Mar 1, 2023·edited Mar 1, 2023Liked by William Poulos
I find it funny that people who condemn fundamentalists (because fundamentalists tend to believe that only their current view of the world can be valid) do, at the same time, claim that views contrary to theirs are not worth considering because the author of those views must (without an understanding of the author's views) be a "bad" person. Here little or no attempt was made to rationally explain why the views should be considered invalid. [If they had done so then it would've be an opportunity for the author to grow in understanding. Instead it does the opposite.]
I completely agree. Often people absorb ideas around them and don't know how to defend them because they've never had to. (The Chomsky/Herman article from a few weeks ago outlines how those authors think this works.)
Also, perhaps people get caught up in the mistaken belief that because someone overwhelmingly excels in one specific aspect (of their life) that automatically translates into every conceivable aspect and, by extension, into everyone else's life. For example, if I was a football champion then many people would believe that my opinion on, say, satellite-based internet is worth considering and propagating (when in fact I might know nothing but what was in the spam email I recently received.)
I find it funny that people who condemn fundamentalists (because fundamentalists tend to believe that only their current view of the world can be valid) do, at the same time, claim that views contrary to theirs are not worth considering because the author of those views must (without an understanding of the author's views) be a "bad" person. Here little or no attempt was made to rationally explain why the views should be considered invalid. [If they had done so then it would've be an opportunity for the author to grow in understanding. Instead it does the opposite.]
I completely agree. Often people absorb ideas around them and don't know how to defend them because they've never had to. (The Chomsky/Herman article from a few weeks ago outlines how those authors think this works.)
Also, perhaps people get caught up in the mistaken belief that because someone overwhelmingly excels in one specific aspect (of their life) that automatically translates into every conceivable aspect and, by extension, into everyone else's life. For example, if I was a football champion then many people would believe that my opinion on, say, satellite-based internet is worth considering and propagating (when in fact I might know nothing but what was in the spam email I recently received.)