October 27, 2022
THE A-FRAME:
Getting Past the Solipsistic Self: a review of of Bonnie Kristian's Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (Daniel Bennett, 10/27/22, Law & Liberty)
Untrustworthy begins with definitions. Despite the book's subtitle, Kristian prefers "epistemic crisis" to "knowledge crisis" because of the former's nod to epistemology, or understanding and interpreting reality itself. She identifies how this crisis manifests differently across the political spectrum. For those on the right, the crisis is best seen in support for conspiracy theories like QAnon, which, depending on how researchers ask questions, finds support from 30-50 percent of white evangelicals. For those on the left, the crisis is found in elevating identity and experience as essential to understanding reality, rendering objective truth claims all but impossible. Because this crisis shows up differently in different groups, it is easy for these groups to point the finger at their opponents while ignoring the challenges in their own tribe.
The Left and Right are both just Identitarian.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 27, 2022 8:41 AM