Philosophy

Cultural problems preventing progress

One thing these beliefs have in common is to the person who holds them, it really feels like they are doing something positive. In actuality the beliefs are self-defeating and the according behaviors stifle progress as opposed to fostering it.

  • Romanticizing the past: Believing earlier times were better, more authentic, or more virtuous than today.
  • Platonicity: “The desire to cut reality into crisp shapes” – leads to overconfidence in knowledge.
  • Misunderstanding of hubris: Thinking hubris refers to thinking too big, but it really means excessive pride (includes thinking too small, and attempts at conservation).
  • Moral framing of issues: People you disagree with are not just wrong but morally deficient and thus we should not learn anything from them.
  • Underdog fetishization: Belief that the stronger party is always wrongly abusing their power.
  • Belief in the supernaturally inexplicable: “No one understands (or can understand) quantum physics” “Ancient civilizations had knowledge we still can’t understand” etc.
  • “Americans are lazy”: Incorrect and offensive trope.
  • Self-serving institutions: Can never solve problems if it means the institution and its power goes away.
  • Zero-sum scarcity mindset: Leads to fighting over scraps instead of building. “The rich get richer/shrinking middle class” “Immigrants take American jobs” “You can only become rich by exploiting others”.
  • Heavier focus on limits/risks/so-called “externalities”: Instead of upsides.
  • Expert bias: Only experts can understand or do certain things. “Only a doctor can tell me how to treat my ailment” “Only the government can do certain projects”.
  • Academic gatekeeping: Ideas are only taken seriously if they come from institutions or peer-reviewed journals.
  • Freedom of future state: The idea that there are basic needs which must be satisfied before we can do what we enjoy.
  • Activist culture: Confusing tearing things down with progress (which requires legitimate criticism).
  • Systems thinkers: Confusing building things up (process/systems/output) with progress.
  • Privilege paralysis: The pervasive idea that we must constantly be “checking our privilege” or looking for reasons not to contibute.
  • Consensus culture: Belief that nothing should proceed unless everyone agrees.
  • Compromise culture: Belief that blending 2 or more options can create a valid solution. Logically absurd since no one ever thought the compromise solution would work in the first place, otherwise they would have proposed it. Temporarily resolves problems of conflict but does not result in progress as much as if individual solutions were tried and tested.
  • Litigation culture: Fear of lawsuits discourages risk taking.
  • The Myth of the Framework: Belief that science and research have set methods or frameworks which reliably produce progress (usually the only variable is how much more funding they need).
  • Belief that criticism is lazy/meaningless or merely annoying. In reality, critiquing existing beliefs (paired with conjecturing new ones) is the only way to improve things.
  • Normalcy bias: Avoiding doing things differently for fear of ostracism, judgement, or not looking like a “team player”.
  • Cultural relativism: Resistance to judging any practice or idea along identity lines, even when it’s clearly bad.
  • Obsession with fairness: Good solutions where one or more stakeholders are perceived to be slighted are rejected prima facie.
  • Pseudo-scientism: Confusing things that look like science (studies, diagrams, papers, graphs, data, observation) with actual scientific process of conjecture, criticism, and experimental tests.