DNA of Today's Politics

From a contradiction, one can imply any statement whatsoever.  If Yao Ming is a dwarf, then I must be Darth Vader.  Elementary for students of Mathematical Logic.

Means from a contradiction, worst from some mental model full of contradictions, one can imply any principle whatsoever that one can imagine.  Whether it be some principle of heroism or some principle of hooliganism.

Richard Dawkins. Photograph by Steve Jurvetson.

Good chance womanizer who lies to his mistresses that he ends up habitually justifying his contradictory mindset and behavior -- that when he gets used to telling them they are indeed the only ones he loves.  Ending up with highly unpredictable political behavior, in the process, if he becomes one into politics.

At times, he may be heroic.  At times he may be utterly a hooligan.  Now that is not necessarily going to be an issue.

The man on the street is generally ignorant of fallacious reasoning, the meme -- the virus -- that brings with it incoherence.  Meaning he is probably unfamiliar with fallacies and may not be able to identify one if he ever encounters one.

Much more difficult to understand, good chance he misses the point as to why contradictions ought to be avoided.

To my prompt, “Popular among the religious to embrace contradictions with faith. Correct?,” here is what a Large Language Model says.

Yes, embracing contradictions with faith is often seen in various religious contexts. Many religious traditions encourage followers to accept paradoxes or mysteries that go beyond human logic. For example, in Christianity, the concept of the Holy Trinity—three persons in one God—is a profound mystery that may appear contradictory but is accepted by faith. Similarly, in Islam, the tension between divine predestination and human free will is another paradox embraced by believers.

In general, faith often involves accepting things that reason alone cannot fully explain, and this openness to contradictions or mysteries can be seen as a core aspect of many religious experiences. Does this align with a specific religious context or tradition you’re thinking about?

Contradictions may not at all threaten the religious.  Good chance, therefore, that religious communities serve as superspreaders of fallacious reasoning that brings with it high probability of contradictions occurring. This is how one may look at it if one thinks of forms of reasoning as memes along the conceptualization innovated by Richard Dawkins.

To the man on the street inured to contradictions by exposure to the religious, the unpredictability of the behavior of the womanizer politician may actually appear mysterious. The womanizer, enigmatic.

Easy to justify that one only appears to be a hooligan.   One can easily point to some past event when the politician has indeed been heroic.  Not a surprise as contradiction-filled mental models easily serve as points of departure for heroic deeds — “one can imply any statement whatsoever.” It can be claimed, the politician is, in fact, a hero.  Only appearing to be a hooligan. Ergo, the aura of mystery. Ergo, the enigma.

Any misstep is a joke that can be brushed aside.  The public, forgiving of heroes.

Looking into issues involving women, looking into issues involving men, looking into issues involving young voters, many more — all that needs to be taken into consideration is the capacity of the man on the street to recognize fallacies and to understand the pernicious effect of contradictions, meaning lack of coherence.

This lack of capacity to grasp what wrong forms of reasoning are, memes that lead to contradictions, determine why there are conspiracy theorists, why there are religious cults, why there are populists, why there are bigots. Take this meme.

If God has chosen me to lead, I escape assassination. I have escaped assassination. Ergo, God has chosen me to lead.

Like this. If I have AIDS, then I get sickly. I am sickly. Ergo, I have AIDS.

Affirming The Consequent Fallacy

This fallacy is repeated over and over again in different ways and on different levels involving the many issues we now confront.

If there is law fare, barrage of cases are going to be filed. Barrage of cases are filed. Ergo, there is law fare.

If I am a genius, I get elected. I get elected. Ergo, I am a genius.

When I lay down rational policies, the economy strengthens. The economy is strengthening. Ergo, I have laid down rational policies.

Now multiply occasions with arguments or seeming arguments like these with the many kinds of fallacies -- these viruses, these memes -- mankind has spread over the centuries.

In a manner of speaking, it is the viruses, the memes, that are the enemies, not the zombies that result from contamination with these viruses.

Where one sees these viruses, one can expect unchanging attitudes in support of conspiracies, of cults, of populists and of bigots. Should not be surprising.

In these memes, these viruses, in forms of reasoning, one can see the DNA of today’s politics.