pareidolia
/ (ˌpæraɪˈdəʊlɪə) /
noun
the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist, as in considering the moon to have human features
The mind is an astounding thing. As scientific understanding of the brain (a physical thing that can be physically measured) advances it becomes increasingly difficult to deny the existence of the mind (a metaphysical thing that cannot be physically measured).
The psychological phenomenon of seeing meaning where it does not actually exist is well known. It’s easy enough to recognize this curious episode of the human psyche with faces. But it is also become all the more important to acknowledge this curiosity when it occurs on cultural issues, issues that divide societies and foment widespread discontent and unrest.
Let’s examine this issue with some questions.
Question one: is hate limited to only one group of people? Now this might seem like an obvious one but there are a lot of people who seem to think only white people are capable of hate. Intellectual honesty requires an unambiguous recognition that hate is a human failing found among all peoples. To deny this plain truth reveals a problem worse than mere naïveté. It points to an agenda, and not one devoted to the pursuit of truth or to fighting hate.
Question two: is hate based on skin color limited only to one group of people? The answer to the first question applies equally well to this one.
The belief that racism can be perpetrated by only one group of people has thoroughly infiltrated higher education all around the world. This idea has been ushered in via a new definition of racism. If you want to impose massive change and the change you want is really motivated by your own benefit, the first thing you need to do is present your agenda in benign terms that make your power grab look like compassion. And the best way to do that is to make the people you want to control to feel like victims and to believe you are their savior.
To push this lie, you’ll have to be prepared to defend against people who rely on reason and who know their history. They are the most dangerous to those who want to fundamentally transform the world. So how do you defend against the critics who know you’re trying to change things under false pretenses? Simple: change the language.
A new definition of racism has gained prominence here in the West and has spread beyond Western civilization. The new definition purports to expand upon the old, adding the dynamic of historical oppression. This apparent expansion gives the new definition an air of inclusion, open mindedness, nuance, and greater understanding. But in practice it’s something quite different. This seemingly more sophisticated definition is a mask intended to smuggle in yet a third definition of racism.
Once the second definition is accepted, and people think in terms of historical oppression, it isn’t long before this new dynamic becomes THE new definition, and the old fashioned idea of judging another person by the color of their skin apparently no longer qualifies as racism (albeit only in one direction). The new definition fosters less nuance and understanding. Thus the second definition is really a trojan horse; it’s temporary and transitional.
With the third definition of racism in place, one where only historical oppression matters, society adopts a very different approach to combating the problem. Anti-racism has taken over like some sort of religion. It has its priests who have exclusive authority to tell us what to think. It has its sacrosanct doctrines that shall not be questioned. It has indulgences and punishments for violators and heretics. This social pareidolia promotes viewing all of life through the prism of race, and encourages us to see racism around every corner. It also encourages the highly presumptuous error of imputing motives to others.
Systemic racism used to exist in places like America. Racism still exists everywhere there are people, but a “systemic” form of it seems supported more by social pareidolia than by actual fact. The fact is, Americans in general are more privileged than most people who have ever lived anywhere on the planet at any time, despite its lingering problems and social ills. No one is saying we should stop working to improve society, but tearing down society is hardly called for. And, ironically, fomenting fear and racial tension in the name of combating racism is one of the most effective ways of promoting racism I’ve ever seen.
But don’t take my word for it. Give a little of your time to these speakers who express what probably qualifies as blasphemy in the new religion of anti-racism.
John McWhorter on Anti-racism
Ben Shapiro interviews Zuby
The Inconvenient Truth About The Republican Party
When you think of the Republican Party, what comes to mind? If you’re like many Americans, you may associate the GOP with racism, sexism, and general inequality. It’s a commonly pushed narrative by left-leaning media and academia, but as former Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science Carol Swain explains, the Republican Party was actually responsible for nearly every advancement for minorities and women in U.S. history—and remains the champion of equality to this day.
BIGOTRY, CULTURE, DIVERSITY, HISTORY, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, RACISM, RELIGION
Uncommon Sense 
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