tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post4100832634765885173..comments2024-03-17T12:51:46.412-07:00Comments on Cutting Through The Crap: Question ManSid Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-66788831923381090262010-08-16T11:58:47.508-07:002010-08-16T11:58:47.508-07:00No, Tom, it's not cognitive types. Which is th...No, Tom, it's not cognitive types. Which is the whole point.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-64736333901596972832010-08-16T11:21:12.413-07:002010-08-16T11:21:12.413-07:00Too many people embrace the philosophy of " I...Too many people embrace the philosophy of " I'll see it when I believe it".<br /><br />I think Sid does a very good (irritating?)job of referencing material that supports his position(s). While that may cause some folks angst-why not counter with a well referenced argument rather than a response of "B...S...t, you don't know what you are talking about.<br /><br />Sid methinks you have become a threat to the cognitive types-the end is clear!tomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4988839706387198339.post-46992809088444179842010-08-14T23:03:20.894-07:002010-08-14T23:03:20.894-07:00Well Sid, we have all been puzzled at the ability ...Well Sid, we have all been puzzled at the ability of many people - mainly self identifying "conservatives" of the InsaneClownParty (ICP) variety - to ignore the obvious, defend the indefensible, and otherwise revel in bat shit craziness.<br /><br />I have always believed that such persons are trapped in a dilemma such as that described in the problem of "The Monkeys Fist."<br /><br />To catch a monkey, you can make a small hole in some object (perhaps a coconut?) and place something good to eat inside.<br /><br />The hole must be large enough to allow said monkey to insert his little hand to grasp the edible, but not large enough to withdraw his hand with the edible in his grasp.<br /><br />The monkey is trapped because even when he (or she) is threatened with capture, she (or he) refuses to let go of the goodie and run. That's crazy, right!<br /><br />Most of the ICPers, of my tenuous acquaintance - at Xmas, Thanksgiving etc - seem to behave that way. They are heavily invested in the political beliefs of family, church and party, and to let those goodies go means social isolation or worse.<br /><br />I got very drunk once, with an ICPer - passionate Christian type - and when we reached the moment of drunken camaraderie, I asked him how he could believe things that he had to know were untrue. He said " I have to say I believe them; if I don’t I’ll lose my family and all my friends.”<br /><br />He added, non sequiturily: "Do you want the niggers to get all the good jobs?" Ahh, bat shit crazy Christian love!<br /><br />Very sad! Andit reinforced my theory. But I read today that there may be an evolutionary explanation.<br /><br />See: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/05/the-limits-of-reason.print.html<br /><br />The authors state:<br /><br />“The reason we succumb to confirmation bias, why we are blind to counterexamples, and why we fall short of Cartesian logic in so many other ways is that these lapses have a purpose: they help us “devise and evaluate arguments that are intended to persuade other people,”<br /><br />“Failures of logic, he and cognitive scientist Dan Sperber of the Institut Jean Nicod in Paris propose, are in fact effective ploys to win arguments.”<br /><br />EugeneInSanDiegoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com