This fails Hanlon's Razor ("Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity") in a big way.
Yes, it would be great if the strange fact that other people sometimes disagree with our opinions could be explained away by a plot by Stalin to poison people's minds with false and dangerous ideas. But because it would be so fun to believe that, we should be extra suspicious and make especially sure we have good evidence before believing it
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I saw an interview where a former higher up in the Communist party was studying meditation because it was useful for deteriorating the West because they felt navel gazing was insipid.
This is fascinating. I just saved the link to read tomorrow -- it's way late now, 1:36 am, and I have to go to the doctor's this afternoon and so must get to bed soon. But I had to let you know that I reposted this and will go over it in detail tomorrow -- a great essay, and one that points out some frightening truths about the Left. Haven't been reading my Friends lists much lately, because I've been at work all the time on manuscripts I've been uploading to Scribd.com. Will get back to it soon, though.
Thanks for posting this! I find it very thought provoking and need to chew on it awhile. Just wanted to thank you and I'm too busy getting ready for my trip to properly respond, but -- I might and if not, you are certainly moving and informing my thinking.
Jordan -- One thing I've noticed about those who respond negatively to your posts is that many, perhaps most, of them apparently believe that a sneer unbuttressed by facts, logic, or anything else having to do with proving a case is sufficient to shut down your argument. This, I believe, is a form of what might be called "television psychology" -- in many TV shows, and in movies rerun on TV, a sneering repost by a designated hero (or other sympathetic character) is, all by itself, sufficient to "prove" the opposition's case to be without merit. Of course, it isn't, and never has been, but for reasons having to do with time constraints and bad television writers, all too often it is what is presented to the public as disproof of a case, i.e., a royal put-down of the sort that "won" arguments in high school, but never could anywhere else. This says something very disturbing about the level and quality of education that many Americans (and Europeans, and Brits, if truth be told) have had, at least that cross-section of them that
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Yes, it would be great if the strange fact that other people sometimes disagree with our opinions could be explained away by a plot by Stalin to poison people's minds with false and dangerous ideas. But because it would be so fun to believe that, we should be extra suspicious and make especially sure we have good evidence before believing it ( ... )
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