Tuesday, May 02, 2017
Auerbach and epistemology
From an article by Auerbach, pointed by Assange....
The underculture is the heterogeneous set of local, non-elite, non-corporate institutions and social groupings that went unnoticed before the dawn of social media, which allowed its members to network nationally and globally on a scale that had never before been realized, producing a number of echo chambers that were not moderated by elite influence. The underculture exists in rural America, as well as in non-elite, mostly non-white areas of cities and suburbs. It is not an economic divide per se, but a cultural one. Some of its groups are still invisible online, but the internet has enabled some groups of the underculture to speak loudly enough to be heard nationally. If you went on 4chan in 2016, you were part of the underculture. If you read about 4chan in the news and believed what you read, you were part of the overculture.The last sentence is wonderfully terse and precise. I noticed this when I unplugged the TV in 2010. Before unplug, I'd been part of the overculture. I was hearing and reading bad stuff about "Islam", and I believed it, EVEN though I'd previously known several Persians and acquired a more balanced picture of Islam. My own direct experience was SHORTED OUT by the overculture injection. After unplug, experience floated back to the surface and I started reading more accurate info. The Auerbach Rule applies to anything uncool. A physical occupation, an unfashionable activity, a real non-gated neighborhood, a real Natural Law religion, real direct-observation science, a jail, an "enemy" country. If you had direct experience of X you were part of the underculture. If you read about X in the mainstream media and believed what you read, you were part of the overculture. In some cases the overculture info about X is far more positive than reality; in others it's far more negative. It's always wrong. We have an extreme problem with epistemology. The overculture has exactly zero knowledge of the real universe. Everything the overculture "knows" is either diametrically wrong or bizarrely delusional.
Labels: #DeplorableLivesMatter, epistemology
¶ 3:54 PM
