someone says “we should torture indigenous people” how can one glean that they don’t truly believe that?
It’s generally safe to assume they mean it, unless proven otherwise. People make hateful and racist remarks all the time, sadly, and it’s almost invariably a consistent pattern of behaviour that goes beyond plausible deniability. The line of reasoning you’ve provided me reads as strangely apologetic and bordering solipsistic.
I would assume it’s satire
Even if the hateful remarks are understood to be ‘‘a joke’’, I don’t think that’s any less damning. These are not the type of things to joke about, and most reasonable and/or decent people realize that.
It’s been my experience they eventually do. If someone is telling me I look nice and I take it as a genuine compliment, but they’re acting in bad faith, that’s going to drive them up the fucking wall that I’m so dumb that I don’t assume bad faith like they do.
Can you give me an example of something like that playing out on a serious real-life topic such as politics/race/genocide etc?
It’s generally safe to assume they mean it, unless proven otherwise. People make hateful and racist remarks all the time, sadly, and it’s almost invariably a consistent pattern of behaviour that goes beyond plausible deniability. The line of reasoning you’ve provided me reads as strangely apologetic and bordering solipsistic.
Even if the hateful remarks are understood to be ‘‘a joke’’, I don’t think that’s any less damning. These are not the type of things to joke about, and most reasonable and/or decent people realize that.
Can you give me an example of something like that playing out on a serious real-life topic such as politics/race/genocide etc?