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Elitism Is Mediocrity: Two Sides of the Same Coin

August 2, 2018

Long-term readers of this blog will recognize that one of its themes is mediocrity. Perhaps the world has always been like that, but the digital revolution has exacerbated the problem. People become more self-centered (more idiotai in other words), and focus not on the long-term collective good but on temporary, meaningless personal gain. Some might think that, in such a context, being “elite” is the counterbalance. But just as “ham” and “hammock” are two vastly different things, so is being elite and being elitist. Elitism is mediocrity. It’s simply a different aspect of the same thing.

elitism is mediocrity
Elitism is mediocrity, only in a fancier package
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Facebook Is not the Problem; not Having Friends Is

July 3, 2018

One sunny morning, four months ago, I decided I don’t want to use Facebook anymore. It had nothing to do with security concerns, mind you. I’ve been lucky enough to be a kid in the age when computers and games were still meaningful, so I’ve learned the lesson well: if you don’t want something public, don’t put it online. Facebook is not the problem, the user is. And, in my case, it proved other things, too.

Facebook is not the problem
There’s nothing social about social media
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Bandwagon Fallacy; or, Welcome to the Internet

January 28, 2018

Being ignorant is bad, but being ignorant while pretending to know is even worse. I was browsing the topics of an online forum, and a thread on the democracy of ancient Athens drew my attention. One of the participants mentioned Plato’s praise of democracy as a form of government, and several others agreed.

Now, that in itself was surprising to see on a forum (and a Greek forum, to boot), since you’d expect someone bothering to comment on such a thread to know that Plato despised democracy. But there was worse in store for me: I came face-to-face with the Bandwagon Fallacy – or Appeal to Popularity. Welcome to the Internet.

Bandwagon Fallacy
Athens was the birthplace of democracy, Plato established the Academy in Athens, ergo, Plato loved democracy, right? Well, some guys on the Internet think so, therefore who am I (or Plato) to say otherwise…
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