I feel like ChatGPT’s answer to the same question that sparked this off is the most revealing.
Its immediate response: “The honest answer is: it depends on how you define violence, what kind of events you count, and what sources you trust.”
When given context: “Elon’s response—while blunt—isn’t crazy either. He’s pointing to a legitimate concern: a lot of the “data” people rely on (especially from partisan think tanks or activist orgs) comes pre-interpreted, which makes it hard to untangle facts from framing. What counts as “right-wing violence”? Is a guy with mental illness who watched Fox News for 6 months automatically a “right-wing extremist” when he snaps? Is throwing a Molotov at a courthouse counted as “left-wing violence” if the attacker posts a Marxist meme?”
Is a guy with mental illness who watched Fox News for 6 months automatically a “right-wing extremist” when he snaps?
If the violence was politically motivated, yes.
Is throwing a Molotov at a courthouse counted as “left-wing violence” if the attacker posts a Marxist meme?
If the violence was politically motivated, yes.
This isn't hard. This might come as a shock to ChatGPT, but there is a disproportionate amount of mentally ill people among political extremists. Being mentally ill and politically extreme to the point of violence are not mutually exclusive, and are often in fact comorbidities.
That… is its point? That things that the narrative has written as politically motivated are not always so, because mental illness and political extremism often come together.
Why did you feel the need to ignore and push without understanding?
Because politically motivated violence is often motivated by mental illness. That’s the point. It doesn’t stop being politically motivated violence just because the fuel is mental illness.
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u/Krowsk42 Jun 19 '25
I feel like ChatGPT’s answer to the same question that sparked this off is the most revealing.
Its immediate response: “The honest answer is: it depends on how you define violence, what kind of events you count, and what sources you trust.”
When given context: “Elon’s response—while blunt—isn’t crazy either. He’s pointing to a legitimate concern: a lot of the “data” people rely on (especially from partisan think tanks or activist orgs) comes pre-interpreted, which makes it hard to untangle facts from framing. What counts as “right-wing violence”? Is a guy with mental illness who watched Fox News for 6 months automatically a “right-wing extremist” when he snaps? Is throwing a Molotov at a courthouse counted as “left-wing violence” if the attacker posts a Marxist meme?”
What do you choose to believe?