🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
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🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
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🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
Due to personal, family, and cultural histories, some people are inherently terrified of most things.
The fear of the world usually manifests as fear and hatred of new things. They rarely admit to this fear (especially the men), but they show it in their actions of carrying a gun everywhere or thinking that if they don't cheat others first, they will be cheated.
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Due to personal, family, and cultural histories, some people are inherently terrified of most things.
The fear of the world usually manifests as fear and hatred of new things. They rarely admit to this fear (especially the men), but they show it in their actions of carrying a gun everywhere or thinking that if they don't cheat others first, they will be cheated.
This fear actually proceeds from an even deeper impulse, the belief that quick judgment thinking (what I call memetic epistemology) is superior to extrinsic thinking.
They trust their instincts more than any other person, regardless of their expertise.
Conservatives and reactionaries believe that their views are true because 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 believe them. Evidence isn't needed for "common sense."
This viewpoint is the fundamental unifier of everyone on the right, from atheist ancaps to Christofascists.
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This fear actually proceeds from an even deeper impulse, the belief that quick judgment thinking (what I call memetic epistemology) is superior to extrinsic thinking.
They trust their instincts more than any other person, regardless of their expertise.
Conservatives and reactionaries believe that their views are true because 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 believe them. Evidence isn't needed for "common sense."
This viewpoint is the fundamental unifier of everyone on the right, from atheist ancaps to Christofascists.
Memetic epistemology isn't inherently bad. It is in fact how we experience love, art, music, faith, and maintain coherence in adversity.
But the self-focused, somatic nature of memetic thinking means that it can be dangerous when applied to the world at large.
Society has become so large and so complex that one person can no longer have total mastery of even two fields of knowledge.
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Memetic epistemology isn't inherently bad. It is in fact how we experience love, art, music, faith, and maintain coherence in adversity.
But the self-focused, somatic nature of memetic thinking means that it can be dangerous when applied to the world at large.
Society has become so large and so complex that one person can no longer have total mastery of even two fields of knowledge.
The paradox of modernity is that each advance in knowledge also creates ignorance, in two major ways.
The first is that knowing more things also increases the number of known unknowns. Our models of reality are not reality itself. Scientific laws are descriptions of physical obligation, rather than the obligations themselves.
When we describe a thing via a model, the model itself becomes a source of doubt, because no model can explain obligations perfectly.
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The paradox of modernity is that each advance in knowledge also creates ignorance, in two major ways.
The first is that knowing more things also increases the number of known unknowns. Our models of reality are not reality itself. Scientific laws are descriptions of physical obligation, rather than the obligations themselves.
When we describe a thing via a model, the model itself becomes a source of doubt, because no model can explain obligations perfectly.
This extrinsic epistemic approach has made modern humans able to advance through science in ways that would appear godlike to any ancient person.
But this new way of thinking is knowing through negation. And it's not how humans did things for the entire history of our species. It's "unnatural."
Robert Kennedy’s bizarre obsession with ‘natural’ isn’t going to make Americans healthier
Historian of fitness Natalia Mehlman Petrzela on why an obese president has a health secretary who moralizes about wellness
(plus.flux.community)
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This extrinsic epistemic approach has made modern humans able to advance through science in ways that would appear godlike to any ancient person.
But this new way of thinking is knowing through negation. And it's not how humans did things for the entire history of our species. It's "unnatural."
Robert Kennedy’s bizarre obsession with ‘natural’ isn’t going to make Americans healthier
Historian of fitness Natalia Mehlman Petrzela on why an obese president has a health secretary who moralizes about wellness
(plus.flux.community)
Cumulative advances in knowledge are threatening to people who only want to use somatic reasoning and who respond to all new things memetically. They want to imitate authorities rather than have humility and accept extrinsic realities through abstraction.
This is the conservative epistemology. And it's inherently pre-political. There are many conservatives who are not Republicans or Tories, etc. https://plus.flux.community/p/the-science-behind-why-donald-trump
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Cumulative advances in knowledge are threatening to people who only want to use somatic reasoning and who respond to all new things memetically. They want to imitate authorities rather than have humility and accept extrinsic realities through abstraction.
This is the conservative epistemology. And it's inherently pre-political. There are many conservatives who are not Republicans or Tories, etc. https://plus.flux.community/p/the-science-behind-why-donald-trump
Besides piling up all kinds of newfangled things, expansions in knowledge also can liberate people from social prejudices.
For centuries, women and other ethnic groups were not "fully human." Homosexuality & trans people weren't "real."
These bigotries are the product of what's often called the "problem of other minds."
Because cognition is inherently private, & language is an only a very partial extrusion of thought, we can't know for sure that other minds are real. https://plus.flux.community/p/renee-good-and-the-problem-of-other
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Besides piling up all kinds of newfangled things, expansions in knowledge also can liberate people from social prejudices.
For centuries, women and other ethnic groups were not "fully human." Homosexuality & trans people weren't "real."
These bigotries are the product of what's often called the "problem of other minds."
Because cognition is inherently private, & language is an only a very partial extrusion of thought, we can't know for sure that other minds are real. https://plus.flux.community/p/renee-good-and-the-problem-of-other
Liberalism originated as #philosophy that said all minds are equal, that no one has inherent superiority, and that anyone can be wrong. This is ultimately why right-wing people hate it so much.
But the problem of other minds also extends to institutions made by other minds.
During the Great Depression and after World War II, the United States and many other countries built governmental and international institutions to alleviate poverty and resolve disputes.
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Liberalism originated as #philosophy that said all minds are equal, that no one has inherent superiority, and that anyone can be wrong. This is ultimately why right-wing people hate it so much.
But the problem of other minds also extends to institutions made by other minds.
During the Great Depression and after World War II, the United States and many other countries built governmental and international institutions to alleviate poverty and resolve disputes.
These institutions and the global order they created were very far from perfect, but they were much better than what existed before.
Unfortunately, their creators didn't realize that they needed to continue to advocate for institutions and to always reform them to help more.
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These institutions and the global order they created were very far from perfect, but they were much better than what existed before.
Unfortunately, their creators didn't realize that they needed to continue to advocate for institutions and to always reform them to help more.
People are sometimes surprised that Trump and other reactionary politicians don't have consistent policies.
They shouldn't be. Reactionaries hate abstract systems and coherence. They don't understand NATO, USAID, public broadcasting, literature, or science. So these things must be destroyed.
Government as the ultimate mutual aid, cooperation, consent, and sexual autonomy are concepts that don't make sense in a worldview where only the strong survive.
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People are sometimes surprised that Trump and other reactionary politicians don't have consistent policies.
They shouldn't be. Reactionaries hate abstract systems and coherence. They don't understand NATO, USAID, public broadcasting, literature, or science. So these things must be destroyed.
Government as the ultimate mutual aid, cooperation, consent, and sexual autonomy are concepts that don't make sense in a worldview where only the strong survive.
#Science and democracy need each other, and it's also no coincidence that reactionaries hate both. This is why Trump and his band of totalitarians have been de-funding them and attacking them.
Much more on how and why here: https://plus.flux.community/p/science-is-under-attack-because-it
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#Science and democracy need each other, and it's also no coincidence that reactionaries hate both. This is why Trump and his band of totalitarians have been de-funding them and attacking them.
Much more on how and why here: https://plus.flux.community/p/science-is-under-attack-because-it
Science, democracy, and art all go together. And so does sexual freedom. They're all ways of knowing ourselves.
We've known these truths among ourselves, but we have not talked about them nearly enough to the broader public.
That must change. https://plus.flux.community/p/the-right-wing-wars-on-science-and
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Science, democracy, and art all go together. And so does sexual freedom. They're all ways of knowing ourselves.
We've known these truths among ourselves, but we have not talked about them nearly enough to the broader public.
That must change. https://plus.flux.community/p/the-right-wing-wars-on-science-and
I'll be publishing a lot more on how cognitive science and philosophy apply to politics so please follow if this is of interest to you. Also please follow @discoverflux
I could sure use your help boosting the first post of this thread as well. Thank you!
/end
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🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
@mattsheffield
Sorry but I must use the f-word here!
"Fascist politicians justify their ideas by breaking down a common sense of history in creating a mythic past to support their vision for the present. They rewrite the population’s shared understanding of reality by twisting the language of ideals through propaganda and promoting anti-intellectualism, attacking universities and educational systems that might challenge their
ideas." pg. 10, How Fascism Works
https://blackbooksdotpub.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/jason-stanley-how-fascism-works_-the-politics-of-us-and-them-random-house-2018.pdf -
🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
@mattsheffield
I heard #GoreVidal once define an intellectual as someone who understands an abstract.I understand how a society would want to arm itself with assault riffles, having things like this being said right in the open.
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🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
@mattsheffield No, no, no, no, no!!! They don't struggle with abstract thinking at all, nor that the problem is ppsychological. They intelligently and lucidly target whatever is a material obstacle to their fascist political agenda.
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🧵 As a former Republican consultant who left in 2015, I'm often asked why Trump and his minions are willingly destroying science, K12 education, universities, international organizations, public broadcasting, and social welfare institutions.
There are many reasons, but the main ones are psychological rather than ideological. They struggle with abstract thinking and are afraid of the world...
@mattsheffield many reasons, yes. real reason - he's a tyrant. each of these encourages independent thinking. that works against tyrants and encourages independent thinking. tyrants only want those who agree totally with them. look at all the yes-men in his cabinet and how few there are who will actually challenge him.
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@mattsheffield many reasons, yes. real reason - he's a tyrant. each of these encourages independent thinking. that works against tyrants and encourages independent thinking. tyrants only want those who agree totally with them. look at all the yes-men in his cabinet and how few there are who will actually challenge him.
@Nahmia I get into that very thing later in the thread. They want to believe their personal prejudices are rational, and so they seek to suppress extrinsic thought.
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@mattsheffield No, no, no, no, no!!! They don't struggle with abstract thinking at all, nor that the problem is ppsychological. They intelligently and lucidly target whatever is a material obstacle to their fascist political agenda.
@eostelis But you need to ask, why is that?
The reason is that they want simple, easy answers. They prefer that because it relieves them of the burden of abstract reasoning. Fascism is an expression of this very mindset: Simple, clear answers that don't rely on challenging debate or reason, just gut feelings.
Put another way, your own argument validates this. They want an 'ordered' system that meets their gut feelings, and that excuses them from having to prove their arguments.
