tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post8955560838215339880..comments2024-02-25T05:24:24.948-05:00Comments on Beyond Easy: Fears of a post-truth planet (part one)Patrick Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-51435507316763934522016-12-29T06:51:46.086-05:002016-12-29T06:51:46.086-05:00For a while I did successfully divorce my enjoymen...For a while I did successfully divorce my enjoyment of Dilbert from its author too. However, the more I read his blog the more I gain an insight on the mind of the man and the more I start to notice how Dilbert itself is cynically, carefully constructed for effect and profit. <br /><br />While pretending to be biting white collar parody of the stupidity and inanity of the corporate system from the point of view of the abused employees, Adams himself embodies the very belief that keep such system afloat, being himself very similar to the bald CEO of his fictional corporation. Or when Dilbert himself is at his worst, a brilliant but contemptuous sociopath whose controversial statements are played for shits and giggles as social ineptitude, you are also seeing how Adams actually thinks.<br /><br />The man is indubitably clever and knows that "common people" likes to laugh at the rich and the smart (by thinking that they are dumb and anti-social, respectively), and he, a rich and smart man, gives them what they want, while becoming a bit richer and laughing to himself all the way to the bank.<br /><br />I myself have no opinion regarding whether humans have the ability to perceive reality or not but I believe that since we cannot not experience reality as humans, there's no point in refusing to call what we experience "reality". What's really rich in Adams's case is that after explaining to his followers why we allegedly cannot perceive reality, he conveniently establishes himself as the one who tells them what is the better way to think and act under those circumstances. Because he is a "trained hypnotist".Maokunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459710218366288832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-74685421685335721232016-12-29T02:06:55.519-05:002016-12-29T02:06:55.519-05:00Oh yes. I've always rather liked Dilbert, and ...Oh yes. I've always rather liked Dilbert, and the more I've seen of Scott Adams (interviews, his books, blog posts etc.) the more I've tried to divorce the comic from the creator in my mind.<br /><br />Someone I met about a year ago is a kind of Dilbert superfan; runs some sort of Dilbert clippings thing on Instagram and has hundreds of followers, etc. A few months ago she quit her job to work for the Clinton campaign. A couple of weeks ago I asked her how she feels about Scott Adams lately. She said she ONLY talks about his comic, and even though it was a text message I could tell she was clenching her teeth as she typed.<br /><br />Adams isn't really wrong about the human being not being equipped to perceive reality, though. But there's a difference between "human beings are incapable of directly experiencing all of the facts of the situation" and "the facts matter so little that they can be fudged as much as it serves men like me to fudge them."<br /><br />(Sorry for taking so long to answer all the time, by the way. I DO READ AND APPRECIATE FEEDBACK. My initial response is always "yeah!" so I like to sit down and think it over. Then I get up for a snack. Then I forget what I was thinking about, and it takes me a long while to get back on track.)Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-29134302289641717532016-12-13T09:23:48.933-05:002016-12-13T09:23:48.933-05:00Not sure if you've read (or read about) Scott ...Not sure if you've read (or read about) Scott Adams's--of Dilbert fame--blog. Forget gaslighting. Forget subtly attempting to make people question their experience of reality by slightly manipulating measurable data. The guy outright tells his followers (rabid pro-Trumpers) "By nature, the human being is not equipped to perceive reality. As such, all we can 'reality' and 'facts' may very well be wrong, and when not wrong, it doesn't matter, anyway." And then proceeds to preach to them his own version of reality, one that is allowed exclusively to him thanks to his background as a "trained hypnotist" (a phrase that he parrots constantly, actually lending credence to the claim).<br /><br />In Adams's reality, Trump is an astute but benevolent "Master Persuader", a man of such incredible insight on the human condition, that each word that comes out of his mouth and every controversial decision is carefully crafted to provoke a reaction that can be manipulated into a good thing. So he's not racist or sexist; he merely said things that sounded racist and sexist. His followers all (self-congratulatory) smart people would be able to dismiss those statements as such, while he would also gain the vote of the actually racist and sexist. Then, once president, he'd be able to clarify, which not only would result in non-sexist/racist policies, but also would help sexist and racist people improve their thinking.<br /><br />In this way, he's almost daily not only justified every eyebrow-raising statement or decision, he's also twisted them into something undeniably good thanks to the "Master Persuader Filter". Climate change denial? "Pfft, you all surely know how scientists and experts get things wrong all the time, so their claims are, by principle, suspect. Now, I'm no scientist, but I can tell you that if someone is trying to use fear as an argument, they are trying to manipulate you for their own agenda, and nothing causes more fear that apocalyptic climate change." And so on.<br /><br />Basically he embodies everything you talked about in this post.Maokunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459710218366288832noreply@blogger.com