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Trendy or True?

Entry 2109, on 2021-02-24 at 13:21:06 (Rating 4, Politics)

There are many cool words which English has borrowed from foreign languages. Of course, almost all words in English come from other languages, especially Latin and German, but I'm talking about more recent additions, and especially those which still have their distinctive foreign character.

Maybe my favourite is the German "schadenfreude" (the enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others; especially our enemies) but I also like the French "ennui" (a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement); I get a lot of that!

Another, which is possibly the word of this type which I use the most is "zeitgeist", which is another German word meaning the spirit of the time; the general moral, intellectual, and cultural climate of an era.

I think zeitgeist describes a phenomenon I commonly see in world affairs, too. Have you ever noticed how particular ideas, or political movements, or sources of activism, or just general narratives seem to go through phases where, often for no obvious reason, an idea will "take over the world" and everyone will jump on the bandwagon?

A classic example might be the neoliberal economic agenda which swept world politics and economics in the 1970s and 1980s. The most prominent proponent of this was Ronald Reagan in the US, closely followed by Margaret Thatcher in the UK. But it was "popular" elsewhere too, and here in New Zealand we went through a late but "pure" form of it starting in 1984.

The ideas inherent in this economic system: reducing the size and power of governments, giving businesses more freedom, and relying on markets to control economic activity, were nothing new in the world of theoretical economics, but it just suddenly took hold in real economies and spread around the world.

I have written several blog posts criticising this system, and I stand by those because I think single-minded adherence to any economic dogma is dangerous, but I do think it has offered some benefits as well, including removing a lot of inefficiency in government bureaucracies. I tend to write posts criticising the current system, because what's the point of criticising a system we don't use? If or when we move back to a more centralised, socialist system I'm sure I will criticise that as well.

So now that neoliberalism has lost its appeal as the latest and greatest "new thing" what do we have now instead? Well, it seems to me that social justice is the new thing, in particular racial justice. Before I go any further, I do want to say that I think the word "justice" is misused in both cases in that previous sentence. Justice (in this context) means "the quality of being fair and reasonable". I cannot see how any new trend can be fair or reasonable when it is just a "mind cancer" which has taken hold in the population.

I think social justice is important, and I think there are some aspects of society which could be made better in this area, but I also think the current social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter, MeToo, etc, are 90% zeitgeists where people have been captured by ideas without any real knowledge of the facts behind them.

There is a significant degree of hysteria in the groups of people who go along with these trends. It is very much like a religious belief to them, where people who disagree are seen as evil and who must be silenced, very much like the inquisitions, witch burnings, and other religious atrocities from the past.

There are two factors which have made this process worse than it has been in the past: first, we have the internet, especially social media, which allows ideas to spread rapidly; and second, we have an incompetent and biased media which feed the ideas they have latched onto (the zeitgeist) and spend inordinate amounts of time discussing them.

For example, it seems almost impossible for any discussion today to proceed without at least one mention of "systemic racism". Exactly the same discussion could have been held 10 years ago without a mention of racism, but now it seems compulsory, even in the most ridiculous situations. Has racism suddenly become a problem where it wasn't so much in the past? No, the opposite is true, but blaming everything on racism has become the zeitgeist, even though it is irrational and unfair.

For me, as an individualist and free-thinker, this is incredibly frustrating, for two reasons: first, I hate seeing politics, law, and economics being based on irrational, hysterical nonsense; and second, I hate seeing people succumbing to this mob mentality and not thinking for themselves.

It has always been the case that many people don't think for themselves, and I suspect in most cases it is because they are incapable of rational thought with any degree of depth. So maybe it is best that they don't try to form their own opinions. But this makes them more susceptible to political trends, where they are told what to think, mainly by the media.

And that is possibly even more dangerous than people with poor cognitive abilities trying to reach a reasonable point of view by themselves. At least if people thought for themselves, instead of being guided by the latest form of societal pressure, we might get more variation in opinions. Sure, most of them would still be bad, but at least they would not all be bad in the same way.

Reading back through those last few paragraphs I have to admit I sound very arrogant. It's as if I think I'm better than everyone else (or most others) and not only am I right and everyone else is wrong, but other people aren't even capable of being right, because they are intellectually deficient.

I don't really believe that. I do believe I am better informed and better capable of forming rational opinions than most people, but I think other people could form good opinions if they just made some effort. But they have other interests, and that's fair enough.

Also, maybe I am not as well informed as I think. Maybe I'm a victim of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, but I think the very fact that I am prepared to entertain that possibility makes me less susceptible to its effects. I also often indicate uncertainty and nuance in my beliefs which I think is also a point in my favour. The most ignorant and deluded people seem to be those who have simple, extreme positions, and are totally convinced they are right. I hope I am not in that group.

So I say, beware of the zeitgeist. Of course, we should never assume that it is wrong, but we should be aware that we might hold a belief because it is trendy rather than because it is true.

Comment 2 (6347) by OJB on 2021-02-27 at 15:06:31: (view earlier comments)

Well, things can be both trendy and true, obviously. But people believe things for a reason, and if they believe them because they are trendy they don't necessarily believe them because they are true. If someone believes something which isn't trendy, there is a chance that they do so because it is true. Again, not an absolute rule, by any means, but a possible indicator.

Comment 3 (6358) by Anonymous on 2021-03-02 at 15:57:09:

So what makes you think you are in a position to determine whether people believe something because it is true or trendy?

Comment 4 (6361) by OJB on 2021-03-02 at 21:53:20:

Well, there will always be some debate on this, because it is at least partly subjective. And I'm aware of the possibility that I have got this wrong: read the penultimate paragraph.

Comment 5 (6369) by Anonymous on 2021-03-04 at 12:46:09:

Ah, I took the penultimate paragraph as a little disingenuous... easy to say you are prepared to be wrong, right?

Comment 6 (6372) by OJB on 2021-03-05 at 12:54:04:

I see what you're saying: words are cheap, and it is easy to say you are prepared to listen to other perspectives and then not actually do that. I have two defences. First, many people won't even say that much. Instead they say that what they believe is just the right and proper thing, indicating their minds are made up. Second, look back at old blog posts and you will see my opinions have changed. I have become more nuanced and less certain in my rhetoric. Most others are going in the opposite direction: to more (unwarranted) certainty.

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