The more of these “logical fallacy” posts I do, the angrier I get about people.
Because they are so easily manipulated; so foolish, so small, so incurious.
They only see what is in front of them, and only hear what they want to hear. They never act in their own nobler interests – they react only to baser emotions (lust, anger, jealousy). They would rather wallow in the muck of petty envy and greed than lift each other up. They have no beliefs, other than the ones passed down to them from generations long gone. They are living in a technological era, where everyone could potentially have what they need, while being OK with billions living precarious existences at best. They worship people who “made it” in spite of not realizing that they “made it” on the backs – on the labor, blood, and sweat – of countless others.
They can’t speak to each other without comparing status – everything is a competition.
They can’t relate to nature – it is something only to be exploited until it is gone.
They can’t relate to IDEAS – thinking is hard.
And yet.
The more of these I do, the sorrier I feel for most people.
Because they are so easily manipulated, and have not been given the tools to not be foolish.
They could be great, and often are, but not often enough and not enough of them are great often enough.
They are incurious because they don’t have the time for it (curiosity is a luxury in a neoliberal world, just like it was in a feudal world, just like it was for slaves from time immemorial, just like it always has been for peasants everywhere). Time is a precious resource in a world where everything has to be bought and sold.
They compete because the world tells them to compete rather than cooperate.
They can’t relate to nature because it’s been taken from them.
They can’t relate to ideas because no one has ever bothered to show them why (some) ideas can be great and good, and can make you greater than you thought you could be.
They can’t see or hear anything beyond what they want to see or hear, because it’s safe. They are often greedy and jealous because they see others as being safer than they are. In a precarious world, safety is paramount. This is where appeals to emotion become particularly important – defining in-groups and out-groups is a wonderful heuristic for dealing with the safety issue. This (person/religion/gender/etc.) is “okay”, so I don’t have to worry about them; this one is “not OK”, so I need to get my fight/flight response fired up.
Someday, perhaps, we’ll do better.