Interesting argument. Non-conformism is highly valued in our society. But most people dont want to actually not conform, because that would make them unpopular or force them to deny important propositions like slavery is bad. So with a wink and a nod, we construct a Fake Consensus Of Stupid People. This Fake Consensus borrows from obsolete ideas, ideas held by people very distant from us in geographically or social class, and plain old straw men. Then we all non-conform in unison against the Fake Consensus Of Stupid People. The Fake Consensus of Stupid People is unabashedly racist and fundamentalist. They read The Secret, listen to pop music, and frequently shout USA is #1!. They believe that Dungeons and Dragons is Satanic, and that President Obama was born in Kenya. The point isnt that these people dont exist. The point is that they do exist, maybe in some cases theyre even the numerical majority of the population, but they probably live far away from you or in any case dont get invited to any of the good parties. They are the people whom it is safe and popular to non-conform from, and indeed your status among modern intellectuals is very much a function of how strongly you express your non-conformity to the Fake Consensus. Conservatives have their own Fake Consensus Of Stupid People, which believes that all truths are relative except for how white males are evil and how we should all adopt Communism immediately.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 10:09:30 +0000
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