COGNITIVE EGOCENTRISM
The projection of one’s own mentality or “way of seeing the world” onto others, e.g., the teenager who is obsessed with sex, and assumes the same about everyone else. In the current situation of globalization, cognitive egocentrism has its greatest impact in the political relationships between people coming from civil societies and those raised in prime divider societies. Since the basic political principle of Prime divider societies is “rule or be ruled,” “do onto others before they do onto you,” political actors from those cultures assume the same zero-sum, domineering intentions in their opponents (the “enemy”). Since the basic political principles of civil societies is “I’ll give up trying to dominate and trust you to give it up as well,” “if I’m nice to you, you will be nice in return,” assume positive-sum attitudes in their opponents (the “other”). The current situation testifies to a dangerous mis-apprehension that works to the distinct disadvantage to civil society. The media, in particular, as the representative of civil society, emphasizes its role as empathizer, often failing to defend civil society, even exposing it to danger.
LIBERAL COGNITIVE EGOCENTRISM (LCE):
The projection of good faith and fair-mindedness onto others, the assumption that “other” shares the same human values, that everyone prefers positive sum interactions. In a slightly more redemptive mode, LCE holds that all people are good, and if only we treat them right, they will respond well. This is a form of empathy that, like MOS, aspires to the radical victory of justice, and robs the “other” of his or her own beliefs and attitudes. It projects onto rather than detects what the “other” feels.
DOMINEERING COGNITIVE EGOCENTRISM (DCE):
The projection of bad faith onto the other, the assumption that everyone abuses power, that one must rule or be ruled. In deep-seated cases, DCE cannot even perceive the possibility of a positive-sum game: whatever the “other” does, no matter how generous it may seem, is a trap, a covert act of hostility in which the other is really jockeying for superior position in a zero-sum game. Hence DCE has strong affinity for conspiracy theories (the other is malevolent evil that must be opposed at all costs).
MOEBIUS STRIP OF COGNITIVE EGOCENTRISM:
Demopaths are particularly adept at exploiting LCE. They speak in precisely the terms that appeal to LCE, insisting that their struggle is for human rights, fairness and justice, even as their notions of these matters differ wildly from those of the liberals to whom they appeal (DCE). Liberals find themselves confused, since both genuine moderates and demopaths use more or less the same language. Forced to judge, many liberals, eager to believe anything civil these people might say and any hope for peace now they may hold out, prefer to project good faith, taking the protestations of demopaths at face value, becoming their dupes.
As a result, a dysfunctional relationship between demopaths (DCE) and their dupes (LCE) has emerged. Under current circumstances, where most liberals cannot even detect the existence of their own LCE nor imagine the possible DCE of others, this dysfunctional relationship works radically to the advantage of the demopaths. When Western authorities empower demopaths rather than sincere moderates, they hurt the forces of civil society and human rights and empower the forces of dominion and war.
The surprise of the British to the 7-7 bombings, and subsequently to the much higher levels of support for it in an English Muslim population than they had previously been led to believe (by a paradigmatically credulous press and intelligentsia), reflect precisely this dynamic. Europe may fall to this dysfunctional dynamic, although the emergence of hard questioning has begun to identify demopaths disguising themselves as moderates, and to reveal the jihadi discourse beneath the moderate rhetoric.
Pingback: Augean Stables » Anti-Zionism as Cultural AIDS and its Cure: Reflections on France VII
Pingback: Augean Stables » An Ominous Misreading of the Global Problem: Post-Modern Anti-Semitism Part III
Pingback: Augean Stables » The Blindness of Even-Handedness: Fisking the Independent
Pingback: Augean Stables » Big Pharoah Discusses the Latest Egyptian Poll
Pingback: Augean Stables » Black Youth, Culture of Poverty, PC Blinders
Pingback: Augean Stables » Honor-Shame: Comments on Dr. Sanity (long)
Pingback: Augean Stables » Larry Derfner Tries to Think Like a Historian… Not!
Pingback: Augean Stables » The Goal of the Boycott:
Pingback: Augean Stables » Mainstreaming Conspiracy Theories IV: Moral Equivalence and Multiculturalism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Second Thoughts about Gaza: Disengagement a good Idea?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Peacenik Punditocracy Prematurely Praises Nasrallah: Fisking Aluf Benn
Pingback: Augean Stables » Civil Society vs. Prime-Divider Society
Pingback: Augean Stables » Sorting out Blame: The Rarity of Self-Criticism
Pingback: Augean Stables » The “Left” Takes on the Qana Affair: Fisking the Daily Kos
Pingback: Augean Stables » Meditations on Reutersgate: What’s Going on in the MSM?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Pallywood and Al Durah Up at YouTube
Pingback: Augean Stables » Blinded by Concept: Fisking Soros calling the Kettle Black
Pingback: Augean Stables » Condi: Master of Cognitive Egocentrism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Mainstreaming Conspiracy Theories
Pingback: Augean Stables » Secular Saddam Hussein’s Final Address
Pingback: Augean Stables » Financial Times Compares Davos to Herzliya: Assume a Can-Opener
Pingback: Augean Stables » Michael Lerner Weighs in, Disturbingly
Pingback: Augean Stables » In Praise of Envy
Pingback: Augean Stables » Honor Killings, Silence, and the Meaning of Speaking out
Pingback: Augean Stables » Conspiracy Theory
Pingback: Augean Stables » Global Poll Finds Majority Thinks Emperor’s Clothes Beautiful
Pingback: Augean Stables » Erlanger Gets a D in Journalism 101: Palestinian Suffering via PCP
Pingback: Augean Stables » Humiliation and Terrorism: Goldhagen’s Analysis
Pingback: Augean Stables » Palestinian Suffering: Who’s Responsible
Pingback: Augean Stables » A Terrorist Swims in the People He Claims to Fight for Like a Shark in Water
Pingback: Augean Stables » Israele Siamo Noi: Italy’s New Bestseller?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Mowbray on Al Hurra’s Problems: A Peek at the Augean Stables
Pingback: Augean Stables » Moral Indignation (PCP) and Intellectual Vacuity: Roger Cohen Tries to Tackle Post-Oslo Narratives
Pingback: Augean Stables » From the Nile to the Euphrates: Paranoid Imperialism Projects Its Cognitive Egocentrism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Dennis Ross, Master of LCE, Grapples with Gruesome Gaza
Pingback: Augean Stables » Friedman’s Middle East Rules #3
Pingback: Augean Stables » Critique from a Listener to the Lars Larson Show: Whose Side am I on?
Pingback: Augean Stables » 9-11 Conspiracy and the Post-Modern Mutation
Pingback: Augean Stables » Convert to Islam for Peace? A Daily Kos Diary
Pingback: Augean Stables » The Kid-Gloves Approach to Iranian Honor/Shame
Pingback: Augean Stables » Apocalyptic Islam: Paul Landau explores the unspeakable
Pingback: Augean Stables » Steven Pinker on the Muhammad bear: “Moral Judgments Can’t Be All That Universal”
Pingback: Augean Stables
Pingback: Augean Stables » The Supression of Mention of Palestinian Barbarism Part II: Ideology
Pingback: Augean Stables » Reconciliation-Hearted to Bostom: It’s really not a zero-sum
Pingback: Augean Stables » Israeli Left Dupes of Demopaths
Pingback: Augean Stables » War is not the Answer? Depends on the Question.
Pingback: Augean Stables » Failed Jihad 1948: The Real Naqba
Pingback: Augean Stables » Obama on Lebanon: Cognitive Egocentric Porridge
Pingback: Augean Stables » Honor-Killings and Whistle-blowing: Why Media cannot be free in some cultures
Pingback: Augean Stables » Le Monde s’intéresse enfin à la fauxtographie : faut-il s’étonner du résultat ?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Derfner tries again: A for effort, C- for analysis
Pingback: Augean Stables » CNN’s Wedeman: I Black Heart Palestinian Children
Pingback: Augean Stables » Tough Love for the Wrong Guys: Kristof paves the way to hell
Pingback: Augean Stables » Incompetence or Bad Faith? Sheehan tries to explain why Bush’s Peace Plan is failing in Middle East
Pingback: Augean Stables » PCP meets HSJP: Deborah Solomon interviews Brigitte Gabrielle of the Grey Lady
Pingback: Augean Stables » How Did It Happen? Kagan on Realists as Dupes of Demopaths
Pingback: Augean Stables » Appeasement Yesterday and Today: Fishman reflects on the 70th anniversary of Munich
Pingback: Augean Stables » I am Shocked: WaPo Gets the Israeli Strikes Exactly Wrong
Pingback: Augean Stables » A Sober Reminder: PA Tortures and Intimidates Palestinian Journalists
The French MSM can ignore it all they want. The plpeoe have eyes and ears. They talk to each other. They even check out the blogs.The longer it is bottled up, the bigger the eventual explosion will be. And there will be an explosion, and soon. The explosion will come when the taxpaying Frenchman is no longer able to pay enough taxes to support the Welfare State. You think the Paris “estates” exploded the last two summers? Wait until the day the welfare checks do not come.The French elite have allowed things to get to the point where there will be no easy solution. The choices will soon be to either submit, or for there to be a civil war that will dwarf previous European conflicts in terms of the number of dead, and will make the Holocaust of the early 1940’s look like a Chucky Cheese birthday party
Pingback: Augean Stables » Get me a Massacre: Up next — the Kfar Qana of Operation Molten Lead
Pingback: Augean Stables » Blair vs. Hamas: The Moebius Strip of Cognitive Egocentrism Personified
Pingback: THE PROJECTION OF ONE´S OWN MENTALITY ONTO OTHERS…NOT WISE! « 4international
Pingback: Augean Stables » Israel’s “Three Choices”: A tentative response to “israeli”
Pingback: Augean Stables » PC, Prohibited Analysis, and the “Arab Mind”: More from Green’s thesis
Pingback: Augean Stables » Latest Poll of Palestinians Illustrates the Moebius Strip of Cognitive Egocentrism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Latest Poll of Palestinians Illustrates the Moebius Strip of Cognitive Egocentrism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Islam, A Religion Like any Other? Tom Holland weighs in
Pingback: Augean Stables » The Liberal Dilemma: A Dupe of Demopaths Explains how to make inter-religious dialogue work
Pingback: Augean Stables » What Do I Think of the Arab-Israeli Conflict? Answers to a Questionnaire
Pingback: Augean Stables » Studies in demopathy: Muslims respond to Popes Visit #1
Pingback: Augean Stables » Flirting with Reality: Goldberg reviews Morris on Palestinian Irredentism
Pingback: Augean Stables » Fareed Zakaria: Poster Boy for Liberal Cognitive Egocentrism
Pingback: Augean Stables » HRW and Saudi Arabian “citizens”: How badly can one misunderstand the problem?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Interview on BreitbartTV: Gates, Honor-Shame, Obama’s Foreign Policy
Pingback: Augean Stables » Obama, Peace Prize, Cognitive Egocentrism, yadayadayada
Pingback: Augean Stables » Life Imitates Satire: Obama’s “Win-Win” Diplomacy with the Iranians
Pingback: Augean Stables » “Hullo, Can you see Florida from here?”: Helena Cobban opens a window onto the “global hamoulah” of progressives
Pingback: Augean Stables » What Happened at the mosque and inside Goldstone’s mind?
Pingback: Augean Stables » Cognitive Egocentrism, Dry Bones style
Pingback: Augean Stables » How not to analyze the Fort Hood Attack: Robert Wright explains how the “left” is right
Pingback: the sad red earth » Obama in Oslo: Power without Empire
Pingback: Augean Stables » Quotes to Ponder
Pingback: Goldstone’s Gaza Report: Part One: A Failure of Intelligence | Command the Raven
Pingback: the sad red earth » Mind Games IV: Cause and Defect
Pingback: Augean Stables » How PC Talk Paralyzes us: Holder before the House on Islamic Radicalism and Home-Grown Terrorism
Pingback: Tom Friedman and the Deep Superficiality of Western thinking about the Arab-Israeli conflict | Augean Stables
Richard Landes, you rock! This analysis is so insightful, and it’s so applicable not only to international politics (read: Middle Eastern politics) but also to individuals and organisations. Some of the things people do and say just makes a lot more sense in light of these analyses.
Pingback: NPR’s coverage | Augean Stables
Pingback: Fisking Kristof on Arab Capacity for Democracy | Augean Stables
Pingback: Two Questions for discussion: (Il)legality of Settlements, Jewish State | Solomonia
Pingback: The Fauxtographer’s Temptations: Advocacy Journalism and the Lebanese War | Augean Stables
Pingback: Women, Journalism, and Violence in the Middle East | Augean Stables
Pingback: Augean Stables
Pingback: Democracy after Gaddafi? Don’t Hold Your Breath | Augean Stables
Pingback: New Book on Goldstone available at Amazon | Augean Stables
Pingback: LCE and the Arab-Israeli conflict: Arab mothers are just like everyone | Augean Stables
Pingback: Whose racism? Reactions in Israel, Palestine and elsewhere to the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange – Telegraph Blogs
Pingback: Liberal Cognative Egocentrism on The Augean Stables – A day late again | The Coraline Meme
Pingback: Muslim anti-Semitism, Israel and the dynamics of self-destructive scapegoating – Telegraph Blogs
Pingback: The Sixth Fallacy – Questions Never Asked Are Never Answered – a comment on McIntyre and a 6th fallacy for Curry | The Coraline Meme
Pingback: Hostis Humani Generis – reflections on the enemies of mankind – or – I don’t like pirates | The Coraline Meme
Pingback: Cultures of Development, Cultures of Impoverishment: WSJ Op-ed | Augean Stables
Pingback: Tablet Article: A Cultural Redesign of the Peace Process | Augean Stables
Pingback: The Dead Baby War: Fisking Max Fisher | Augean Stables
Pingback: Who are “we”? Gordis critiques Brous on Universal Humanity | Augean Stables
Pingback: The Deeply Superficial Counter-attack: Myers vs. Gordis | Augean Stables
Pingback: The Disturbing Arab Decade: Fisking Tom Friedman’s Retraction | Augean Stables
Pingback: Principled Dupedom: On the Moral Imperative to be Stupid | Augean Stables
Pingback: Are we waking up? Maher calls it “liberal bullshit” | Augean Stables
Pingback: If Golda is still right, then I blame the “Left” | Augean Stables
Pingback: Eine Reportage | Letters from Rungholt
Pingback: Richard Landes: Tom Friedman and the Deep Superficiality of Western Thinking about the Arab-Israeli Conflict - Campus News & Climate - SPME Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Pingback: Principled Dupedom: On the Moral Imperative to be Stupid – Al Durah Project
Pingback: An Unusual Dialogue | Partners for Progressive Israel
Pingback: MOS meets Al Durah Forgery: Larry Derfner Weighs In | Augean Stables
Pingback: What to do when you realize there’s No 2-State Solution: Fisking Shlomo Avineri | Augean Stables
Pingback: Psychotic Palestine: Bret Stephens Nails it, alas! | Augean Stables
Pingback: Studies in Cognitive Disarray: Fisking Michael Ignatieff on Refugees | Augean Stables
Pingback: Policy Perspectives from the World of Apocalyptic Honor-Shame | Augean Stables
Pingback: Triumphalist Religiosity as the Core Problem | Augean Stables
Pingback: Triumphalist Religiosity: The Unanticipated Problem of the 21st Century | Augean Stables
Pingback: Who Shocks Us? LCE’s reaction to Muslim terror attacks – 24/6 Magazine
Pingback: French Jewish Historian Sued Over ‘Far-Right Rhetoric’ Against Muslims – 24/6 Magazine
Pingback: #ASSO21C: How Kerry Knows Settlements an Obstacle to Peace – 24/6 Magazine
Pingback: Responding to Nikles Column at Mondoweiss on my Honor-Shame Article – 24/6 Magazine
Pingback: Hamid on Palestinian Dignity: Getting it Exactly Wrong – 24/6 Magazine
Pingback: 2000 to 2020: The 20-Year Sleep | mark pickles, writer and artist