I suggest a normal person always feels inferior in some way - to the
extent that this can be used as one criteria of normal. Therefore,
this cannot be the source of the disfunction we are discussing.
Abnormal people having excessive superiority do not show that they
feel inferior even though an objective analysis of their persona would
conclude they have much to feel inferior about. This evaluation is
then used to conclude that the person actually feels this inferiority
and is simply hiding it. This is a mistake. Instead, rather than
being in touch with his inferiority, the person is absolutely sure he
is superior. This certainty is the source of the disfunction. I don't
think it is wise to second guess their stated attitude and attribute
it to something else. This superior belief leads logically to having
no respect for the rules created by less superior people and a
rejection of anyone who can be identified as being less superior and
venerable. The attitude is also very hard to change because the change
is being viewed as coming from an inferior person. When dealing with
people and judging how they will behave, knowing normal from abnormal
is very important but frequently ignored. In fact, one of the great
flaws in the human experience is the inability to tell insane from
normal, with the result that people will follow the insane to their
destruction. Of course, normal people having superior talents and
knowledge do exist, but they demonstrate their normalcy by
acknowledging that they are inferior in other ways. This is call
humility. When correct methods are used, it is easy to tell normal
brain function from disfunction.
Ed
On Jun 5, 2009, at 10:11 AM, Lawrence de Bivort wrote:
Interesting hypothesis.
Some 'substitutes' for racial bigotries come readily to mind: anti-
Muslim
(from evangelical Christians and current American society); anti-
Semitism
(eg from the Nazis); anti-Palestinians (from Israelis). Perhaps
anti-Liberals?
The need to assert individual or group superiority, I would guess,
is based
on an actual sense of inferiority, and if an individual or a group
doesn't
have objective reasons to feel good about themselves the only
alternative is
to assert the inferiority of others....
The room that this creates for psychopathology and sociopathology is
huge.
I would guess that this is a recurring phenomenon in human history and
current events.
What do you think?
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: William Beaty [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 8:11 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Vo]:Shanahan goes off the deep end!
On Thu, 4 Jun 2009, Jed Rothwell wrote:
I had a large insight into my own psychology, and theirs. My "inner
bigot" tells me exactly what's going on: CF-haters respond to CF
supporters in the same way that racists respond to non-whites: with
intolerance, with very strong feelings of superiority, and with
buried hatred. It's definitely an ego thing, but it seems to better
fit the mold of "race hatred."
In the case of the late Douglas Morrison this was literally true.
That's simple racism. But since we can't detect heretics by skin
color,
and since "science bigot" is all about detecting inferiors ...life
becomes like a Dr. Seuss book, where they're obsessively trying to
discover whose bellies have stars.
Here's another issue. Racism is no longer accepted in public!
So what's an insecure hater to do? They'll need to find some other
"inferiors" who can be safely attacked without drawing public
condemnation. If it's a widespread problem, then we'd expect to find
large groups of non-racist "bigots" who all managed to find the same
socially-acceptable victims. Then look for the usual "racial" slurs,
hate-group politics, self- congratulatory prose describing their own
superiority and their success at "defending purity," and describing
the
inhuman, inferiority of their victims who threaten to contaminate the
world with their dirtyness. The whole racism nine yards, but directed
against caucasians. Any groups doing this?
I notice that, in conversing with people from certain online skeptic
groups, they seem driven half insane over the question of whether
I'm a
"woo woo" or not.
Am I one of those disgusting inferior enemy types? Or am I a fellow
scientist skeptic, "one of us?" This whole issue seems crazy unless
you
look at the history of bigots, and their obsession about
intermarriage and
the "obvious" differences they emphasize between their superior
selves and
the non-white victims.
Regarding skeptics versus woo-woos, isn't there a whole spectrum?
Where
extreme examples are at the ends of the spectrum, with lots of
people in
the middle? Not to a bigot. Either you're a skeptic colleague and
totally pure, or you're one of the dirty inferior woo-woos, with
nothing
in between. Why? Simple: people with the wrong skin color are
supposed
to be "all the same," disgusting dehumanized stereotypes. And then the
bigot supplies a list of derogatory characteristics which supposedly
describes all their hated enemies.
So, if we on vortex are the dirty woo-woos, then we're all the same,
and
not really human. We're hated stereotypes, not people. It's critical
that we be dehumanized with no chance to escape it. No woo-woos and
skeptics going out for drinks after the conference; we might
accidentally
convince them that we're like them. We woo-woos are all secretly
creationist fanatics, right? If we deny it, then we're just lying.
And
we all hate science and want to destroy it for some inscruitable woo-
woo
reasons of our own. We all believe in phrenology AND the flat earth
AND
lunar hoax AND cold fusion since we're so disgusting and mindless.
Most
important: a bigot's goal is not to treat us as students, to educate
us
and heal our sad ignorance. The bigot's goal is xenophobia: to stop
us at
all costs, lest we overwhelm the carefully defended last bits of
unsoiled
purity that remain on earth.
Ok, five in the morning, time to stop.
(((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb at amasci com http://amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair
Seattle, WA 206-762-3818 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci
