Let’s see now. Here we are in the 21st century. In the past 500 years humankind has shown remarkable progress on two parallel fronts. Along governance: no longer was the divine right of kings (or tribal leaders) recognized; rather, principles of self-governance were developed, notably in the United States Constitution in which, supposedly, all men were “equal” at least before the law and as voting citizens. Along matters of science and understanding reality: no longer was authority on such matters granted to holy books and their spokesmen; rather consensus on reality was granted to the evidence of the world around us, along with a healthy system of self-criticism, so that errors in understanding would eventually be recognized and corrected.
Why is that “progress”? Because these systems enabled the human population of the world, as it expanded so that no one tribe (city/nation) could exist apart from all the others, to get along with one another, and agree upon a consensus reality.
And yet now, in parts of the US at least, they have apparently stopped working, and we’re beginning to see the consequences. In the US, a large portion of the population rejects democracy, and rejects science. Where will this lead us?
This week’s issue about Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio supposedly eating pet cats and dogs is utterly absurd and trivial, on its surface, and yet the more it endures in the daily news cycle, the more it represents the breakdown of the consensus reality that has enabled the United States, and the modern world in both the West and elsewhere, to endure and become powerful. I’ve wondered before if it’s possible for society and its technology to depend on a minority who do understand science and technology, even as most of the rest of the population disbelieves in it while nevertheless depending on it.
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The story about Haitians eating pets derived from a single Facebook post based on third- and fourth-hand reports. This is a classic lesson in understanding why not to believe anything based on secondary reports.
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