[PREV - SYSTEM_ERROR]    [TOP]

SYSTEM_ERROR_VALUES

                                             December 16, 2022


About "System Error" (2021):
                                          SYSTEM_ERROR


The authors use Covid as an example of a difference
in "values" between different factions:

That makes sense, right?  It's a difference in
valuing minimizing loss of lives vs valuing
economic performance.

Except, that's not quite right, is it?  Really
we all value human life and quality of life, but
there was a difference of opinion on the best
way to do it-- worry about the disease and
accept some damage in disruption of the economy,
children's education and so on, or continue with
business as usual and just accept that the
pandemic is going to cause some death.

Except, that's not really right either, is it?
The people who were opposed to shut-down to
contain the pandemic were actually often
skeptical of the very existence and/or the
severity of the disease.  They suspected this
was being called wrong and the establishment
opinion on the subject was an error, possibly an
actual lie.  So this is a difference of opinion
based on factual issues, and underlying it are
questions in "social epistemology", how do we
all know what we know?

Except, that's not quite it, either is it?  The
question of "do you believe fox or fauci?"
isn't some reasonable dispute on the right way
to learn what's happening, it reflects a social
division, a "tribal" dispute, it's like a sports
rivalry.  When a Yankees fan calls the Red Sox a
bunch of bums, that's not a factual dispute,
and it's not really a dispute of "fundamental
values": both sides believe in the same thing
"support our team!".

Political disputes in America aren't so much about
the things people "value", I would say our
conservative friends are clearly much more into
something like a sports rivalry.  It's all about
"owning the libs", and they're values seem
remarkably flexible (e.g. evangelicals that make
their peace with the pussy-grabber in chief).

So, what is up with this continual babbling
about a difference in "values"?




--------
[NEXT - SYSTEM_ERROR_FREE_SPEECH]