Linked article is for sure interesting. Curious what @DaveHogue thinks of it. But I wish it didn't overlook (racist, sexist) beliefs which ARE consistent through decades of his careerhttps://twitter.com/CindyOtis_/status/1023936442832244736 …
And yes, the underlying racism, misogyny, and other prejudices and attitudes influence the direction he takes, but (importantly) is also influences his choice of people he surrounds himself with. He seeks affirmation, and he seeks people who will agree with him: the deplorables.
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It's a terrible feedback cycle and self-fulfilling prophecy: be emotionally destitute and have terrible ideas, seek affirmation of others, surround self with similar others, play to the audience, say whatever it takes, feel better momentarily, repeat.
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And like drug addiction, he needs more with every cycle, and so the evil spirals downward and gets more extreme. The older, milder ideas no longer elicit the affirmation response (people habituate), so newer, more extreme statements are necessary to elicit the same response.
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TYVM for the thoughtful response! This, in particular, makes me wonder if you've seen George Saunders' essay "The Braindead Megaphone"
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No, I haven't, but I shall go look it up and read. Thanks! (BTW, I think the fucktwit's behaviors & reactions as being very basically behaviorist with no cognitive facets - he would make it possible for Thorndike to argue that there is nothing more than the Law of Effect...)
End of conversation
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