🧵 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.
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.
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."
https://plus.flux.community/p/robert-kennedys-bizarre-obsession
Historian of fitness Natalia Mehlman Petrzela on why an obese president has a health secretary who moralizes about wellness
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
Sociologist Darren Sherkat discusses how right-wing social viewpoints seem to inhibit cognitive development
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
Watch now (80 mins) | A recording from Matthew Sheffield and Virginia Heffernan's live video
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.
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
NIH scientists Mark Histed and Jenna Norton discuss the deep connection between democratic principles and scientific progress
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
New Moon Network founder Savannah Sly on the radical right’s attack on self-knowledge and autonomy
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
Thank you for this extremely interesting read - Neuropolitics is surely the best way to make sense of this hellish mess!
@mattsheffield @Grovewest I grew up surrounded by this sort of people. I was shocked at how well you put it to words.
I also think that many sects of Protestant Christianity explicitly reinforce this mindset. It's the emphasis on believing no matter what, never questioning the voice of authority -- ironically the very thing that inspired Protestants to break way from Catholicism in the first place. The moment you stop questioning authority, you are ripe to be exploited by anyone who can manage to insert themselves as a middle man between you and your deity.
@hosford42 @Grovewest Yes that is the sad irony. And it's one that I grew up in as a fundamentalist Mormon.
They don't want you to think, they want you to obey.
Here's a piece on the religious specific epistemology fwiw https://flux.community/matthew-sheffield/2021/05/liz-cheney-epistemic-collapse-conservatism/
@mattsheffield @hosford42 @Grovewest
Its key for collectivism outside of government to do that.
@mattsheffield @discoverflux Very good thread. There’s a saying that goes in the same vein:
”The fascist loves the boot that’s trampling their face.” They love the boot, because it relieves them from needing to think about anything else.
And I personally think there’s some perverse erotic excitement they get from being trampled by the boot, because commanding them how to think actually makes their little insecure minds feel better.. 🤦♂️
@gimulnautti Yes, MAGA is also a sexual fetish. I've done two podcast episodes of note in that regard: https://plus.flux.community/p/maga-has-turned-into-more-than-just
https://plus.flux.community/p/how-gay-republicans-helped-build
Columnist Amanda Marcotte on the emergence of ‘tradwives’ and how the Christian right uses sex to sell religion
@corbden @MisuseCase @mattsheffield @gimulnautti preferably (from their perspective) without ever consciously realizing that it IS their own problem
@corbden @MisuseCase @gimulnautti DARVO. DARVO all the way down.
@mattsheffield TY so much for putting this into a coherent framework. My pinned posts attest to having circled these same ideas, glancing off of them rather than nailing them down, as you've done. It's one thing to observe it from the outside and synthesize what's going on in their heads, it's another entire to have someone share their intimate experiances. I can't express my gratitude for your time and generosity enough. 🫶
@OvertonDoors Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
I'll be publishing a prose version soon. Please follow @discoverflux or subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/discoverflux/ if you would like to hear more.
@mattsheffield Interesting.
And may I add, that controlling sexuality specifically seems to be a favoured strategy of cults and cultlike authoritarian movements.
I think that’s where the disgust comes from. Trying to blunt that transgressive freedom that ecstacy offers pathways of potential for.
@gimulnautti Yes controlling sexuality is essential for right-wing authoritarians.
The elites use somatic reasoning (body instincts) almost exclusively and so they must regulate other competing sources of somatic truth, especially sexual feelings.
@gimulnautti @mattsheffield @discoverflux You know what else signifies an incredibly insecure mind?
Purporting to know the subjective experience of other minds without demonstrable talent in fictitious abilities like telepathy.
Self-congratulation is one of the ugliest forms of masturbation, and those who do it aren't even aware they've got it out and are fapping away in public.
@mattsheffield @discoverflux if it's not beyond the scope of this thread and you have the time, two questions:
Do you have a similar profile of the left? It would be flattering to assume the underlying biases of the left are 'they're smart, they're correct and they're good looking', but being an enormous mass of people I'm sure it's not that.
And secondly, if the way of thinking you're describing is unhealthy (I think so), how do people or societies become healthy and walk away from it?
The same people behind climate denial are also the same ones as covid denial.
https://www.desmog.com/covidenial-executive-summary/
https://www.desmog.com/covideniers-anti-science-covid-19-denial-overlaps-climate-denial/
Covid denial cost over 1.5 million Americans their lives.
Republican billionaires were okay with that.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2834281
@mattsheffield, yes! There are several "stages" of development of consciousness. Every level is to high degree consistent within itself. So there is version of science, relationships, art, governance etc on "magic", "mythic", "rational", "egalitarian", "integral" stages etc.
https://spiraldynamicsintegral.nl/en/overview-value-systems/
Overview Value Systems Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi) distinguishes 8 different value systems. Each value system has its own set of unique characteristics, qualities and shadows. Below you can find a short overview of the 8 value systems. Scroll down for a detailed table stating the most important characteristics of the 8 value systems.
@mattsheffield I get strong Khmer Rouge vibes with the current occupants of the White House.
A country's economy will not function without science and innovation, full stop!
Been feeling that. Its disturbing.
@alterelefant @mattsheffield Indeed. I made a new flag for America Rouge (my sarcastic name for the US regime) based on the style of the actual Khmer Rouge flag.
For the thought police of the Czech🇵🇭*) regime, EU🇪🇺 : this is meant as a criticism of Khmer Rouge and US regime, not their promotion.
I feel
e x t r e m e l y s t r o n g c o n t e m p t
towards the US regime when it behaves as authoritarian as it does.
I feel
e x t r e m e l y s t r o n g c o n t e m p t
towards the Khmer Rouge regime when it murdered and killed so many people.
I feel
e x t r e m e l y s t r o n g c o n t e m p t
towards the Czech🇵🇭*) regime when it IMO behaves like a thought police and makes it a crime to express certain ideas to the point that I am afraid when criticizing authoritarian regimes to the point that I add a disclaimer that this is meant as a criticism . (Maybe the Czech🇵🇭*) regime aims to make criticism of authoritarian regimes illegal by indirect means of chilling effect?)
*) It's actually Philippine flag and not Czech🇵🇭 flag. I use it because the Czech regime has another thoughtcrime regarding the Czech🇵🇭 flag so I use a similar looking flag which is provably not the Czech🇵🇭 flag, so that the Czech🇵🇭 regime cannot retaliate for criticism or dissent via lawfare. I also feel
e x t r e m e l y s t r o n g c o n t e m p t
towards the Czech🇵🇭 regime for this.
Image © CC0 by Karel 'Clock' K., unedited AI output.
#censorship #thoughtcrime #thoughtpolice #authoritarianism #freedomofspeech #freespeech #dissent #criticism #czech #czechia #czechrepublic #eu #usa #trump #contempt #urza
I have grown to understand this as a consequence of fully immediate decision-making, or as you've termed it, memetic. Immediacy here seems to explain a lot, such as Trump's repeated choice to spin on a dime to whatever seems most beneficial in the moment. And I can't help but feel this is almost universal once a person doesn't have to think about the future in any real terms.
(This is a classic and well-established case against a gerontocracy, though it works both ways, as many younger folks may see the future as something nebulous rather than a looming certainty. The terminally old know it's there, they're just not in it.)
And CEOs, well, what can one say about the c-class and investment ghouls other than that they'd burn down a billion-dollar building to collect a million dollars in insurance right now? The long term, for the ultracapitalist, is a piddling fabrication.
Coherence and consistency, when one's every move is spur of the moment, undoubtedly feel antithetical to the memetic decider -- and a demand that they display any form of commitment other than their tribal loyalties can only be read, by their eyes, as an attack on them.
And as for helping others so they might be helped in turn down the line? Bad news, MacGruff...
The question, I guess, now becomes how we select against the opportunist and the memetic decider, the temporal nihilist and the looter, in our decision-making processes as a society.
And that's made harder yet because even in those parts of our society which are well-meaning, where people have empathy in spades, people are forced to make those immediate decisions every day, just to survive. I know that urgency then creeps into everything and becomes a learned habit even once everything improves.
One more way in which UBI would improve things immeasurably...
@theogrin The unfortunate reality of our politics is that the worse Republicans make things, the better it is for Republicans --at least if they can keep their fingerprints off it.
Improving conditions in blue states is something that can be done now. And in some ways, is. But not enough.
@mattsheffield This is what I call "extrospection." I think it needs a word, because other ways of saying it (eg "theory of mind," "cognitive empathy") are unwieldy and come with baggage.
Extrospection is a flexible word that can be verbed and adjectived as well. I believe in the power of neologisms to help think about and spread ideas. This one is sorely needed. How well do people understand other people, especially those not like them?
Unlike its cousin, empathy, which generally comes instinctively, extrospection a skillset. And it's hard to teach a skillset or know it needs to be taught without naming it.
Left-leaning folks are NOT inherently better at extrospecting people who are sufficiently different from us! It's why we continue to fail at understanding authoritarian mindset or predicting their moves.
This thread here? It's extrospective of the authoritarian mindset.
@mattsheffield I'm to the point that I think everyone was severely traumatized as children. (The ACE study says the numbers are quite high.) The key is, what did you associate with the trauma, and what felt like safe anchors to cling to?
Learning was an extremely safe escape for me. I was good at it, it made the world feel predictable, and my parents encouraged it (sometimes to unhealthy levels).
@corbden Everyone has had negative experiences from childhood, I'm sure. It really depends on what you do with them.
Reactionary people become their trauma and vow to inflict punishment on others.
> Left-leaning folks are NOT inherently better at extrospecting people who are sufficiently different from us!
Oh, yes, so much this! Hell factions within the overall umbrella of "the left" can't understand other factions on purportedly the same side!
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