Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The Culture War Is A Battle Of Science vs. Religion

Not religion religion--but the political religion of Woketarianism. The progressive left has accepted a quasi-religious view of race and racism, in which the central claims are implausible, unverifiable and unfalsifiable, and held as dogma. Disbelief and even questioning are evil, as are unbelievers and questioners. The view spreads via evangelism and indoctrination, and holds ground by punishing critics. The progressive identity politics orthodoxy is held largely for emotional reasons--it answers certain "felt needs" of its adherents. It offers nonwhites the moral superiority of victimhood, and it offers whites the opportunity to abase themselves for their wickedness--which is, of course, a way of advertising superiority over those who don't. It also offers the illusion of epistemic superiority via the acceptance of quasi-esoteric knowledge--it's an actual conspiracy theory, and there's nothing conspiracy theorists love more than feeling as if they're cleverer and more clear-eyed than the masses. (You may believe the official tales of 9/11, but I've seen through them; you may believe the ordinary accounts of American history, but I've seen and accepted the horrible truth...) 
   On the other side, we have a consilience of our two most reliable methods of finding truth: (i) the informal science of mass, extended human experience, and (ii) formal scientific investigation. Races are real biological clusters of traits, and different races have somewhat different average characteristics.
   The former view also invokes a vast number of radical, unsubstantiated assumptions--e.g.: all disparities result from oppression--and concludes that a radical re-engineering of society is required. And it will not be complete until complete "equity"--i.e. identity of outcomes--is achieved. That is: it will never be complete. The latter view doesn't prescribe any particular solution. Perhaps the most natural course of action in light of it is: keep muddling on, knocking the sharpest edges off of inequalities where possible. Strive for substantially equal opportunity. Hope for the best.

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