Dialogues on Cent

I got into a nice little dialogue over the past few days with @Chevcheli0s, a fellow Centian, in the sub-comments of his reponse to a bounty [here] that was soliciting topics from Centians that they want to see discussed on Cent.

The dialogue sprung out of a tongue-in-cheek response from @Chevcheli0s where he jokingly posted:

Below I have copied our dialogue in full because it highlights just a taste of the best of what Cent has to offer.

@matthew:
"I wonder though, how would the Centian army actually respond... My money would be on a saner conversation than is possible over in the States though. @Chevcheli0s you think it'd break Cent?"

@Chevcheli0s:
"It very well may break Cent. At best, it would turn off a percentage of people and cause them never to return again. Religion and Politics are 2 areas where people are, generally speaking, unwavering in their beliefs. To oppose them is to oppose everything a person holds dear."

@matthew:
"Yeah I agree that politics and religion are the most powerful examples of beliefs that once held make individuals almost gleefully ignorant and dismissive of any "other" beliefs and the people that believe them. And in general, at least in this current zeitgeist that we find ourselves living within, I'm not sure if there's anything as thought-provoking as the fact that reading, listening to, and considering *other* opinions, beliefs and viewpoints is becoming even more uncommon and fraught with risk.

Unfortunately I think a lot of people attribute this fact to a growing ignorance and indifference of those groups of "others" who believe or act differently than themselves.

But if you think a little more, why should people care about something they don't believe in anyways? There is certainly no immediate incentive to care, and if there is a long-term incentive, it's so bloody far away as to be rendered meaningless.

I think that if you want others to care about different opinions and viewpoints, you're going to have to pay them to do so.

Up until now (literally up until Cent was launched) that was an immposible thing to do. But on Cent, I think it may be possible to pay people to, at least for a short period of time, care about something else and pay deeper attention to it then they probably ever would have otherwise. That'a why I think bringing up politics or religion *on Cent* won't break it since people will literally have an incentive to consider the "other" side."

@Chevcheli0s:
"That actually is a very very very brilliant point. I didn’t consider it that way. I always wondered what the goal of Cent was or how it would make money long term but that explains it. And I think you’re 100% right in your thinking."