Quora
I belong to an online “discussion board” called Quora. It’s a place where you can discuss any subject, from the Civil War to Track and Field training. Ask a question, and get a whole series of answers. Some of the “answerers” are really experts in their field (and some are full-blown idiots). If you’re “into” advanced aircraft, you might end up in a conversation with someone who flew the SR-71 Blackbird (my favorite). Or, if you’re looking for defenders of the Southern Cause in the Civil War you can find them. They are still here, declaiming the “War of Northern Aggression”, and defending Lee at Gettysburg- it was all Longstreet’s fault.
Of course, there is topic after topic about politics. For my “progressive” friends, you can find companionship, or find that the QAnon crazies are still out there. If you want to find “alternative” views to the US support of Ukraine, Quora has that too. It’s an international board, and Russians make sure they get their point out. If you believe them, the Ukrainians are at fault for their civilian power grid destroyed. Oh, and yes Russia is “winning” the war.
Into the Fray
I actually answer some, usually sticking to educational questions about the structure of the American government. The Electoral College, the Filibuster, and the Federal versus State balance are constant areas of inquiry. Sometimes it’s clear that someone from outside the US is asking. And sometimes it’s clear that a US high school student is trying to find someone to do their homework. I don’t usually chime in on the most political stuff (surprise), just because there are plenty of others waiting to swoop into all sides of that.
But I was reading a topic board called “No More Trump”. It’s a “Trump bashing” group, but there’s always someone jumping into to defend the disgraced, twice impeached ex-President. And it leads to a couple of questions. How, after January 6th, the Committee report, the various Court decisions, and the Mara Lago security violations; are articulate, clearly intelligent people still defending him?
Angle-Side-Side
I didn’t pay much attention in tenth grade Geometry class. Our teacher, successful basketball coach Mr. Rex Parker, trudged through the understandably tough task of teaching fifteen and sixteen year old’s mathematical logic. My mind held greater fascination to the fact he constantly licked his finger, ran it through the chalk tray at the bottom of the board, then licked the chalk dust off. I guess he didn’t have acid-reflux, his entire digestive tract must be covered in white dust. At least, that’s what I was thinking instead of learning theorems, postulates, and equations.
But I did manage to get one concept. There are certain “givens” to solving a problem that take you to an answer. For example, given a four sided object with equal sides, if two angles are ninety-degree, then all the angles are ninety-degree. It’s a square. (here endeth my feeble attempt to teach geometry- hope I was right). It’s the concept of what’s given that determines the answer.
All of that, to get to this point – whatever you accept as a “given” will determine what shape you will see. There are incredibly intelligent, insightful people on “both sides” of the great American political crisis. The difference isn’t necessarily their logical thought progression, it’s what they accept as the “givens” in their political thought. For example, if you accept as given that the main sources of news are intentionally not telling the truth, and that “woke” Americans are intentionally denying the white-Anglo-Saxon-Christian foundation of US government; then what conclusions do you reach – in a logical progression?
Givens
Since the media is completely useless, you will need to find “alternative” facts. To do that, you will have to look at those online sources that have the “truth”, at least, the “truth” that matches your “givens”. And once you are armed with those “truths”, you can logically move ahead to whatever conclusions make “sense”. It’s no good arguing that those folks are unintelligent – they are making a choice about their “givens” that wall off logical argument against their conclusions.
Because if you argue that “the news says”, well that’s a news that is “a priori” false. And if you argue that the United States is, in some part, founded on the financial success of enslavement, the original sin of America, then you are “woke”; an “a priori” falsehood. That’s the frustration in arguing about all of this. America no longer has a single set of “givens”. And even the most intelligent, even the geniuses (yep, I’m referring to Elon Musk) can make a decision to accept givens that set their logical conclusions on a whole different path.
Holiday Math
Sure, there’s something very “American” about thinking “outside the box”. But what, just a few short years ago, was a holiday season where folks could exchange views on all sorts of subjects, now is a carefully choregraphed “discussion” of professional sports (GOALLLLLLLL!!!- wait, not soccer) and the accomplishments of tenth month old’s. And, of course, what’s happening with the weather. But, beware, talking about the blizzard and sub-zero windchills can easily slip into climate change, where the “givens” are wildly scattered.
How ‘bout them Bengals? Leave the Browns out – might end up arguing about the sexual behavior responsibilities of the NFL and multi-million dollar quarterbacks. Want a political discussion? Better find a corner to have a “hushed conversation , after carefully “feeling out” the given “givens” of the participants. America, even a Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanza America, can’t discuss anymore.
We are divided by geometric rules of thought.
