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Braindead Cynicism Wins In The Marketplace of Ideas

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Some false beliefs sound plausible but turn out to be false. Other false beliefs are so insanely ludicrous that it’s astonishing anyone believes them. But so long as they sound vaguely sophisticated and cynical, people will keep repeating them even after hearing the obvious and decisive objections. One example of such a belief is summed up in a phrase as ubiquitous as it is idiotic: “everything is political.” It’s one of those phrases that’s uncritically accepted because it sounds vaguely edgy, and gives you an excuse to crash your Thanksgiving dinner with discussion of the Trump administration. But its actual propositional content is about as obviously false as anything could be. The view is accurately described by a word that you’re not supposed to say anymore but that maybe you can say again since Trump came to power. I was recently at a meeting of a debating club of sorts at my University. The topic was whether everything is political. Bizarrely, nearly everyone seemed to agree tha

Braindead Cynicism Wins In The Marketplace of Ideas No obviously everything isn't political! Bentham's Bulldog May 20, 2025 76 21 10 Share Some false beliefs sound plausible but turn out to be false. Other false beliefs are so insanely ludicrous that it’s astonishing anyone believes them. But so long as they sound vaguely sophisticated and cynical, people will keep repeating them even after hearing the obvious and decisive objections. One example of such a belief is summed up in a phrase as ubiquitous as it is idiotic: “everything is political.” It’s one of those phrases that’s uncritically ac

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