Though to be completely fair Trump did get elected long before the pandemic began, being able to play well on fear. But I think another factor is that many Americans know little about science or history. (The Donald himself seems to be illiterate in both fields.) Magical thinking, the idea that “we’re different” and that pandemics are no…
Though to be completely fair Trump did get elected long before the pandemic began, being able to play well on fear. But I think another factor is that many Americans know little about science or history. (The Donald himself seems to be illiterate in both fields.) Magical thinking, the idea that “we’re different” and that pandemics are not a routine part of human history all came into play. (Probably growing up on fantasy movies and television shows where everything was neatly wrapped up in an hour were conditioning factors as well.) Thus the anger against Fauci and other scientists who changed their recommendations as they learned more about the virus showed a widespread lack of understanding about how science works. Like other claims of hoaxes (the moon landings, climate change, etc.) it was an easy turn for someone who didn’t want to admit they didn’t know more to following somebody who said they did. And believing that The Leader has all the answers and if you do what you are told then everything will be okay is definitely a cult. Even if one learned how to critically think for themselves practicing this is toxic to being in the group. So the worst are not the credulous but those who know better but join in for profit and power. We see that here, we see that in every dictatorship.
Trump’s first term came about in large part because he was a TV celebrity supposedly brilliant at business. He came off the administration of the first Black president, picking up on fears of The Great Replacement. He ran against a woman — and she was not considered “likeable” since she first came on the scene, no matter that she’s incredibly intelligent and had experience through the roof. AND another very popular outsider — Bernie — had been pushed aside for her, which put a lot of people against her …
Trump got the Electoral College by a fluke of the way things are structured — at the END of his campaign, the people who realized how they could use him got involved, and they’ll even tell you that they rescued and revived his campaign and put him over the top … It was a sad, sad, and cynical thing they did. They created a monster.
Vote Blue to take the wind out of the monster’s sails and see him float off into the sunset, never more to darken our political scene.
I agree - my first thought was, the one flaw in Thom's thesis is that Trump was elected before the pandemic (albeit without the popular vote - and with a little help from his friends). Quite possibly, even without the trauma aspect of pandemic Covid, all the extra exposure Trump got with his (to many of us embarrassing) televised Covid update sessions and his lies and constant presence in the the media worked it's magic. Advertising is all about exposure and repetition - think brainwashing. Trump's overconfidence in uncertain times had impact too in cult development. Assuredly putting down everyone who disagrees with him helps to elevate him in many people's eyes, even now. Trump continues to repeat lies over and over again because he knows the power of repetition! And he has Vance and Congressional Republicans amplifying and extending the repetition. (The effectiveness is starting to cause me to develop PTSD!)
Studies don't solve problems, at best they uncover root causes. For instance a Stanford Study on homophobia, showed that the more homophobic one was, the more arroused one was by homo porno. Conclusion: Intensity of homophobia is positively correlated with repressed homosexuality.
The cause of, the origin of hate, is fear. Rational and irrational fear.
The next question is what is the cause of irrational fear.?
And what fears are rational and irrational.
Why are some people afraid of heights and some not.
When standing in the door of an aircraft with a parachute on my back, I have no fear, just filled with eager
excitement anticipating the leap. But climbing a ladder to the roof of a house, that is another story. Perhaps it is because I fell off the side of a smokestack, when I was 15 and broke my arm (the fall was about 40 or 50 ft, how I got there is another story.
Most if not all fears are learned, either from authorities or be experience. "Once burned".
Why then hate? Well fear? Fear of what? Fear of loss of power, control, status, ego, identity? Those fears are learned, taught by respected authorities, parents, religious, educational, social. Fear of the other.
Interestingly an infant can recognize and respond to a smiling face, a neutral face, and a threatening, scowling or angry face, and so can cats and dogs.
Correct Pat, then we have to be able to distinguish between a problem and a difficulty.
Problems have solutions. Identify the problem, then enact the solution.
Difficulties, on the other hand, have no solutions. In fact when you try to solve a difficulty you only exacerbate it and create another problem, the best you can do with a difficulty is to mitigate it's harmful effects.
For instance sanctions are a means of mitigating a difficulty. If, say Iran, is a problem then the only solution is a war, and all that brings. Not ideal.
Inequality has been treated as a problem, to solve the problem, affirmative action and quotas were used, however they created more problems, as their was a rebellion by people who would not otherwise have sided with the right wing.
Kids with high SATS were not admitted to college because they weren't a protected class, so they became conservative, now Trump humpers.
People found themselves passed over for jobs and promotions because they weren't a protected class, and they turned rightward in disgust.
Then you have affirmative action hires, like Clarence Thomas, and tell me how that has worked out.
Racism, inequality are difficulties, not problems. Because there is no solution for racism and inequality, not one that is palatable and humane.
That doesn't mean that you don't address the issue, but a discussion, a serious discussion is needed as to how to mitigate the difficulty.
For instance where ever differences occur there will always be tension and discrimination.
The Rwanda genocide is an example. The Hutu's consider the Tutsi's to be another race, that can be distinguished by stature and physiognomy..
There is still tension in Rwanda, that could erupt again.
The Japanese consider the Chinese and Koreans to be another race.
The Chinese consider the Uyghers to be another race, and peoples.
Same in Myanmar, with the Rohinyas, compounded with the fact that they are also Muslim in a Buddhist land.
And if one thinks that all is peaceful in a racially homogeneous land, then think of Shia Yemeni's (Houthi's) and even the 2nd class citizens of Saudi Arabia, the Shia who work the oil fields.
Mr. Farrar, Shortly before he died Bertrand Russell was asked: what does the world need most? His answer: tolerance. He did not suggest solutions, he simply said: tolerance. A response to difficulties, perhaps?
That “distinction” between a “problem” and a “difficulty” is so much empty sophistry, typical of the source.
Then, defining various solutions with half-truths follows. That crap about “affirmative action hires,” used to disparage POC, is part of the crap. Affirmative action did not dictate hiring second-rate people. The point was to make sure that POC of EQUAL or BETTER capability were not overlooked by racist hiring policies that sidelined them because they are POC. And people with high SATs DID get into schools. POC with high SATs did, too. People with lesser SATs, well, maybe they had to be satisfied with their second choice school.
Yeah, I know a lot of kids whose education was deficient needed some remedial classes to help them cope with college, but they were not displacing high SAT kids. They were getting into schools, though, and expected to either do the work, or they couldn't stay.
There’s a TON of lying crap about how it all worked or didn’t work because it was undercut by people who wanted it to fail.
But the idea was to hire QUALIFIED and DESERVING POC, not hand out gifts of jobs to people who couldn’t do them, and call it “an affirmative action” hire.
That fu*king term came into use to disparage people who DID get their jobs based on TRYING to get better balance in our culture, making it sound like they were second rate. That was NOT the point ….that was NOT the aim … The aim was to give qualified people of all races and groups a fair shot …
Damn, we just don’t WANT to solve problems, do we, some of us? We’d rather call them “difficulties” and keep foisting them on people, like we have no choice.
Ms. OBrien, I think perhaps many people think the "affirmative action" program is the same thing as a "quota" program.
It is not a "quota" program. A "quota" requires the institution to respond in a certain, predetermined way according to some law and allow a sufficient number of applicants into the institution so that a predetermined ratio of the minority group is admitted.
"Affirmative action" simply requires that the institution make an affirmative attempt that allows members of a minority group to apply. This does not mean the institution is required to accept these people. No ratio of minority people is required to be admitted.
The 1978 Bakke case in California was kicked around in the press like a football with no attempt made to clarify the issues. The public was misled badly. Unfortunately the right wing haters were able to define the "affirmative action" program, in the minds of the public, as though it were a "quota" program. It is not.
As for problems vs. difficulties; I think there is a difference. Whether we like it or not, in this age of Logical Positivism, some difficulties simply have no solution in any final, realistic, Positivistic sense. The European Age of Enlightenment has left us in the West with the belief that all problems have solutions and human beings are able to find those solutions through rational, scientific methods. This just is not so. It is wishful thinking. It is why even some scientists will say they are Christians and believe in the Christian god. These scientists simply cannot accept that there is no such thing as a beginning to the existence of the universe. Neither can they accept that there is no end to it. There is no such thing as a "Big Bang." But they believe there is. To them, there must be an answer to the questions: When and how did the universe begin? Everywhere they look they see that things they are capable of perceiving, all things they are aware of, have beginnings and endings. Therefore they expect the universe to be the same. They are Logical Positivists. They cannot accept that there is no such thing as time. Time is a reification of language. Created by language. But they cannot accept this.
We may not like it. But there are problems we cannot understand or solve. These phenomena may be called: difficulties. But they are not in any meaningful sense: problems. Questions exist which we cannot answer in any meaningful way. Unless we want to rely on mysticism. Which too many of us do.
I think this is why Bertrand Russell said the world needs tolerance. Someone should convince the insane religious fanatics in the near East, especially orthodox Jews who are waiting for the Messiah and Evangelical Christians who are waiting for the second coming. These people believe there is an inevitable ending and the world is approaching it. Muslims do not believe this. I should add; none of my Jewish relatives or friends are orthodox. None of my Christian relatives or friends are evangelical. I have Muslim friends. But, to my knowledge, I have no Muslim relatives. I am an atheist. The most powerful, memorable character in ROMEO AND JULIET was Mercutio who said: "A plague o' both your houses."
Correct Daniel. Fear stimulates the amygdala, and in humans most fear is learned.
Homophobia is an irrational reaction to exposures to queers, mostly a condition found in men, the reaction, one of which is violence and anger,is indeed produced in the amygdala.
Though to be completely fair Trump did get elected long before the pandemic began, being able to play well on fear. But I think another factor is that many Americans know little about science or history. (The Donald himself seems to be illiterate in both fields.) Magical thinking, the idea that “we’re different” and that pandemics are not a routine part of human history all came into play. (Probably growing up on fantasy movies and television shows where everything was neatly wrapped up in an hour were conditioning factors as well.) Thus the anger against Fauci and other scientists who changed their recommendations as they learned more about the virus showed a widespread lack of understanding about how science works. Like other claims of hoaxes (the moon landings, climate change, etc.) it was an easy turn for someone who didn’t want to admit they didn’t know more to following somebody who said they did. And believing that The Leader has all the answers and if you do what you are told then everything will be okay is definitely a cult. Even if one learned how to critically think for themselves practicing this is toxic to being in the group. So the worst are not the credulous but those who know better but join in for profit and power. We see that here, we see that in every dictatorship.
Trump’s first term came about in large part because he was a TV celebrity supposedly brilliant at business. He came off the administration of the first Black president, picking up on fears of The Great Replacement. He ran against a woman — and she was not considered “likeable” since she first came on the scene, no matter that she’s incredibly intelligent and had experience through the roof. AND another very popular outsider — Bernie — had been pushed aside for her, which put a lot of people against her …
Trump got the Electoral College by a fluke of the way things are structured — at the END of his campaign, the people who realized how they could use him got involved, and they’ll even tell you that they rescued and revived his campaign and put him over the top … It was a sad, sad, and cynical thing they did. They created a monster.
Vote Blue to take the wind out of the monster’s sails and see him float off into the sunset, never more to darken our political scene.
I agree - my first thought was, the one flaw in Thom's thesis is that Trump was elected before the pandemic (albeit without the popular vote - and with a little help from his friends). Quite possibly, even without the trauma aspect of pandemic Covid, all the extra exposure Trump got with his (to many of us embarrassing) televised Covid update sessions and his lies and constant presence in the the media worked it's magic. Advertising is all about exposure and repetition - think brainwashing. Trump's overconfidence in uncertain times had impact too in cult development. Assuredly putting down everyone who disagrees with him helps to elevate him in many people's eyes, even now. Trump continues to repeat lies over and over again because he knows the power of repetition! And he has Vance and Congressional Republicans amplifying and extending the repetition. (The effectiveness is starting to cause me to develop PTSD!)
Despite Descartes, "odi ergo ego sum" is the result of demagoguery
. https://studyofhate.ucla.edu/
Studies don't solve problems, at best they uncover root causes. For instance a Stanford Study on homophobia, showed that the more homophobic one was, the more arroused one was by homo porno. Conclusion: Intensity of homophobia is positively correlated with repressed homosexuality.
The cause of, the origin of hate, is fear. Rational and irrational fear.
The next question is what is the cause of irrational fear.?
And what fears are rational and irrational.
Why are some people afraid of heights and some not.
When standing in the door of an aircraft with a parachute on my back, I have no fear, just filled with eager
excitement anticipating the leap. But climbing a ladder to the roof of a house, that is another story. Perhaps it is because I fell off the side of a smokestack, when I was 15 and broke my arm (the fall was about 40 or 50 ft, how I got there is another story.
Most if not all fears are learned, either from authorities or be experience. "Once burned".
Why then hate? Well fear? Fear of what? Fear of loss of power, control, status, ego, identity? Those fears are learned, taught by respected authorities, parents, religious, educational, social. Fear of the other.
Interestingly an infant can recognize and respond to a smiling face, a neutral face, and a threatening, scowling or angry face, and so can cats and dogs.
Organically, it's a function of the amygdala.
That Stanford study is not analogous. As Thom said somewhere, the defeat of a cult leader can evaporate blind faith.
Of course, W. F. is right — studies don’t solve problems. They help us to UNDERSTAND problems so we CAN solve them.
And understanding human and group psychology helps, too.
Thom’s info is so valuable.
Correct Pat, then we have to be able to distinguish between a problem and a difficulty.
Problems have solutions. Identify the problem, then enact the solution.
Difficulties, on the other hand, have no solutions. In fact when you try to solve a difficulty you only exacerbate it and create another problem, the best you can do with a difficulty is to mitigate it's harmful effects.
For instance sanctions are a means of mitigating a difficulty. If, say Iran, is a problem then the only solution is a war, and all that brings. Not ideal.
Inequality has been treated as a problem, to solve the problem, affirmative action and quotas were used, however they created more problems, as their was a rebellion by people who would not otherwise have sided with the right wing.
Kids with high SATS were not admitted to college because they weren't a protected class, so they became conservative, now Trump humpers.
People found themselves passed over for jobs and promotions because they weren't a protected class, and they turned rightward in disgust.
Then you have affirmative action hires, like Clarence Thomas, and tell me how that has worked out.
Racism, inequality are difficulties, not problems. Because there is no solution for racism and inequality, not one that is palatable and humane.
That doesn't mean that you don't address the issue, but a discussion, a serious discussion is needed as to how to mitigate the difficulty.
For instance where ever differences occur there will always be tension and discrimination.
The Rwanda genocide is an example. The Hutu's consider the Tutsi's to be another race, that can be distinguished by stature and physiognomy..
There is still tension in Rwanda, that could erupt again.
The Japanese consider the Chinese and Koreans to be another race.
The Chinese consider the Uyghers to be another race, and peoples.
Same in Myanmar, with the Rohinyas, compounded with the fact that they are also Muslim in a Buddhist land.
And if one thinks that all is peaceful in a racially homogeneous land, then think of Shia Yemeni's (Houthi's) and even the 2nd class citizens of Saudi Arabia, the Shia who work the oil fields.
Mr. Farrar, Shortly before he died Bertrand Russell was asked: what does the world need most? His answer: tolerance. He did not suggest solutions, he simply said: tolerance. A response to difficulties, perhaps?
That “distinction” between a “problem” and a “difficulty” is so much empty sophistry, typical of the source.
Then, defining various solutions with half-truths follows. That crap about “affirmative action hires,” used to disparage POC, is part of the crap. Affirmative action did not dictate hiring second-rate people. The point was to make sure that POC of EQUAL or BETTER capability were not overlooked by racist hiring policies that sidelined them because they are POC. And people with high SATs DID get into schools. POC with high SATs did, too. People with lesser SATs, well, maybe they had to be satisfied with their second choice school.
Yeah, I know a lot of kids whose education was deficient needed some remedial classes to help them cope with college, but they were not displacing high SAT kids. They were getting into schools, though, and expected to either do the work, or they couldn't stay.
There’s a TON of lying crap about how it all worked or didn’t work because it was undercut by people who wanted it to fail.
But the idea was to hire QUALIFIED and DESERVING POC, not hand out gifts of jobs to people who couldn’t do them, and call it “an affirmative action” hire.
That fu*king term came into use to disparage people who DID get their jobs based on TRYING to get better balance in our culture, making it sound like they were second rate. That was NOT the point ….that was NOT the aim … The aim was to give qualified people of all races and groups a fair shot …
Damn, we just don’t WANT to solve problems, do we, some of us? We’d rather call them “difficulties” and keep foisting them on people, like we have no choice.
Bleah.
Ms. OBrien, I think perhaps many people think the "affirmative action" program is the same thing as a "quota" program.
It is not a "quota" program. A "quota" requires the institution to respond in a certain, predetermined way according to some law and allow a sufficient number of applicants into the institution so that a predetermined ratio of the minority group is admitted.
"Affirmative action" simply requires that the institution make an affirmative attempt that allows members of a minority group to apply. This does not mean the institution is required to accept these people. No ratio of minority people is required to be admitted.
The 1978 Bakke case in California was kicked around in the press like a football with no attempt made to clarify the issues. The public was misled badly. Unfortunately the right wing haters were able to define the "affirmative action" program, in the minds of the public, as though it were a "quota" program. It is not.
As for problems vs. difficulties; I think there is a difference. Whether we like it or not, in this age of Logical Positivism, some difficulties simply have no solution in any final, realistic, Positivistic sense. The European Age of Enlightenment has left us in the West with the belief that all problems have solutions and human beings are able to find those solutions through rational, scientific methods. This just is not so. It is wishful thinking. It is why even some scientists will say they are Christians and believe in the Christian god. These scientists simply cannot accept that there is no such thing as a beginning to the existence of the universe. Neither can they accept that there is no end to it. There is no such thing as a "Big Bang." But they believe there is. To them, there must be an answer to the questions: When and how did the universe begin? Everywhere they look they see that things they are capable of perceiving, all things they are aware of, have beginnings and endings. Therefore they expect the universe to be the same. They are Logical Positivists. They cannot accept that there is no such thing as time. Time is a reification of language. Created by language. But they cannot accept this.
We may not like it. But there are problems we cannot understand or solve. These phenomena may be called: difficulties. But they are not in any meaningful sense: problems. Questions exist which we cannot answer in any meaningful way. Unless we want to rely on mysticism. Which too many of us do.
I think this is why Bertrand Russell said the world needs tolerance. Someone should convince the insane religious fanatics in the near East, especially orthodox Jews who are waiting for the Messiah and Evangelical Christians who are waiting for the second coming. These people believe there is an inevitable ending and the world is approaching it. Muslims do not believe this. I should add; none of my Jewish relatives or friends are orthodox. None of my Christian relatives or friends are evangelical. I have Muslim friends. But, to my knowledge, I have no Muslim relatives. I am an atheist. The most powerful, memorable character in ROMEO AND JULIET was Mercutio who said: "A plague o' both your houses."
That's it, Tolerance. A loft goal. Where have I heard that before. Oh yeh, Matthew 25.
Correct Daniel. Fear stimulates the amygdala, and in humans most fear is learned.
Homophobia is an irrational reaction to exposures to queers, mostly a condition found in men, the reaction, one of which is violence and anger,is indeed produced in the amygdala.