Pragmatic rationalism explained by someone other than Germaine

Well, OK, something other than Germaine. Perplexity say this about Germaine’s politics:

Q: Based on the politics expressed at Dissident Politics, is Germaine at that site far left, left, centrist or something else in his political leaning or ideology? Germaine claims to adhere to what he calls pragmatic rationalism, which he characterizes on the basis of cognitive biology and social behavior as an anti-biasing, anti-ideology ideology, e.g., here.

A: Based on the content at Dissident Politics, Germaine's political ideology does not fit neatly into traditional left-right categories. He advocates for what he calls “pragmatic rationalism,” which he describes as an anti-biasing, anti-ideology approach.

Pragmatic rationalism, as presented by Germaine, aims to transcend conventional political labels and ideologies. It focuses on using cognitive biology and social behavior insights to counteract biases and promote more rational decision-making in politics and policy. This approach suggests that Germaine's political leanings are:

1. Non-traditional: Rejecting standard left-right categorizations 

2. Evidence-based: Emphasizing scientific understanding of human cognition and behavior 

3. Pragmatic: Focusing on practical outcomes rather than ideological purity

While Germaine may touch on issues that align with various points on the political spectrum, his overall framework appears to be an attempt to create a meta-ideology that critiques and aims to improve upon traditional political thinking.

Given this information, it would be most accurate to describe Germaine’s political stance as: Unconventional/Alternative: Rather than fitting into established categories like far left, left, or centrist, Germaine's pragmatic rationalism represents an attempt to forge a new approach to politics based on cognitive science and rational analysis.

Dang! Germaine really thought he was a centrist because when he looks at opinion polls about various policies, he is agrees with majority opinion most of the time, maybe about 75%. Darned Germaine, self-deluded as usual. . . . . grumble, grumble . . . . . . 

Ooh, wait!! Pragmatic rationalism is a meta-ideology? I like that! Wait, what is a meta-ideology?

Q: What is a meta-ideology?

A: A meta-ideology is a higher-order or overarching ideological framework that provides the basis for other ideologies or ideological debates. Key aspects of meta-ideology include: 

1. It acts as a foundational system of ideas that shapes how other ideologies are formed and understood.

2. Meta-ideology posits that ideologies are coherent systems of ideas based on a few core assumptions about reality, which may or may not have a factual basis.

3. It views ideologies as neither inherently right nor wrong, but rather as intellectual strategies for categorizing and making sense of the world.

4. Meta-ideology examines the structure, form, and manifestation of ideologies, rather than advocating for any specific ideological position.

5. It can provide a common ground or framework within which different ideological perspectives can engage in dialogue.

6. Liberalism has been described as acting like a meta-ideology in some contexts, as it can incorporate and express alternative ideological positions through its versatile conceptual structure.

7. A meta-ideological approach aims to transcend rigid ideological thinking and foster more nuanced, empathetic understanding across different viewpoints.

8. It encourages self-awareness about one's own ideological assumptions and constructs, promoting a more reflective approach to political and social issues.

In essence, a meta-ideology provides a higher-level perspective on ideologies themselves, examining how they function, interact, and shape our understanding of politics and society.

Germaine really likes points 3, 5, 7 and 8.

Defense against the dark free speech arts update

Jargon Alert! 

DADA: defense against dark free speech arts

Much or maybe most of the American public is ignorant and unprepared to deal with the onslaught of powerful, modern radical right authoritarian DFS (dark free speech). Toxic social media is a significant factor in fomenting unwarranted distrust, lies, slander and truly deranged crackpottery. Solid evidence of social ignorance and mental weakness is the stunning degree of public support for DJT, the GOP and the tactics of MAGA. The authoritarian onslaught is based mostly on bigotry, lies irrationality and other DFS-fomented emotions and false beliefs. Despite MAGA’s obvious appeal based on deceit and irrationality, tens of millions of adult Americans cannot see what is clearly in front of them. Those mostly defenseless minds have fallen to the power of DFS.

My limited knowledge of the state of DAGA science and public education leads me to believe that the forces engaged in DAGA is fragmented, weak and mostly ineffective. Teaching of the cognitive and social sciences for mental defense is dismal in public education. The MSM is mostly in failure mode when it comes to dealing with the threat. Academics aware of the problem are few and their influence in educating the public is miniscule. 

An incremental no-brainer bit of new research exemplifies the crappy, primitive state of American DADA:

To make children better fact-checkers, expose them to 

more misinformation — with oversight

“We need to give children experience flexing these skepticism muscles and using these critical thinking skills within this online context,” a UC Berkeley psychology researcher said.

In an era when online misinformation is seemingly everywhere and objective facts are often in dispute, UC Berkeley psychologists in a new study have presented a somewhat paradoxical partial solution: Expose young children to more misinformation online — not less.

Doing so in limited circumstances, and with careful oversight and education, can help children gain the tools they’ll need to sort fact from fiction online, said Evan Orticio, a Ph.D. student in UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology and lead author of a paper published today (Thursday, Oct. 10) in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Orticio argues that, given children’s natural skepticism and early exposure to the internet’s boundless misinformation, it is crucial for adults to teach them practical fact-checking skills. Instead of attempting to completely sanitize their online environment, he said adults should focus on equipping children with tools to critically assess the information they encounter.

Zorpy eyeballs fact check exercise

“Children can adapt their level of skepticism according to the quality of information they’ve seen before in a digital context,” Orticio said. “They can leverage their expectations of how this digital environment works to make reasonable adjustments to how much they trust or distrust information at face value — even if they know next to nothing about the content itself.”

Think about that. People in power bumble and fumble with the impossible task of sanitizing what children see online. That basically deprives them of any chance to learn to self-defend against DFS. Unfortunately, this study was based on a small sample size (N = 122) of 4–7-year-old children exposed to falsity. At most, this is just another hint at doing what has been obvious to me for years, a major, multi-year effort in mandatory public education in DADA.

An analogy is in the hygiene hypothesis: The idea that exposure to germs is beneficial for children's immune system development has been largely validated by scientific research, rather than debunked. This concept, known as the “hygiene hypothesis,” has gained substantial support from multiple studies over the years.

Exposure to germs teaches children’s immune system how to effectively respond with limited damage to healthy cells and tissues. For years, my intuition, based on some evidence, has been that exposure to DFS teaches minds how to more effectively respond with emotional manipulation and false beliefs that DFS is designed to foment. The presence of DADA in American society is low to nil. 

The research paper’s abstract reinforces my argument:

A simulation suggests that children’s behavior is adaptive, because increased fact-checking in more dubious environments supports the discovery of potential misinformation. Importantly, children were least diligent at fact-checking a new claim when all prior information was true, suggesting that sanitizing children’s informational environments may inadvertently dampen their natural skepticism. Instead, these findings support the counterintuitive possibility that exposing children to some nonsense may scaffold vigilance towards more subtle misinformation in the future.

A counterintuitive possibility?? Wrong mindset scientists! Wrong, wrong wrong, damn it!! It should have been an intuitive possibility, especially in view of existing data. Sigh. I rest my case. End of rant.

Why defense of state from church is desperately needed

Bigotry: obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction, in particular prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group; bigotry includes hate of people who support secularism and church-state separation 

This terrifying 10 minute video makes very clear what Christian nationalism is and would do to us if it gets the power. The video is described like this: “Father James Altman calls out the hypocrisies of Church hierarchy and their destructive leftist politicization of the Catholic Church that has slapped faithful Catholics in the face and led many others astray. Altman also explains the basis of human nature and our purpose in life.” 

“You cannot be a Democrat 

and a Catholic. Period.”

I can literally feel the sanctimonious, uncontrolled rage and hate that drives Father Altman’s vicious lies, slanders, intolerance and bigotry. Our tax code subsidizes hateful, bigoted theocratic filth like this. We are supporting major efforts to destroy our democracy, civil liberties, secular rule of law, secular education and freedom of choice to live as we please. 

We all know what this election is about and the consequences of a loss to DJT, MAGA, the GOP and all three strains of kleptocratic American authoritarianism.** The elites who have worked hard together for decades to put us here, on the verge of losing our democracy.

** Kleptocratic dictatorship with DJT as an above-the-law dictator for life, kleptocratic, unregulated capitalist plutocracy and kleptocratic Christian nationalist theocracy.

Q: Does Altman really speak for all Catholics and God himself, or just the aggressive kleptocratic theocrats?

Pulse checking the public; Misc. headlines

Responses to reporting by The New Republic hints at growing anger at MAGA: 

Donald Trump has once again evoked Nazi rhetoric.

At a rally in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday, the Republican presidential nominee weaponized violent and dehumanizing language to describe immigrants, referring to them as the “enemy from within” while advocating for harsher criminal punishments for the vulnerable demographic, including promising the death penalty.


“But I protect you from outside enemies. But you know I always say, we have the outside enemies, so you can say China, you can say Russia, you can say Kim Jong Un … if you have a smart president it’s no problem,” Trump said. “It’s the enemy from within.

“All the scum we have to deal with that hate our country,” he continued. “That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia.… Everyday Americans like Cindy are living in fear all because Kamala Harris decided to empty the slums and prison cells of Caracas, and many other places. Happening all over the world.”

“They took the criminals out of Caracas, and they put them along your border, and they said if you ever come back, we’re going to kill you,” Trump said.

“Think of that!” he continued. “We have to live with these animals. But we won’t live with them for long!”

At that, one person in the crowd shouted, “Kill them!”

One disgruntled peanut gallery denizen commented:

Jesus Fucking Christ. This deranged lunatic is legitimately trying his damnedest to get something to pop off before Election Day, ain’t he? He wants chaos. He wants death. He wants bloodshed. At this point I don’t think he cares if he wins the election, because it doesn’t matter. This is not going to be a peaceful election. Fuck you MAGAs for promoting this level of domestic terrorism.

That got ~8,300 upvotes. Another peanut commented, but with only 146 upvotes:

I think he's so demented at this point he thinks he's pulling an actual Hitler. And he's stupid enough to have no comprehension of the actual nuances of the situations. Sadly he's going to get a lot of people hurt and killed proving it.

This peanut says, with ~1,100 upvotes:

Hitler used those exact words to help justify what he did. Trump is using the same words to justify what he'll do, and his supporters will also use those words to justify violence against the "enemy from within."

Last peanut:

Lemme guess, this isn't being covered by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, NYT WSJ, or any other legacy media outlet. Fucking cowards need to remember "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

My professional pulse check assessment: Some people are getting pissed off at DJT and MAGA.

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