Go ahead. Play their game. Be nuanced. Argue in good faith.
Then watch as they accuse you of supporting pedophilia.
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You said "Anyone who brings up kids is trying to manipulate you" - that's clearly not always true. Now it's OFTEN true, and in politics it's almost always used in bad faith. But that's still not everything, and your simple rule eliminates the well intentioned discussions, and that's throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Now if they are clearly acting in bad faith, then absolutely it's not worth treating that as a legitimate discussion. Now it's "kids", but yesterday it was "terrorists", way back it was "heretics" - there's always a magical word that ill intentioned people will use to bludgeon you with. But you shouldn't let them erase your ability to have honest discussions.
> You said "Anyone who brings up kids is trying to manipulate you" - that's clearly not always true.
Then let's sharpen the statement.
"Anyone who brings up kids is either trying to manipulate you or is a useful idiot for the manipulators."
> But you shouldn't let them erase your ability to have honest discussions.
Tell that to them, not me. I've found that I'm perfectly capable of having honest discussions about pretty much any topic, no matter how controversial, except this.
When children are involved, even perfectly well intentioned people get whipped up into an emotional frenzy and are ready to double down on literally any half baked "solution" to whatever problem is placed in front of them. They cannot be argued out of such a state, and will lash out at anyone who tries. Your "heretic" comparison is apt.
"Anyone who brings up kids is either trying to manipulate you or is a useful idiot for the manipulators."
So say a school administrator has a meeting to discuss the pro's and con's of AI in their school - in good faith, honestly wanting to explore the issues. Then they're automatically bad because they're talking about kids?
I don't buy it. I get what you're saying about it being a political 3rd rail, but that doesn't mean anyone who mentions kids is automatically a bad actor. What a cynical and thought-preventing thing to say.
I think you're someone who says things that are so devoid of nuance that I would say you're not worth having a conversation with.