RollingThunder
Gold Member
- Mar 22, 2010
- 4,818
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I found a great article that casts some light on the puzzling, reality-denying, seemingly insane behavior of so many of the rightwingnut AGW denier cultists who post on this forum. It could have been written with them in mind. It perfectly describes their rejection of science and evidence, as well as logic and rationality, in the service of their political/economic ideologies.
Why Does the Right Embrace Ignorance as a Virtue?
Dismissing facts and science has become a staple of conservative ideology.
AlterNet
By Amanda Marcotte
June 11, 2014
(excerpts)
Spouting off about stuff you know nothing about is traditionally considered unwise. But as the Republican war on science intensifies, ignorance has started to become not only less of a handicap, but a point of pride. In the face of expertise and facts, being belligerently ignorantand offended that anyone dare suggest ignorance is less desirable than knowledgehas become the go-to position for many conservative politicians and pundits. Sadly, its a strategy thats working, making it harder every day for liberals to argue the value of evidence and reason over wishful thinking and unblinking prejudice. ... But for modern Republicans, being downright proud of their ignorance has become a badge of honor, a way to demonstrate loyalty to the right-wing cause while also sticking it to those liberal pinheads who think theres some kind of value in knowing what they're talking about before offering an opinion.
The thing is, shameless lying and ignorance work surprisingly well as debate tactics. Its hard to argue with someone who not only has signaled that he doesnt care what the truth is but is downright proud of how little he actually knows. Such a person is not amenable to being educated. Once the pretense of really caring one way or another about what is right and what is wrong has been abandoned, all avenue of discourse is shut down. The problem here is that someone who is not only so catastrophically wrong but downright proud of being an ignoramus is not going to actually bother to listen to an explanation like that. Thats why the wall of ignorance is such a powerful rhetorical tool. When you have nothing but contempt for the facts, attempts to educate you will only make your pride in your own ignorance grow stronger. The more you try to educate the proudly ignorant, the dumber they get. At the end of the day, the problem is one of identity. The conservative identity is one of being opposed to everything liberal, to the point of despising anything even associated with liberalism. As liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason, the incentives for conservatives to reject empiricism and reason multiply. To be a conservative increasingly means taking a contemptuous view of reality. And so the proudly ignorant grow more belligerent, day after day.
Why Does the Right Embrace Ignorance as a Virtue?
Dismissing facts and science has become a staple of conservative ideology.
AlterNet
By Amanda Marcotte
June 11, 2014
(excerpts)
Spouting off about stuff you know nothing about is traditionally considered unwise. But as the Republican war on science intensifies, ignorance has started to become not only less of a handicap, but a point of pride. In the face of expertise and facts, being belligerently ignorantand offended that anyone dare suggest ignorance is less desirable than knowledgehas become the go-to position for many conservative politicians and pundits. Sadly, its a strategy thats working, making it harder every day for liberals to argue the value of evidence and reason over wishful thinking and unblinking prejudice. ... But for modern Republicans, being downright proud of their ignorance has become a badge of honor, a way to demonstrate loyalty to the right-wing cause while also sticking it to those liberal pinheads who think theres some kind of value in knowing what they're talking about before offering an opinion.
The thing is, shameless lying and ignorance work surprisingly well as debate tactics. Its hard to argue with someone who not only has signaled that he doesnt care what the truth is but is downright proud of how little he actually knows. Such a person is not amenable to being educated. Once the pretense of really caring one way or another about what is right and what is wrong has been abandoned, all avenue of discourse is shut down. The problem here is that someone who is not only so catastrophically wrong but downright proud of being an ignoramus is not going to actually bother to listen to an explanation like that. Thats why the wall of ignorance is such a powerful rhetorical tool. When you have nothing but contempt for the facts, attempts to educate you will only make your pride in your own ignorance grow stronger. The more you try to educate the proudly ignorant, the dumber they get. At the end of the day, the problem is one of identity. The conservative identity is one of being opposed to everything liberal, to the point of despising anything even associated with liberalism. As liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason, the incentives for conservatives to reject empiricism and reason multiply. To be a conservative increasingly means taking a contemptuous view of reality. And so the proudly ignorant grow more belligerent, day after day.
