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Quote of the Day: Ridiculous Ideas
Virtually no idea is too ridiculous to be accepted, even by very intelligent and highly educated people, if it provides a way for them to feel special and important. Some confuse that feeling with idealism. – Thomas Sowell
This seems to be the era for that kind of thinking. Some people advocate saving the world by banning straws. Others insist any speech they disagree with is hate speech, unprotected by the Constitution, and prosecutable. Others insist the only way to save the Republican party is vote a straight Democratic ticket this fall. And let’s not get into those who argue the Moon landing was faked or that the collapse of the Twin Towers was due to a government conspiracy rather than Islamofascist terrorists because, truth.
The folly of these beliefs is obvious, yet many of those advocating them are completely sincere and absolutely convinced of the correctness of their stands. In many cases they believe that if you oppose them your are not just wrong, you are evil. Nor are these stupid people. Many are highly intelligent and highly educated – and completely oblivious to the folly in their position.
Why? I honestly do not know.
I think that is why I find this quotation so appealing. Sowell’s contention is some people are so obsessed with a need to feel special and important that they latch on to some nonsense idea in the belief its advocacy will make them special and important. You cannot reason with such people. You cannot show them through logical argument that they are wrong. About the only thing you can do is shake your head and tell them, “Bless your heart.” Then move on and spend your time (which is finite) on more valuable activities.
Published in General
Glad they didn’t tell the drivers that. They were gutsy guys but they weren’t stupid.
The astronauts knew. It was the simplest way to get there. As far as they were concerned it was a good joke to pull on the robot.
At church we sometimes mention to G-d in a worship song that we want to “bless your heart.” What’s up with that?
I believe it was @christinahoffsommers on @benshapiroguestcontributor‘s show who used the phrase “conspiracy theory for smart people.”
A good phrase.
Here’s a personal favorite conspiracy theory for smart people: George W. lied us into war because, you know, he said there were WMD and then there weren’t any WMD. No WMD! No WMD! Bush lied!
(Never mind the 2 WMD, the 500 WMD, and the 5,000 WMD. No, those don’t count. It’s still no WMD!)
Witness by Wittaker Chambers is perhaps the best work I have read a out the non-rational motivations behind political beliefs.
Well there are Beliefs to die for such as Faith, Family, Freedom, Justice and so on as well as beliefs that do not call for the ultimate sacrifice such as the Designated Hitter Rule good/bad and so on. Not being willing to give up one’s life for such things as a belief that traffic light cams are an unnecessary intrusion into privacy doesn’t mean it isn’t a legitimately held belief. It just means there are limits to the degree of sacrifice one should be called upon to support such a position.
Yes and going a little further I think young folks who have been left out of whatever in group they were exposed to are especially vulnerable to accepting weird or untenable ideas as a way to become accepted into a group. Everyone has at least some desire to be part of some group or other, especially during the teen years. Those who are different in some way or judged lacking in appearance or intelligence are very vulnerable to being recruited by fringe groups at that age, sometimes becoming so dedicated to unreasonable positions that they are unable to break free even if they later realize they are being used. If that fringe group can offer the feeling of superiority and exclusiveness that becomes a bonus.
Cults thrive on this model and teach their members that they have reached a higher plane of Spiritual understanding beyond the ability of outsiders even to grasp. They are also taught that attempts to convince them of the error in their beliefs are Satan’s attempt to turn them from their way of enlightenment, thus insulating them from serious consideration of their beliefs. Such conversations are viewed as ‘persecution’.
Extreme Leftists who are working to Save the Earth (for instance) through nonsense such as the Straw Apocalypse closely mirror this model of behavioral group-think. They enforce conformity within the group by pointing to outsiders as ‘evildoers’ who aren’t enlightened enough to understand, let alone accept, the elevated position of the ‘woke’ crowd. Any deviance within the group from orthodoxy is immediately condemned and the ‘sinner’ is excommunicated and ostracized. That’s a powerful warning to the group at large of the consequences of going against the grain. Therefore it becomes very hard to have a reasonable discussion with them since it is seen as an attack on their safety within the Group. It’s as if one was threatening their housing, job or other security. It’s literally about their feelings of security. So, there has to be an acceptable alternative available before they will consider the arguments.
You are very devious; I like it. I like it very much. Waste as much of their time as possible. Reminds me of the strategy I heard once of sending a dollar to liberal causes then laughing as they spend thousands requesting more donations.
I gave a significant amount of money (> $200) to the Republicans in 1994 after Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” broke the lock on the Democrat’s House of Representatives. After many phone calls later, mailings, and even return envelopes with actual stamps, I estimated they wasted over 1/2 the money I donated.