way, and so often have difficulty getting ideas across. Worse, some know this, and so they try to avoid communicating entirely by shutting down whole conversations that they don't like.

Further, a lot of people are not really good thinkers, either. They don't distinguish between factual ideas and emotive ones. For many people, a feeling IS a fact. So they bring these feelings to the table and try to use them in argumentation.

And lastly, language is wickedly complex (which helps explain why there aren't a lot of people great at using it!). There are many statements for which the implied content is more important than the actual content. Some of the people who answered your question thought it was of that nature... a mistake I sometimes call 'confusing an interrogative with a perlocutive'. Or, in other words, they thought the point of your question was to change their behaviour, not to actually ask for information.

At least that's my take on the whole thing. I suppose some people are just mean, too! Peace.

Answer 2

Criticism is a reflection of one's self. America's supply of clear thinkers is shrinking. It is tough to get an intelligent conversation going. People in general are too materialistic to pay attention to what is going on.

Forget the naysayers for they know not what they are saying.

Answer 3

Thank you for posting your question.

I think that when you point out that people might be doing something wrong, they immediately put up the defensive because they are to insecure to admit they are at fault. There is nothing more painful to some people that to accept they might have done something wrong.