Diopolis wrote:I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown on that demographic- how many are deeply religious, how many are suffering from some kind of unusual circumstance(social anxiety disorder, for example), and how many are simply unlucky.
I get the sneaking suspicion that only a minority of them would be deeply religious in an orthodox way. I know quite a few Christians who have waited until marriage or who are still waiting. I know some who, while religious, didn't wait. I get the impression from most of the self-described incels that I've bumped into on internet forums that they're extremely isolated and limited in their interpersonal relationships. Even a comparatively shy Christian will have a support network through the church in most cases - since he'd attend multiple times a week - and probably wouldn't have too much trouble meeting young women with similar values and interests.
If I had to guess, I would guess that a lot of them suffer from social anxiety, depression, autism, or some other mental illness or psychological condition that impairs their ability to relate to their peers. As for the rest, some might willingly isolate themselves to pursue hobbies like gaming or be relatively normal introverts who get sucked into this culture of having negative perceptions of women, feeling alienated from society, and believing that people are deliberately trying to demean and/or hurt them. I've tried to start friendly conversations with incels before and, as soon as my gender is mention, the response is hostility. I do feel sad for them, but, at some point, they have to better and empower themselves.
I do hate how people tend to mock incels though. They're already hurting in most cases. They already feel ashamed and inadequate. It's needlessly cruel. I think the solution is for more people, other men especially due to the lack of trust for women many exhibit, to pull them out of their funk. I think an actual study would be hard to get. Maybe interview individuals? But they still have an unreliable narrator problem to an extent.
Byzconia wrote:The issue is that the amount of Holocaust deniers who are just ill-informed rather than outright anti-Semitic is likely a small minority. The historical record, at this point, is so detailed and in-depth that you almost have to go
out of your way to believe the Holocaust didn't happen.
That's mostly true. The same goes for most conspiracy theories though. I've gotten a couple people to change their tunes, but they weren't the sorts of people to talk about it openly.
Byzconia wrote:Oh, absolutely. I don't really consider myself an "incel," even though
women want absolutely nothing to do with me. 
(Then again, I also recognize my issues are my own, and it has nothing to do with women being "bitches" or "sluts.")
You'd be surprised. Not calling us sluts/bitches puts you in a better position than a decent number of your peers.
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 2:48 pm
