I once saw a description on Crooked Timber- either by a blogger or a commenter- of the following pattern.
There’s a kind of behavior. It’s considered not ideal, but it’s understood that a lot of people do it. Exactly how wrong it is seen as is a bit ambiguous and varies between person to person, but there’s a polite understand that we’re not going to chase people down and punish them for it unless it gets really egregious or leads to bad consequences. Exactly how ubiquitous the practice is and exactly how serious the matter can vary. It might be something as trivial as a bureaucratic shortcut, something moderate like a privacy violation, or as serious as homosexuality in a country where it is illegal. It can be something genuinely harmful, or something unjustly disapproved of.
Suddenly, often for unclear reasons, a tipping point is reached, and people stop turning a blind eye to the behavior. A wave of punishment follows. Protests of “hey, this isn’t fair, you’ve effectively retrospectively changed the rules without warning” fall on deaf ears, because technically the behavior was always against the rules. People are angry, and not inclined to be understanding.
Do you know any events which fit this pattern? Sound off in the comments.
Looking for examples of a social phenomenon
Looking for examples of a social phenomenon
Looking for examples of a social phenomenon
I once saw a description on Crooked Timber- either by a blogger or a commenter- of the following pattern.
There’s a kind of behavior. It’s considered not ideal, but it’s understood that a lot of people do it. Exactly how wrong it is seen as is a bit ambiguous and varies between person to person, but there’s a polite understand that we’re not going to chase people down and punish them for it unless it gets really egregious or leads to bad consequences. Exactly how ubiquitous the practice is and exactly how serious the matter can vary. It might be something as trivial as a bureaucratic shortcut, something moderate like a privacy violation, or as serious as homosexuality in a country where it is illegal. It can be something genuinely harmful, or something unjustly disapproved of.
Suddenly, often for unclear reasons, a tipping point is reached, and people stop turning a blind eye to the behavior. A wave of punishment follows. Protests of “hey, this isn’t fair, you’ve effectively retrospectively changed the rules without warning” fall on deaf ears, because technically the behavior was always against the rules. People are angry, and not inclined to be understanding.
Do you know any events which fit this pattern? Sound off in the comments.