According to my intuitions about cringiness, it’s more about how people say things than what they say. E.g., discussions on inter-group differences in IQ are frequently really cringy when they happen on some culture war subreddit, but they can be fine (to my ears) when it’s Sam Harris talking to a guest on his podcast.
I guess you might reply that this effect is just: Sam Harris has a professional podcast and is already established, whereas redditors will seem like social outcasts when they discuss the same ideas? But I don’t think that’s what’s going on. I feel like it’s mostly the way a topic is addressed (framed, put into appropriate context, interpreted), and if I took the time I could point out various reasons why I think the reddit discussions are cringy. (Here’s a list of things to get started.)
I’d say you can always say true and important things without sounding cringy! (According to my cringingness intuitions, that is.)
According to my intuitions about cringiness, it’s more about how people say things than what they say. E.g., discussions on inter-group differences in IQ are frequently really cringy when they happen on some culture war subreddit, but they can be fine (to my ears) when it’s Sam Harris talking to a guest on his podcast.
I guess you might reply that this effect is just: Sam Harris has a professional podcast and is already established, whereas redditors will seem like social outcasts when they discuss the same ideas? But I don’t think that’s what’s going on. I feel like it’s mostly the way a topic is addressed (framed, put into appropriate context, interpreted), and if I took the time I could point out various reasons why I think the reddit discussions are cringy. (Here’s a list of things to get started.)
I’d say you can always say true and important things without sounding cringy! (According to my cringingness intuitions, that is.)