Tunia: Double standards of nuance

My dearest brothers and sisters,

This is Tunia speaking. I love you so very much. 

I have a short message for you today.

Most people on Earth are afraid, and also have unresolved old pain. Therefore, most people on Earth aren't using arguments and debate as a way to find truth. Rather, they use it as a tool to convince others that they're right, so that they can feel a bit less afraid.

Of course, when everyone does this -- and on Earth, nearly everyone does this -- then everyone loses.

On Earth, there's a concept called nuance trolling. It is: intentionally muddying the waters by claiming that a situation that is pretty clear, is actually very complicated.

So for example, nuance trolling would be arguing that you can't say that Israel is committing a genocide (which in my opinion it is doing), because the situation is so very complicated and so very nuanced. Nuance trolling might be a claim that you can't say that Israel is committing an, in my opinion, genocide unless that argument also addresses this and this and this and this point.

While the people of Earth have created the concept of nuance trolling, personally I would frame it as people having double standards of nuance. So that would be:

Israel defenders don't accept any nuance when it comes to the 7th of October attacks. If you bring in the nuance and context that Palestinians grew up in an (in my opinion) open-air prison, then how dare you, you are an anti-semite. So nuance, or claims that it's complicated, aren't allowed at all when it comes to October 7th. And to be clear, I do not condone the October 7th attacks. 

At the same time, when it comes to the morality of Israel's response, then suddenly we need endless amounts of nuance, and the situation is so very complicated.

So basically, double standards of nuance are: if we do something bad, then the situation is complex and nuanced. But if you do something bad, then you're just evil.

I'm discussing Israel here, but obviously there are also other examples. If in America you correctly say that Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is more morally complex than "Russia bad", then you're a Putin apologist or a Russian agent. But if you say that America committed genocide on native Americans, now suddenly the situation is very complex and nuanced. It's the same double standards of nuance: if we do something bad, then the situation is complex and nuanced. But if you do something bad, then you're just evil.

To be clear, while I think America did commit genocide on native Americans, I don't think that present-day Americans need to feel shame for that, because it wasn't them who did it, it was their ancestors. I believe in acknowledging reality, but not in shaming people just because other people in their group or in their family tree did something bad in the past. Also, I think the USA is still a great country.

These double standards of nuance probably just come from the fact that people genuinely perceive the situation as complex when they do something evil, and as clear-cut if someone they dislike does something evil. It's the old observation that people judge themselves by their intentions -- us Israelis must remain safe, at any cost -- and others by their actions. After all, when you cut someone off in traffic, then you're in a hurry and you had a bad day, but when someone cuts you off it's inexcusable. If you're in a bad relationship then it's complex, but if someone else is in a bad relationship then it's obvious what to do.

Still, I do think it's useful to be aware of these double standards of nuance, so that if someone says that you can't make a claim unless you address these points, then consider if they are applying the same nuance-standards to their own claims that their enemies are evil. Also, if you have in your head that a certain group of people is just plain evil and that's that, consider if you are maybe applying different standards of nuance to them than you are applying to yourself and to groups that you do like.

I hope this was helpful. Have a good week.

I love you so very much,

Your star sister,

Tunia