Such a terrible experience on mobile. Sigh. WTB a new Internet where only ten html tags are allowed.
worked great on my ios device
Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
11–20 of 62 posts
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#12Why is this called a "cargo cult"? Whatever the merit of these observations, this is not what a cargo cult is.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#13Why is this called a "cargo cult"? Whatever the merit of these observations, this is not what a cargo cult is.
"""
Emulate the purported behavior of successful people
This is the key to the cargo cult. To enjoy the success of another, just mimic his rituals. """
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#14Maybe I'm missing some nuance here, but most of these (excepting maybe "Complicated explanations are suspect" and "All interconnection is apparent") just seem like different manifestations of fundamental attribution error.
It reads like a list of fairly reasonable (imho) grievances, but except for a few they don't really seem related to the cargo cult phenomenon. Namely these two do seem related to cargo cults: "The end supports the explanation of the means: A successful person's explanation of the means of his success is highly credible by the very fact of his success." "Emulate the purported behavior of successful people: This is the…
Because it's magical thinking to believe that the harm caused by the consequences of your actions is ameliorated by your intentions beforehand or your apology afterward. A civilization built on Protestantism wouldn't be less superstitious for holding these as cultural values. Which is where I guess the cult part comes in.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#15Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#16Why is this called a "cargo cult"? Whatever the merit of these observations, this is not what a cargo cult is.
Because Trumpism wasn't in the vernacular when it was compiled.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#17This is stupid to the point of borderline racism. An uncharitable reading of inane journalism ascribed to an entire nationality. Fuck you very much too.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#18> I wrote these principles after reflecting on the content of contemporary newspapers and broadcast media and why that content disquieted me.
I agree that the principles listed are highly present in American media, especially during an election year. However:
> I really think that most Americans believe these things at a deep level.
I don't think most Americans "believe" these things, so much as these are just typical human cognitive biases that Americans succumb to. If you were to ask most Americans whether they agreed with these statements, they would say "no". But come election time those same people who answered "no" would probably go and vote for a candidate who exhibited these principles. Or given the choice to save money for the future or buy some junk on Black Friday, they would probably choose the junk.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
It reads like a list of fairly reasonable (imho) grievances, but except for a few they don't really seem related to the cargo cult phenomenon. Namely these two do seem related to cargo cults: "The end supports the explanation of the means: A successful person's explanation of the means of his success is highly credible by the very fact of his success." "Emulate the purported behavior of successful people: This is the…
Because it's magical thinking to believe that the harm caused by the consequences of your actions is ameliorated by your intentions beforehand or your apology afterward. A civilization built on Protestantism wouldn't be less superstitious for holding these as cultural values. Which is where I guess the cult part comes in.
It may well be magical thinking, but magical thinking isn't synonymous with cargo cults. Cargo cults seem like a particular sort of magical thinking; a subset of magical thinking. As I understand the concept, a cargo cult is specifically characterized by one group of people superficially emulating another without understanding the underlying mechanisms in play.
If the Protestant approach to forgiveness is relating to cargo cults, perhaps it's because they witnessed Catholics talk about forgiveness and decided to adopt that aspect of the Catholic philosophy without also appreciating the importance of the Catholic concept of penance (Catholics talk about forgiveness a lot, but don't give so freely as Protestants.) So perhaps Protestants are cargo culting Catholics.
I know a few Catholics who'd probably smirk in agreement with the above, but I'm not convinced of it myself. I'm neither a Protestant nor a Catholic and although I was raised as one and grew up surrounded by the other, I never felt I understood either particularly well. So it's possible I've gotten it all wrong.
Re: Principles of the American Cargo Cult (2003)
#20This is stupid to the point of borderline racism. An uncharitable reading of inane journalism ascribed to an entire nationality. Fuck you very much too.
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