Oddbean

One is the biggest red pills is realizing that you've been lied to concerning democracy. Democracy robs freedom of choice from minorities and from individuals. Democracy is the biggest oppressor of all. Unalienable rights and individual free agency is the liberator. America is not a democracy ... although the socialists/Marxists have managed to convince most people that somehow America is a democracy.

I used to think this his way, until I realized that historically it’s accurate to say most of our widely held beliefs will be disproven over time. So no both heuristics are not equally wrong, that’s a midwit position.

That isn't what you said in the original post. You're watering it down into a different point, which is a pretty weak debate tactic. It's not the point I actually responded to, nor are you responding the actual point I made. Even setting that aside, the number of people who believe a thing has no bearing on what reality actually is. It doesn't matter if the belief is in the affirmative or negative. What is and isn't true exists independently of human perception. But we have to actually evaluate things independently to live life as intelligent beings as part of a society. Basing our evaluations on the number of people for or against a given position doesn't actually mean your belief is accurate or true. You seem to think that truth is whatever the fewest people believe it is. That isn't necessarily going to lead to the truth. It's a ridiculous way of evaluating anything. Sometimes a minority is right, sometimes it isn't. There's no definite correlation. Intelligence also has nothing to do with the topic and is not correlated with being right or wrong. Another weak tactic.

You’re misreading my original statement by taking it as an absolute. Which is fair because I didn’t clarify it fully. To put it succinctly I’m saying that my search for truth remains the same but the starting point has changed. I’m not debating you so I’m not deploying tactics. Just sharing observations.

my step dad would always say to me "observe the masses and do the opposite" ironically, he is one of the most conventional and compliant people I know. 😅 still, he's got some bloody good sayings though.

🤙 but I don’t know bro. I often wonder if that is just the equal and opposite error. What we want to do, and of course you do this, is to think for ourselves independently about each issue on its own merits. I heard a great quote the other day that “the hardest part about being a contrarian is knowing when not to be.” And of course I know what you mean and agree with you…