I know I’m grasping. The myth that Neanderthals were slower than homosapiens has been debunked. But I just can’t figure out why people revert to superstition and anti science, trying not to learn from history etc. I guess I was just hoping it was genetic and not learned behavior. What could it be?
Humans. Experts on conspiracy theories (broadly defined) disagree on the exact percentage, but they’re in agreement that an overwhelming majority of Americans, 2/3, 3/4, or more, believe in at least one common, well-debunked theory. And why shouldn’t they, most of the time? 1/
Most are mostly harmless, taken in moderation. While believing six impossible things before breakfast takes talent and practice, holding mutually contradictory beliefs is really common. It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy to chase down the paradoxes and resolve them. 2/
Usually the effort is better spent washing dishes or at a day job, keeping the world going ‘round. The problem today is that we have most of the country looking for excuses not to work on the hard things, namely building unions and taxing billionaires. Advocating them gets you fired. 3/
So they look for someone or something else to blame: Republicans, Democrats, the patriarchy, feminists, you know the mantras. Some of these are real problems (patriarchy, Republicans), some are deep (patriarchy), some are derp (the vast majority of Republicans according to my hypothesis here). 4/
Redistributing power and wealth (eg unions and billionaire taxes, respectively) are possible—we already do them at scale. But we the people have to do the work ourselves in our free time, while the billionaires hire lobbyists. It’s hard and slow and gratification is delayed. And so it goes. 5/5
P.S. The other thing we need is broad recognition that joint-stock corporations are extremely effective combinations of dollars in restraint of trade. Unions are much less effective. That’s why capital hires labor, not vice-versa. We need more unions! Not to mention better (not “more”) regulation.🫡
Realoty doesn’t make them feel special.
Mainly? They’re fucking idiots.