Reposted as OP - There is a deep flaw in the human psyche... [View all]

[sibelian]

(from a subthread on why the justification for the Iraq War was so widely believed by some and so obviously a pile of stinking bullshit to others...)

There's a switch that usually gets flipped roundabout your 20s when you realise that all the cuddly stories you've been told about how things are are made up by people and the cold hard ground you stand on is something different altogether and you'd better find out what it is.

People who never flip the switch from "I have to believe" to "I guess I'd better find out" reach for solutions that make them happy. If there's never any negative feedback that clearly impacts their own physical comfort or circumstances, they stick with the original thinking. They don't need to behave as if the world's real.

That's where the whole "they hate our freedoms" thing came from. It was the explanation that made them feel good. It had nothing to do with the enemy. They just spurted out whatever qualities they needed the enemy to possess in order to make them feel good about themselves in contrast.

It's an extremely common phenomenon. "I declare that you have whatever personality flaw I need you to have in order to make my behaviour look reasonable!" (It happens right here on this website...)

It's easier for some people than others. It's very easy for people who have never had to sacrifice anything or fight for anything, particularly the rich.

We rail against the self-absorption of the privileged but very often their lives have never in fact provided them with the opportunity to reconsider their mythology.

A lot of us are on this site because circumstances forced us to change our footing. If I wasn't gay I might not ever have developed the critical faculties to sniff out the bullshit that reeks so heavily to us and smells so fragrant to the self-absorbed bullshitters.

But... I'm sure you knew all that...