Misunderstanding:

David Pinsof Dec 15 I spend a lot of time with intellectuals—writers, thinkers, social scientists, etc. If I had to sum up their worldview in one sentence, I could hardly do better than this one: Everything that’s wrong in the world is caused by misunderstanding. Political polarization? Misunderstanding. If only people could get over their primitive “tribalism” and “confirmation bias,” they could have reasonable discourse and work together to solve humanity’s problems. Misinformation? Misunderstanding. If only people knew how to “vaccinate” themselves against the “virus” of fake news, they’d stop being such gullible idiots and vote for the Democrats. Bigotry? Misunderstanding. If only people realized that members of other ethnic groups were normal, decent human beings like them, there would be no bigotry. Stereotypes? Misunderstanding. If only people knew that stereotypes were false and pernicious, there would be no stereotypes—and no bigotry. War? Misunderstanding. If only people knew that war is pointless and evil, a product of bigotry and misinformation, there would be world peace. Capitalism? False consciousness. If only people knew how much greedy corporations were exploiting them, the workers of the world would unite. Wikipedia’s list of 265 cognitive biases? 265 misunderstandings! If only people joined the rationality movement and memorized these biases in elementary school, humans would conquer the galaxy. Ineffective altruism? Misunderstanding. If only people knew that slacktivism and virtue signaling accomplish nothing, they’d become utilitarians and donate their money to shrimp welfare or preventing the AI apocalypse. Unhappiness? Misunderstanding. If only people learned some positive psychology, they’d stop comparing themselves to sexier people on Instagram and start meditating and gratitude journaling. Ahh, it’s the perfect story. If all the world’s problems are caused by misunderstanding, then that makes intellectuals—the people whose job it is to understand things—the most important people ever. Just by doing what they’re doing, they’re saving the world. Wow. Intellectuals. Saving the world. Pretty cool thing for intellectuals to believe. ----- Happiness is bullshit. You want to know why you’re reading my depressing blog instead of meditating or gratitude journaling? Because you don’t actually want to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is just a story we tell ourselves. It’s a way to cover up the ugly things we’re actually pursuing, like status-enhancing opinions, moral superiority, high-status offspring, resources that others are deprived of, and control of the coercive apparatus of the state. ---- A lot of intellectuals confuse our stated motives with our actual motives. They confuse our words with our deeds. It’s like mistaking Starbucks’ mission statement—“inspiring and nurturing the human spirit, one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time”—with its goal of maximizing profit. ----- If you’re an intellectual with ambitions to save the world, I think you ought to ask yourself the following questions: “What if humans are savvy animals who generally understand what they have an incentive to understand?” “What if stupidity is usually strategic?” “What if capitalists, bigots, warmongers, virtue signalers, and political extremists understand what they’re doing all too well?” “What if advice is mostly bullshit?” “What if the primary cause of humanity’s problems is not bad beliefs, but bad motives?” While reflecting on these questions, you may arrive at an unpleasant truth: there’s nothing you can do. The world doesn’t want to be saved. ----- In the end, the only misunderstanding is that there's been a misunderstanding.