16 Comments

To be fair to the electricians of the world, moths were also led astray by candles and torches. But people forget that electric lights make it easier and cheaper to light a room with far less fire hazard. Probably because some people hate humanity and want to enslave mankind.

Gibson's law is a good one. Our debate coach used to say that he could find a quote from "some guy" to support any position.

Which is not to say that statistics are meaningful. The infamous Josiah Stamp pointed out that stats begin with what the watchman writes down in his log book. And the watchman writes down whatever he wants.

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Love these definitions! The other phenomenon that needs a proper name has to do with people needing religion and finding new gods once they’ve we’ve rejected traditional ones eg., wokeism smacks of the worst aspects of primitive practices in most religions...

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"St. George in Retirement Syndrome: Many who fight injustice come to define themselves by their fight against injustice ..."

Definitely a bit of a two-edged sword, or the tail eventually wagging the dog.

Reminds me of a more or less famous Zen parable which I may have read, decades ago, in Alan Watts' "The Way of Zen".

But the parable has it that a newly-minted white knight goes out to defends the town's people by challenging and killing all the black knights. For which he acquires some claim to fame and fortune. But once he has killed those black knights he finds "remuneration" is a bit thin on the ground so he takes to raiding gardens and then to waylaying travelers, becoming ever blacker in the process. Until, one bright sunny morning, he goes around a curve in the road to find himself challenged by some other newly-minted white knight. Karma baby, karma.

Sadly, more than a few people -- even some of those on "our side", supposedly on "the right side of history" -- are more or less in that boat, apparently being more interested in a grift than in defending the commonwealth.

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Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Gurwinder

Dysrationalia....Gibson's Law....& St. George in Retirement Syndrome.....all in one:

"Thanks to the internet, there is......now a wealth of journalism, of impeccable probity, investigating and interrogating the prevailing left-liberal narratives on race, gender and much else. Now, any open-minded person can - if the will is there - find persuasive, evidence-based refutations of those MSM narratives with their wilful seeking of ‘discrimination’, emotional ‘trauma’ and minority victimisation stories often diametrically opposed to evidence.

If the will is there – therein lies the rub. As Saul Bellow put it “a great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”" https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/mrs-thatcher-and-the-good-life

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Aug 14, 2023Liked by Gurwinder

An important element behind online activism is a search for community and belonging, which many struggle to find these days. But getting behind these causes, however ridiculous they may be, is the simplest way to find that. They always have to orbit around the catastrophic, to keep more people interested and to keep it going. What they don't realise (or don't wish to realise) is that these "communities" are artificial, they seldom translate into real life companionships. Ultimately, you do need to learn to let your personality shine through. Unfortunately, social media has given a permanent safe haven to these folks and it just keeps pushing them further into a downward spiral.

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G. you are always a source of great inspiration in this world flattened toward mediocrity!

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I am actually drawn in by the St. George syndrome retirement which is mostly applicable in the political arena. Politicians often look forward to seeing more problems in the society. Some of them will even create problems and later emerge behind that they want to be the saviours. They are more skilled in deteriorating further the plight of the underserved. Instead of bringing in real solutions, they treat symptoms and not the actual causes.

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Aug 4, 2023Liked by Gurwinder

Haha nice one.

Just to add on St George's retirement syndrome: I think those who are broken inside try to fix the world outside. Often, they project their own inner trauma onto the world, seeking love and connection in tribes, that they maybe never found at home.

Unless you fix this existential hole inside (thru luv and purpose), you'll keep seeking burning causes outside.

A

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“Gibson's Law: In matters of law and policy, anyone can find a subject-matter expert who supports their view, because having a PhD doesn’t necessarily make someone right, it often just makes them more skilled at being wrong.”

Love this😊

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Can't wait to listen to the podcast. Two of my favorite people to listen to. Keep up the great work!

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