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You nailed it, Chris.

I've also become increasingly aware of the fact that the more conventionally successful a person is the less incentive that person has to question and dig deeper into phenomena that (for others) don't quite add up. Instead that person relies on the narratives presented by a handful of experts who reinforce the most conventional, socially safe and acceptable views of reality.

This makes perfect sense to the conventionally successful because his or her success and adoption of conventional views have been mutually reinforcing, with success being proof positive and Exhibit A that his or her way of living, i.e. farming out all the thorny questions of life and narrowly focusing on achieving their goals is and always has been a winning formula. Any other way of living is unimaginable.

It doesn't even seem to matter to them when they contradict themselves (which often happens), because their experts unapologetically contradict themselves (whatever serves the Narrative du Jour) all the time. Being an expert means never admitting when you're wrong. To do so would prove to the public you're not an expert and kill the golden goose that depends on maintaining that status.

On the macro level, that's why our beloved, "successful" American Empire has no reverse gear and keeps doubling down on all its worst decisions with the end result being among other things a hollowing out of living standards in what should be the most prosperous nation on Earth, and with missionary zeal accelerating the destabilization of other regions (including Europe) ostensibly in the interests of "peace and democracy."

Most successful people can't recognize genuine evil when it's staring them in the face, because as you describe when talking about a certain virus and the effects of its treatment, there's no benefit to the successful in entertaining "conspiracy theories."

"That's for racist Q-anon trailer trash!"

Or so they're told.

-- Mac Balzac

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Great article Chris. Miss you on Sirius. I have two problems with these people you’re describing. 1. The anxiety over has may be related to the goal. Soprano may be anxious because of the danger involved in a life of killing people. Your friend might be anxious or not in touch with her self because she’s choosing a goal is not in line with her values.

2. How do these people who outsource their thinking know who to follow? They have to do some thinking. How do they know who to listen to?

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