Friday, June 23, 2017

In which the pond looks to Anderson for righteous nonsense ...


As usual, the reptile splash is seriously misleading ... and not just by suggesting that silly old irrelevance John Anderson has anything interesting to say, as opposed to recycling second-hand Haidt nonsense ...

For the correct insight, the pond had to look to the google splash ...


There it is - the 'l' on the 'look' is lower case, and instantly the pond was reminded of e. e. cummings, even if Cummings himself didn't mind using capital letters for his name and in his poems.

Not everything was 2 Little Whos:


but look, there it is, the small 'l' at the top of the Anderson piece, as the reptiles go big this day on revolutionary approaches to the English language ...


now right from the get go, the pond should point out that it doesn't have much time for tosh of the Haidt kind.

Oh heck, can the pond stop this, and use a cap?

Not so long ago, Haidt turned up in the New York Review of Books, in relation to a story about the shameless way that US psychologists had prostituted themselves regarding matters of torture and other shameful US policies, while doing a deep and lengthy dance with the US military.

In response to a letter co-authored by Haidt and Steven Pinker, Tasmin Shaw wrote this, along with much else, happily outside the paywall here:


That fuss had begun with Shaw's review of a number of deeply disturbing books by a bunch of happy clappy psychologists intent on reforming the world or sending it to the cornfield for not being positive.

The full review is at the NY Review of Books here... luckily also outside the paywall at the moment.

Here's a chunk about Haidt and his inspirations ...


Well after all that, it's back to Anderson attempting to spin Haidt into a learning exercise for anyone wanting to go conservative and relish their righteousness:


Here's the thing this gibberish never acknowledges.

If you happen to be gay, blather about moral politics shouldn't obscure the central issue that anything designed to make that condition immoral or ungodly or inhuman is just a few steps away from giving the likes of Turing a chemical castration procedure.

In much the same way that angry Sydney Anglicans wanting to produce complimentary women is just some idle modern version of a camel herder's Stepford Wives fantasy ...

Before blathering about the way conservatives are motivated by a much broader set of moral considerations aimed at wider social harmony, get back to the pond when those broader considerations stop sounding like the moral agenda of Daesh  and fundamentalist religious bigots of most persuasions ...

And now with apologies for presenting such lightweight tosh, the pond feels the need for a little filler.

What better way to do it than the reptiles of Oz, obsessed as they are with the broader moral consideration of getting more cash in the paw for the Catholics. It's all in a day's work for the Catholic Boys' Daily...




When last the pond checked, Malware - the man who made sure New Zealand did better at broadband than Australia - was being  called demonic, but at least now we've shifted to a decently Dutch secularist maelstrom:


There's every chance the reptiles of Oz, motivated as they are by a much broader set of moral considerations aimed at wider social harmony - which is to say, give the tykes more money for their ponzi propaganda and recruiting scheme - will keep all this going until they bring Malware down.

Meanwhile, the ABC seems to have just discovered that NZ broadband is better than Australia's. Does this mean that the ABC has been offline for months ...?

And now, speaking as we have been of the way Pauline Hanson is motivated by a much broader set of moral considerations aimed at wider social harmony, no doubt John Anderson will enjoy this David Rowe cartoon, with more fish and chips in Rowe beer batter served up here.



10 comments:

  1. Some of our ‘esteemed’ politicians are going through a second childhood buying childrens’ books at taxpayers’ expense and Pauline Hanson buying cameras.

    The snout is not enough for some.

    https://twitter.com/JoshButler/status/878045198197997568

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, the fundamental left-right dichotomy.

    Just consider that old dedicated Leftie, Thomas Jefferson who once said: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

    Brutally uncompromising in his care for freedom and democracy, isn't he.

    Now consider the much broader set of moral considerations shown by the gentle folk wisdom of Homer Simpson, a committed Rightie: "Please, please, kids, stop fighting. Maybe Lisa's right about America being the land of opportunity and maybe Adil has a point about the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of workers."

    You see how Homer has looked deep into the conflict to apperceive the righteous mind in each of these foes.

    But let me just correct one small spelling error: "...conservatives are motivated by a much broader set of moral considerations aimed at wider social conformity." There, fixed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh GB, you know the rule. Anyone who quotes The Simpsons automatically wins ...

      Delete
    2. Ah but "The Crepes of Wrath" is such an all-time great classic, DP, who could sensibly forbear to quote from it:

      Homer: "See these? American donuts: glazed, powdered, and raspberry-filled. Now how's that for freedom of choice?" [Homer chuckles]
      Better than an Oreo any day !
      [ http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/The_Crepes_of_Wrath/Quotes ]

      Delete
  3. How many conservatives do you know that are deep thinkers about anything? The default position is just nope, nope, nope. All this blather is just trying to back fit some sort of morality to a position that is little more than self interest and fear of change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true befuddled, their thinking is hopelessly irrational with Jonathan Haidt unable to see that those right wing values Dot describes as "blathering about the way conservatives are motivated by a much broader set of moral considerations aimed at wider social harmony, get back to the pond when those broader considerations stop sounding like the moral agenda of Daesh and fundamentalist religious bigots of most persuasions ..." are not rational and I thought according to libertarian ideology rational values are the best values.

      I think rational values are 'better' or more likely to bring about the better world that everyone wants and conservatives make such irrational discriminations and then complain that they are discriminated against even though discrimination against bigotry and ignorance is rational behaviour if bigotry and ignorance and bullying make life difficult for the others and this is the bit that right wing people can't believe, the contributions to society that others make are valuable.

      Delete
  4. Great weeks reading Dorothy. Ta.
    TGIF! All I have for these conservative moral warriors is this, cos I'm clocking off.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDlpETyqweE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jDVmEfkY6c

    ReplyDelete
  5. A bit OT, but media related regards 'righteous nonsense'... the Troubles are headed for the Middle East. As if it ain't a big enough mess already.
    The reptiles will be burning the midnight oil tonight.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/close-al-jazeera-saudi-arabia-issues-qatar-with-13-demands-to-end-blockade

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  6. The moral ‘disgust reflex’ stuff is actually pretty fascinating.

    But what Haidt never fleshes out properly is why so-called conservatives don't feel disgusted when they hear about or see footage of eg. aboriginal teenagers being tortured and beaten by police in custody.

    Why does that not make them feel disgusted? Some heavy self-denial and cognitive dissonance going on right there, if you ask me.

    Sure, they'll tell you "of course that's disgusting! What do you think we are, monsters?"

    Oddly though, never quite disgusting enough that it's ever a priority to actually do something about…

    I find that inhuman. I feel sorry for those people. I find it truly fucking sad that someone could think that way.

    In case it’s escaped Haidt’s notice, compassion has to be taught. We’re not born with the quality.

    It’s not ‘balanced moral behaviour’ to value 'authority' over compassion. It’s complete childishness. It’s treating adults as if they’re children. As if the lessons and values adults need to develop are the same as children.

    We really are an immature race of people, aren’t we.

    ReplyDelete

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