Remember the Time
Do you remember in 2004 when people would tell you that you don't vote for another president when there's a war going on? (By the way, at the time we still had the same two wars we have now.) How did I know this? Because people at my work place told me this. Why? I don't know, maybe it's because they are superstitious beings, otherwise known as humans.
At it's core, this is once again about cognitive dissonance. We might be better off if we all admitted that we did it, but good luck trying to get Americans to be humble and/or knowledgeable about psychology.
A friend of mine even used the parable of recently saying “I wonder how that pied piper thing worked out.” This was an implicit attack on Obama, which is fine...I guess. One of the problems is that the argument could have easily been made for any other politician who won by any margin ever. More problematic though is the fact that he misuses the parable as well as makes an implicit “Obama will kill your children” remark.
I'll let Will handle the psychological hand wringing as to how someone could let such an implicit remark become so normal – and to them – non offensive.
However, it's important that we remember the parable of the Pied Piper. You see, he did his job for a town by getting rid of its rats. The town subsequently did not pay him, and he came back and took their children. With no memory of even a story like the pied piper, it's no wonder why people make remarks that we are bound to repeat history.
It's sad most of all because these remarks end up being so personal. One could easily make a remark against Obama normally, like a human. Here, I'll show you because I actually wonder about this.
I wonder how a President Obama will reconcile spending increases with an ailing economy. I worry that it may be detrimental to the future solvency of the United States.
Wow, how hard was that? And in asking such a legitimate question, I made a point that everyone can take seriously and think about.
Ultimately, attacking people based on broken parables is much more attractive than actually getting people to think about issues. Why? Cognitive dissonance. You already have the answers you want, now you just look for ways to prove it.
At it's core, this is once again about cognitive dissonance. We might be better off if we all admitted that we did it, but good luck trying to get Americans to be humble and/or knowledgeable about psychology.
A friend of mine even used the parable of recently saying “I wonder how that pied piper thing worked out.” This was an implicit attack on Obama, which is fine...I guess. One of the problems is that the argument could have easily been made for any other politician who won by any margin ever. More problematic though is the fact that he misuses the parable as well as makes an implicit “Obama will kill your children” remark.
I'll let Will handle the psychological hand wringing as to how someone could let such an implicit remark become so normal – and to them – non offensive.
However, it's important that we remember the parable of the Pied Piper. You see, he did his job for a town by getting rid of its rats. The town subsequently did not pay him, and he came back and took their children. With no memory of even a story like the pied piper, it's no wonder why people make remarks that we are bound to repeat history.
It's sad most of all because these remarks end up being so personal. One could easily make a remark against Obama normally, like a human. Here, I'll show you because I actually wonder about this.
I wonder how a President Obama will reconcile spending increases with an ailing economy. I worry that it may be detrimental to the future solvency of the United States.
Wow, how hard was that? And in asking such a legitimate question, I made a point that everyone can take seriously and think about.
Ultimately, attacking people based on broken parables is much more attractive than actually getting people to think about issues. Why? Cognitive dissonance. You already have the answers you want, now you just look for ways to prove it.
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