Connoisseur's Introductory Circumlocutions on Gaslighting, Dogwhistling, Stupidity, Naiveté, and Bullshit
Gaslighting, Dogwhistling, Stupidity, and Bullshit have been the titles of respective high-level publications in the popular press and academia.
For several reasons that will be discussed herein (and hereafter), I would like to use this thread to review some important definitions, facts and context for words that I think need a deeper level of appreciation for their importance in our modern times.
Another way of perceiving this conversation is to connect it with the phrase "those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" because I think maintaining our grasp on reality is important these days because otherwise we truly are at risk of falling down a slippery slope of fascism and totalitarianism, and of course those fascists and dictators always want to tell us that they're looking out for our rights, benefits, and public health. We have to better develop our abilities to detect small lies that serve as the transitions to acts of war, establishment of fascism, and crimes against humanity.
You might be surprised to know that I’ve been particularly fascinated by the word “stupid/stupidity” for the last several years. I think that I have a unique take on that word and its positive and negative meanings, but I’m mostly interested in its positive and descriptive value. I think that —used in the proper context and hopefully with good intentions— the word is actually quite useful. Perhaps I’m a connoisseur of stupidity* — I understand its details, proper technique of use, artistic employment, and I have a critical appreciation of its discriminative value and subtleties.
*This is a very Nietzschean loaner
So what I’d like to do here is explore what I consider to be a few important concepts that would benefit from some description and discussion. These four important terms —Gaslighting, Dogwhistling, Stupidity, and Bullshit— are each worth their own discussion and essay and indeed each of these words have been the titles of respective high-level publications in the popular press and academia. As such, combining all of those topics into a single essay is a bit ambitious if not impractical; but here I will at least try to lay down and then (later) build upon some basic foundations, developing the work a bit more in future circumlocutions. Perhaps never before in the history of humanity has such a task been undertaken*, as most people have better things to do with their time, or at least they think so :-)
*This is another Nietzschean loaner
Actually, the more words that I write in this essay, the more I think that I’m on the right track, and —no—I never drink or do drugs while I write; but I have enough Nietzsche quotes in my ear to make my writing appear influenced at times.
Audio sample from: Selections From Nietzsche Audio Cassette (Audiobook) Audio Scholar (November 1992) ISBN: 1879557037 amazon#1879557037
Perhaps a few people, or at least my friends, will remember that I made my first plunge into life armed with some errors and some exaggerations, but that, in any case, I began with hope in my heart. … Every art and every philosophy may be regarded either as a cure or as a stimulant to ascending or declining life; they always presuppose suffering and sufferers. But there are two kinds of sufferers: those that suffer from overflowing vitality, who need Dionysian art and require a tragic insight into, and a tragic outlook upon, the phenomenon of life,—and there are those who suffer from reduced vitality, and who crave for repose, quietness, calm seas, or else the intoxication, the spasm, the bewilderment which art and philosophy provide.” Nietzsche FW. Nietzsche contra Wagner.
These 4 terms can coalesce and overlap (in a 2-dimensional Venn diagram) but above and below that flat plane exist the polarities of arrogance (above) and naiveté (below), without which the other 4 —Gaslighting, Dogwhistling, Stupidity, and Bullshit— could neither exist nor persist.
However, as arrogance and naiveté are both forms of inappropriate perception (of the relationship of self to existence), the representation of arrogance and naiveté might be better depicted as a triangle rather than as a simple dipole; I will have to draw it out a few times and try to make better sense of it.
Viewed from another perspective, the components of gaslighting, dogwhistling, and strategic/Potemkin stupidity are variations on the theme of Professor Harry Frankfurt’s famous book, “On Bullshit” from Princeton University Press.
Gaslighting
This concept started from a classic 1944 movie of the same name, and is now a daily occurrence in political and medical publications. America’s “Dr Falsey” demonstrates a level of evasiveness and truth-twisting that would clearly qualify as gaslighting, as I discussed in an earlier post that focused on leadership.
Dogwhistling
I have lost 3 long-time friends/friendships in the past 3 years due to their use of political-racist-woke dogwhistling. Last week, one of these friends sent out an email to a large group of healthcare professionals, and his message was clearly a racist-classist dogwhistle against “foreigners” even though he himself was born abroad.
dog whistle: noun: 1) A high-pitched whistle, inaudible to humans, used to train dogs. A whistle used for training or commanding dogs, especially one that emits sound of a frequency too high for most humans to hear. 2) The use of terms that seem innocuous but are intended to convey a hidden and potentially controversial message to a particular audience.
Potemkin/Strategic Stupidity
Stupidity among adults is strategic. Adult stupidity provides benefits to the person employing it. See what you think about this concept of “Potemkin/strategic stupidity” which I’ll detail in an upcoming post. Also last week, I saw a video of a speech by our current Vice President that I think fits into this category, but I will have to re-analyze her words after now having read this article on “Potemkin Stupidity” by Dr Jerry Paul Sheppard of Simon Fraser University.
Update: please see the new essay which is part two to the essay that you’re currently reading right now as the part one, introduction.
Frankfurtian Bullshit
See introductory video above derived from Professor Harry Frankfurt’s famous book, “On Bullshit” from Princeton University Press.
Arrogance/Narcissism
We’ve all seen plenty of this, especially since 2016 with a strong resurgence in 2020.
Fallacious arguments, bad logic, fraudulent science
I did not mention logical fallacies in this discussion because fallacies are usually either an accident or used strategically as part of a greater plan for domination, and although the topic is very important it doesn't really directly touch upon the concepts I'm describing here. Again fallacies typically are only a manifestation of gaslighting or dogwhistling, but they are not the core problem, per se. I will discuss this in greater detail in a separate thread, as it too is highly important.
Naiveté
I’ve mentioned my appreciation for this concept —mostly derived from The Naïve Male by Robert Bly— in two previous posts:
So basically, in this post I was able to at least introduce these terms and provide a little bit of context and interconnection. I'll continue to work on these ideas and provide some better examples but I think the next step from here will be a more detailed review of the PDF article provided above on Potemkin/strategic Stupidity.
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" Voltaire, 1765