At the 2018 WEF in Davos, “Steven Pinker, popular science author and cognitive psychologist who teaches at Harvard University, made the case that political correctness may be responsible for feeding some of the most odious ideas out there, developed by tech-oriented loners who grow such thinking in isolation from the mainstream discussion.” (Big Think)
This is a truly interesting line of thinking. Political correctness indeed works like a great filter to the 7 Belief systems, and also like a red rag to a bull – the Truth. Any of the 7 Belief systems (ie, Love, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science and the Truth) has believers and opposers. Depending on your society, this great filter either applies to believers, or to their opposers.
This great filter is not applied consistently. In the UK, the (arrogant) opinions of globalists and/or the Left are being ridiculed (my blog). In the USA, however, the great filter in Politics applies to the (ignorant) opinions of nationalists and/or the Right (my blog).
The same principle also applies to the other 6 Belief systems: Love (eg, LGBT), Money (eg, Ayn Rand, Greed is Good), Philosophy (eg, regional independence), Religion (eg, atheism, Political Islam), Science (eg, climate change denial), and/or the Truth (political correctness).
This great filter creates forbidden fruits. “Ever since the Garden of Eden, forbidden fruits equal human temptation. We assume and/or believe that these fruits are only forbidden because they must taste better.” Excerpts from my 2017 blog. This forbidden fruit phenomenon is even used as a reverse psychology trick between parents and children.
Independence is a philosophical belief in freedom. Please also see my 2017 blog The forbidden fruits of self-determination and the 2012 FT article: “Spain, Britain and the forbidden fruits of independence – No marriage can survive by declaring divorce illegal.”
Suppressing a belief by applying a great filter to free speech and/or media access, causes rage. Continued rage will result into extremism – or extreme beliefs. In USA, this accounts for the surge of Breitbart News Network and Fox News Channel. To a large extent, this was a response to overexposed left-liberal mainstream media (eg, CNBC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post).
Suppressing other beliefs by applying a great filter is common in (de facto) 1-party and/or 2-party nations (eg, China, Russia, Turkey, UK, USA). The absence of coalition governments in such countries has long been viewed as a success factor. The tides are turning however.
We must remember an (alleged) Abraham Lincoln quote: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” Quote Investigator suggests a French origin: Jacques Abbadie or Denis Diderot.
Short People (1978) by Randy Newman – artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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