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A common mistake is to believe that a civilization that values knowledge is the same thing as a civilization that values truth. Leftists who hold this mistaken belief often find it difficult to perceive the inferiority of Western civilization, since they see how Western civiliation has massively increased knowledge in the world and hence (wrongly) presume it serves the cause of truth. Only by highlighting the difference between truth and knowledge can this mistake be satisfactorily eliminated.
Truth is a qualitative concept. An informative statement is either true or false. The lower the % of false statements a civilization makes, the more truthful it is. A civilization that values truth is opposed to false statements. Under this value scheme, X which makes 20/20 true statements would be considered superior to Y which makes 30/60 true statements. Furthermore, Z which makes 60/60 true statements would be considered no better than X at best, and (explanation below) indeed possibly worse.
Knowledge is a quantitative concept. The larger the number of true statements a civilization possesses, the more knowledgeable it is. A civilization that values knowledge wants to accumulate the number of true statements it possesses. Under this value scheme, Y would be considered superior to X, and Z further superior to Y.
Western civilization fundamentally values knowledge, and values truth only on account of its utility in maximizing knowledge. It therefore considers itself superior to all other civilizations based on its demonstrably greater output (usually measuring from the Renaissance onwards) of allegedly true statements. The False Left has disagreed with this based almost entirely on (sometimes reasonable, sometimes contrived) scepticism towards the alleged Western output of true statements compared to non-Western output, thereby revealing if nothing else that its own value scheme remains Western at its core.
The True Left which genuinely values only truth (and not knowledge), in contrast, finds it easy to reject the claim of Western superiority, and indeed to confidently assert Western inferiority, via rejecting the Western value scheme itself. The key is to recognize the following:
Every statement made has a possibility of being false, therefore a civilization that makes more statements in total has greater potential to be an untruthful civilization than a civilization that makes fewer statements in total.
Thus a civilization that makes more statements than are necessary tends to be inferior. Rational statements can at least be logically proven to be true, and therefore are theoretically non-dangerous to truth (though in practice erroneous proofs may be accepted until the error is spotted). Empirical statements, on the other hand, cannot be proven to be true, thus structurally endanger truth just by existing (especially when they are assumed to be true). Moreover, in many subject areas, each additional statement made - even if itself true - enables derivative statements (which may or may not be true) to subsequently be made, thereby further increasing the potential for falsehood to slip in somewhere down the line. Overall, the cause of truth is best served by making no more statements than are necessary. Western civilization, of course, attempts to make as many statements (albeit, to be fair, statements which it would prefer to be true) as it can, in as wide a variety of subject areas as it can come up with. Thus Western civilization should be considered the most inferior civilization in the world by all who value truth. (Indeed it is trivially obvious by inspection that the complex society created by Western civilization offers vastly greater possibilities for deception in every aspect of life.)
So how much knowledge can be considered necessary for a civilization? We would answer: no more than is required for the correct functioning of the various practical aspects of the lifestyle of that civilization. The simpler its lifestyle, generally the less knowledge a civilization can afford to be dependent on, and hence the more superior it is in its loyalty to truth. We fundamentally view knowledge as a burden which should ideally be lightened as much as possible by simplification of lifestyle. This is part of
asceticism, which underlies the True Left worldview.
Finally, when competing civilizations exist, knowledge is often power. As such, necessary knowledge must (sadly) also include (at least temporarily) as much knowledge is needed for the spontaneously simpler civilizations to successfully destroy the spontaneously more complex civilizations, which must occur before the former can safely return to simplicity. (In this case alone can Z be considered superior to X, if its extra knowledge pertains to defeating spontaneously more complex civilizations.) In other words, Western civilization must die.
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“In this case alone can Z be considered superior to X, if its extra knowledge pertains to defeating spontaneously more complex civilizations.”
So basically Western civilization is only useful insofar as it can be used to destroy itself.
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(With regard to the impact of the colonial era on empiricism, which is what it sounded like you wanted to discuss, individual advocates of empiricism did exist in non-Western civilizations prior to the colonial era, but it is definitely true that the prestige of empiricism in non-Western countries today is a consequence of deference more towards Western empiricism (introduced during the colonial era) than towards any of the non-Western empiricists. On the other hand, the False Left approach is to emphasize these non-Western empiricists as a way to show that non-Western civilizations are not inferior. This merely further reinforces the prestige of empiricism as a whole. The True Left must challenge empiricism itself.)
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"On the other hand, the False Left approach is to emphasize these non-Western empiricists as a way to show that non-Western civilizations are not inferior."
Yes. The Carvakas are an example of this. Empiricists will often cite that "science" (i.e. empirical science) is not "Western" because it is merely the belief in the scientific method, but this can be disproved by showing how the scientific method itself originated in Aristotelean Greece and Enlightenment Era Europe. After this, the empiricists will bring up the non-Western empiricists. How do you propose we refute this? To show that belief in the superiority of empiricism* is ultimately a Western concept, and therefore Eurocentric?
*Also, I find it particularly irritating that empiricists tend to conflate Enlightenment empiricism with rationalism, referring to themselves as "rationalists", when in fact they are only empiricists.
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"the empiricists will bring up the non-Western empiricists. How do you propose we refute this? To show that belief in the superiority of empiricism* is ultimately a Western concept, and therefore Eurocentric?"
While there certainly existed individual empiricists arising in non-Western countries, those countries did not adopt empiricism owing to their influence. Rather, those countries eventually adopted empiricism only after contact with Western civilization during the colonial era. In other words, empiricism on its own was not persuasive to them; instead it was the machines possessed by the colonial powers that convinced them that empiricism (which enabled such machines to be invented) equalled worldly might, and hence had to be incorporated as a matter of self-defence given that an empiricist civilization was currently colonizing them.
It was Westerners alone who adopted empiricism without being under attack from an existing empiricist civilization with more advanced machines.
"I find it particularly irritating that empiricists tend to conflate Enlightenment empiricism with rationalism, referring to themselves as "rationalists", when in fact they are only empiricists."
In the old days, telling someone you are a rationalist was understood to imply that you are not an empiricist.....
By the way, have you noticed how recent crime fiction has become increasingly empiricist, emphasizing forensic analysis and other material elements? This is in contrast with the more rationalist Counterculture era crime fiction which was mostly about spotting contradictions in testimonials, which of course is much more entertaining for the viewer! Empiricism ruins art!
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For sure!
Are you aware of the "Encyclopedia Brown" book series? I used to read them when I was a kid:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_Brown
The books specifically focused on detecting anomalies in crime stories, which, incidentally, was what led me to further investigate things such as 9/11.
Nowadays, I rarely pay attention to whatever new crime drama is airing on television. It seems as though the predominance of material analysis is specifically tailored to cater to the sensibilities of Westerners, who seek sensory stimulation at every end.
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I have probably seen it around the library, but I did not follow the series. There were many similar series during the Counterculture era, mostly with children as the detectives. Some even tried to show children being better detectives than adults precisely because they had
less knowledge and/or experience of the world and thus made fewer assumptions when initially studying a case. Also, because the criminals were usually adults, when covering their tracks they only accounted for what other adults were likely to notice, and would often miss something that adults would not notice but is obvious to children.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNCRnlKfQXcI wish we could go back to talking about these types of subjects again...
Looking back, it seems as though back then racism was so foreign, so alien to my mind that I could not even comprehend what a racist world would look like. Little did I know what was in store for me in a decade....
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Scientific Proof Is A Myth:
www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/11/22/scientific-proof-is-a-myth/#7b843b942fb1---
Leave it to westerners and they'll measure everything eventually, or die trying, until nothing in the universe has not been touched and measured by their hand.
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Sam Harris (Jew) claims "science" can answer moral questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj9oB4zpHww---
All he is doing is a word substitution: "well-being"/"flourishing"/etc. in place of "moral good" and then spuriously acting as though there already exists consensus (at least among the audience) on what "well-being"/"flourishing"/etc. is, thereby avoiding any serious discussion of morality while getting away with pretending that he is discussing morality.
A simple question to expose his bullshit would be: who
deserves "well-being"?
The main point is that in his whole talk Harris only ever talks about quantitatively maximizing "well-being" etc. without ever considering that that could include giving it to those who do not deserve it - a huge moral red flag, yet one that Harris does not address, proving he is inherently not a moral thinker.
I remember another talk by Harris (though I can't seem to find the video now) where he starts by asking his audience to imagine a world in which everyone is suffering the worst pain imaginable. According to him, no one should dispute that this would be the worst possible world. But it was trivially obvious to me that a worse world would be one in which only the good people suffer the worst pain imaginable while the evil people enjoy themselves. Indeed, I would consider the world Harris describes to be better than where we are now, since over there at least the evil people are getting what they deserve, and the good people should prefer suffering along with the evil people than letting the evil people get away unpunished! And that Harris apparently never looked at it this way reveals again that he is not a moral thinker.