Graphic listing synonyms for hole. A hole is an opening or absence in something material. Also, hole can be used metaphorically in several fields, including psychology, philosophy, and politics. (Click to Enlarge)
What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself below in a comment. This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. For today's suggested topic lets consider the Unified Theory of Stupidity as discussed in these Daily Kos articles, Toward a Unified Theory of Stupidity by Yahula and Stupidity -- Another Possible Explanation by WayneBorean.
I have been working on my own theory stupidity and these two essays resonated with my own ideas on the topic. Rather than making a comment I thought it better to just post a few stories about it.
My theory starts with the concept of a hole. Not a physical hole, but a metaphorical hole in the mind. Jump the fold for a longer explanation of my idea.
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Beyond the fold lets serve up our favorite beverages, There are cookies for everyone, and conversation. What is for dinner? How are you doing? And, What is on your mind today?
This is a Open Thread / Coffee Hour.
Simply stated, I think a “Hole in the Mind” is a better description of the phenomenon called stupidity than the theories advanced by Cipolla, Dunning-Kruger, Bonhoeffer presented in the first essay by Yahula. WayneBorean’s reply essay is a bit more useful as it begins to question the validity of data that informs the choices people make. But, it omits questioning how the data is processed. What is missing in both essays is the hint of what we can do to correct the stupidity. The “hole in the mind” term immediately suggest filling the hole. And this can be done through education.
Below is a use of the hole metaphor I found when searching for a graphic for this article about holes. I found the Swiss Cheese Model. And the one below applied to preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease. For the purposes of this series It is easy to imagine the virus being Fox News propaganda or Republican talking points. But this only accounts for part of the story of stupidity.
The Swiss cheese respiratory virus defense model for COVID19 (Click to Enlarge)
This brings us to my theory of categories applied to communication. I think there are hidden structural processes that influence communication. These processes frame our perception of the world and our use of language. These fundamental frames are codified in theory of semantics developed by Wolfgang Wildgen that is based on René Thom’s pioneering classification of the seven Elementary Catastrophes.
What I’m trying to develop is an extension to to the Saussure’s signified and signifier theory. This new approach would specify signified, signifier, and frame. It acknowledges that every communication has an frame or combinations of frames that are made up from the unfoldings of René Thom’s seven Elementary Catastrophes.
I think the hole in the cognition of stupid people is the lack of connection of words or signs to action and collapsed frame embedding. They use words but have no idea what the words signify. What the words entail. They see the world through reduced or simple frames. To move the discussion to politics, I think they are victims of a meta frame or worldview such as the Politics of Eternity.
The Politics of Eternity
Timothy Snyder, Yale University Professor, gives us deep insights of the philosophy being promoted by the oligarchs in America, England, and Russia. The term he coined to categorize the philosophy is the “Politics of Eternity.”
So what's the politics of eternity? In the politics of eternity there is no future. So you stop believing that the future is automatically going to be better and you forget about the future entirely. Instead you're lulled into a different sense of time. Where things were better in the past. Where America was a good place in the 1930s 40s or 50s. Say, and all it has to happen is we have to make America great again.
From Timothy Snyder Speaks, episode 14 — 6:05 through 6:31
If all of this sounds familiar it might be because you read Ten Conservative Principles by Russell Kirk. I will just quote the first one.
First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent.