“You’re bitter” and other ways to avoid thinking about uncomfortable subjects
I have written some provocative things in recent days, and to be honest, I plan on writing even more pieces that have even less regard for the status quo. But having witnessed some of the comment threads on pieces by lots of authors, I notice a pattern when people are against an argument you lay out which makes them uncomfortable.
Instead of making a counter argument to deal with a controversial critique, you will see many people referring to such writing as “a rant.” They will say “he/she is bitter.” People full of fear and lacking the ability to parse an argument will say, “the author obviously hates [insert subject] – he/she is totally biased against [subject.]”
Do you notice the dodge here? These attacks on the author are not about the substance of the argument made, but an attempt to shame the author about his or her mental state. The assumption is that people should always be cheerful and positive about the status quo, no matter what the current results of these behaviors, and thus arriving at a negative conclusion of any sort is a personal failing. American culture is especially susceptible to this cognitive failing, especially as the country gets its first taste of bona fide economic instability and insecurity runs high.
From a purely analytical standpoint, why is a positive attitude toward a subject necessarily a benefit when thinking critically about the future? Isn’t there value in skepticism? Is not the scientific revolution based on being skeptical first and demanding rigorous fact-checking, peer review, and a ruthless assault on the cognitive errors of the observer? And what kind of thinking came before science? Oh yes – religious dogma, heresy, burning witches at the stake.
It is comical to see people who claim to be in the business of analysis to act much more like pre-scientific defenders of received dogmas than like modern inheritors of Newton, Descartes, Voltaire and Franklin, skeptical, critical, and at times negative.
