Wednesday 30 April 2008

For Bigots Everything Is Black and Wright













The most intellectually undemanding job in the world is being a Bigot It is also a classic example of that good old marketing stalwart niche marketing or selling your products, services & ideas to a very particluar and tightly defined group of people with similar characteristics. Ironically the term NICHE is particularly appropriate in this context, think of its as NICE corrupted by 'H' for hate in it.

Reverend Wrong isn't even doing anything creative or original and like every lazy thinker and Demagogue before him he is an example of H.L.Mencken's definition:

"one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." It is of course possible to substitute 'gullible' in the place of idiots.

For the Bigot our social world comes in neat easy to understand packets. There are no complexities, no subtleties no dilemmas no contradictions, no blurring of boundaries and no compromises. The Bigot is simple so they world they see is simple, the world problems they notice are simple and their solutions are simple as well.

And the technique he uses? Not charisma, buffoonery, or any of the general explanations of his style...it is how he makes sense of the world. He is what is know as a Splitter someone who notices only differences. In extremis this has to be an immature mind-set. Children make sense of their worlds by noticing differences and pointing them out. Spotting patterns that connect is more sophisticated and intergrating the two approaches more sophisticated too. Try it out yourself. See who is a Splitter and I bet you'll find they are the most pedantic, dogmatic, bureaucratically, unimaginative minded people you know.

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