Monday, March 27, 2006
Things I'd Always Suspected
Today I was heeding a friend as she was expounding at infuriated length on her slacker ne'er-do-well brother, who is still living rent-free, diploma-free and job-free in Mom's basement, and who thinks that Michael Crichton is infallible and that global warming is a fraud. In other words, the very sort of guy most likely to be part of the 101st Keyboard Kommandoes. This made me think of two bits of info I ran into recently: 1) The most incompetent people are so incompetent, they don't even realize how incompetent they really are. 2) People who get most of their information from FOX News know less about the world than those who get it elsewhere -- and what they think they know is all-too-often dead wrong. I have a strong feeling that there is much overlap between Set 1 and Set 2. How many times have you seen wingnuts assume a pose of supercompetence, only to see subsequent events rip that pose to shreds? UPDATE: MEC in the comments points this out:
There's a third point that I think applies: whiny, insecure, defensive children grow up to be rightwingers. I think there's a close connection between these personality traits and intellectual limitations; not that people with limited intellect are whiny and insecure, but that the whininess is incompatible with intellectual curiosity, objectivity, and open-mindedness.Exactly. Insecurity, which leads to withdrawal from the world, which stunts the ability to empathize, which leads to a cold, selfish callousness they pretend is virtue.
No, I can't imagine it. But I'm sure it is a sign of mental illness.
: 3/28/2006 06:54:00 AM << Home
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