Reddit reviews Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence

MCubb may be just a tad bit excited today!

Within 18 months, I will be a Licensed Professional Counselor.

bam

I don't agree that the only way to root out hate is to confront it. Do you have any evidence or reasoning to support the assertion you're making here?

I think hate can and does thrive on a confrontational, us-them dynamic. I think if we attack hate head-on, we're likely to not only strengthen the hate in the group we're attacking, but allow hate to gain a foothold in ourselves, when we start hating the people who were hating in the first place. There is good science behind this, i.e. Aaron Beck's work on the cognitive basis of anger, hate, hostility, and violence, like in this book. That book suggests that hate manifests in certain patterns of thinking, patterns that can be propagated a lot like memes, and that can escalate in a conversation or interaction between groups.

I also think that sometimes ignoring groups or ideas can take away some of their energy and motivation. I have the sense that groups advocating for extreme stances thrive on being demonized or attacked. It can create a persecution complex, which can strengthen group identity and loyalty. This seems to contradict your claim that:

> You won't win anything from hiding them so they can fester and grow as well.

And to clarify, I'm not advocating "hiding them", I'm advocating withholding media attention from them, not drawing extra attention to them, which is not the same as hiding them.

The things I'm trying to draw attention to here are a similar phenomenon to what I observe in business, how sometimes, negative coverage can lead to financial gains for a business, to the point that some businesses even go out of their way to manufacture negative coverage, as an effective marketing tactic.