I agree with both Glen and Jillian, this is more on the right tack. It’s not about stupidity. It’s about a kind of character degeneracy further down, and a certain kind of vileness that becomes possible at that level.
I would add one thing to Jill’s and Glen’s emphasis (attention trolling), which is that this is about thugs. That goes beyond the executive to an increasingly purified right wing since Gingrich’s tactics in (the 80s?). It is not that they don’t know “the truth” of a matter; it is an active war on the existence of truth as a public good, or of anything else that impedes the exercise of thug power. Nick has articulated this cleanly in several emails, over the past months. But again, anger and outrage are for people. Or for something close enough to people that there is anything redeemable about it. Disinfectants and vaccines are for public health problems. No less commitment, but a different kind, and hopefully a more focused mind. Eric > On Dec 29, 2017, at 10:49 AM, uǝlƃ ☣ <geprope...@gmail.com> wrote: > > You called it, Gillian. Trump and his ilk (Milo, Spencer, etc.) thrive on > their ability to invoke. Beliefs and knowledge take a back seat, which is > why they are so capable of munging the facts and changing their tune when > confronted. > > So I have to disagree fundamentally with Nick, Merle, Tom, Frank, and Pamela. > He's not "that stupid". In fact, that question is irrelevant. He simply > knows how to push the buttons, especially of the well-intentioned people who > care about beliefs and knowledge. > > On 12/29/2017 09:40 AM, Gillian Densmore wrote: >> He is one of these: >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll > > -- > ☣ uǝlƃ > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
