This idea is mostly wrong.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
True evil tends to come in pairs 90% of the time. If you can’t say something that transcends the dichotomy with imagination, speaking up about one will enable the other.
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Imaginative synthesis speech > silence > self-righteous moral derp
“Balance” is not transcendent imaginative synthesis. It’s in fact enabling both evils equally. This is why bothsidesism is pernicious.
The opposite of a Great Lie is also a Great Lie
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When someone adopts a posture of great courage but nothing much is actually being risked besides being disliked or losing some friends, what you’re actually seeing is a lack of imagination. Often the person is simply getting off on feelings of martyrdom.
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Courage without imagination is basically beefing. Violence for the sake of violence.
Imagination without courage is just noise.
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Most people only commit evil for causes that they believe are righteous
The unabomber believed he was “doing something” against great evil
Many school shooters believe they are the good guys acting against evil
It is the belief in evil people that causes evil
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Yes it also encourages doing things, which is often exactly what ought not have been done
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I think the idea works well when applied to common virtues or common sense.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to stop washing the dishes"
Feels very true to me.
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