Radical Dismissal

Todd Hayen

Here’s another weird thing I think is going on. Like most things I observe, you have probably observed this too, and probably way before I first thought about it.

This is kind of a no-brainer because in some ways it has been really obvious. But after a while, I started thinking it was weird because it applied to nearly everything, and certainly to almost all of the drastic issues out there.

Radical dismissal. This means that nearly everything, every issue, every theory, every thing that people consider a fact, is either yes or no, right or wrong, black or white.

There seems to be no room for “consideration”—meaning, “Well, I feel this way about this or that, but I would consider something different or contrary to what I believe if it was presented well, but maybe not right now, maybe when I learn more about it.” Not only is there no “consideration” but there is a radical dismissal of “opposing” ideas as if they do not even have a right to exist on the same planet.

To have this radical dismissal, the person that dismisses the idea or concept in question, also dismisses every person that is on the dismissed side of the issue. They are not only wrong but are complete idiots, assholes, morons, inhuman pieces of space junk. It makes no difference if they are decent people, smart, doctors, experts, or scientists specializing in the field where the topic of dismissal resides. They could have written articles, and dozens of books, spent 40 years of experience with the topic, spent years in school, have had positions at prestigious institutions, or whatever. If they say XYZ, while the person dismissing believes ABC, then the XYZ people are crap.

People can’t seem to hold differing views on much of anything these days. Viewpoints are so polarized it is ridiculous. Personally, I have never been like this, and I am sure most of you folks out there reading this are not like this as well. It is just a matter of being for me, I don’t even think about it. If someone says something I don’t initially agree with, I do not go bonkers trying to prove them wrong. Yes, I will admit, if I believe in something that will hurt them, and they don’t believe in that thing, and I care about them, I may get a bit animated in trying to get them to see it my way. But beyond that, I don’t really care if they come to my way of seeing things. If they want to debate, I will, and I have to say, I am often curious as to why they see things so differently, and I want to know if maybe I missed something and ask to hear more about their viewpoint.

Even if I still disagree after hearing more, I do not hold it against them for believing in something I do not believe in. Even if it is perfectly clear (objectively) what they believe is false, I still find it interesting they believe in a false thing and am still curious as to why. Unless they are complete asses about it (which these days they typically are) I don’t think much of it. If they are friends, they are usually still friends, if family members, I love them just as much as I did before. And am I still flexible? I like to think so, although if I am really sure I am on the right side of things, I may not spend as much time looking at the opposing viewpoint, but that really is just a matter of time and energy. Usually, there are details about any situation I remain flexible about.

Now, that’s me, and maybe that’s you. The other side? Forget it. Even when there is so much nuance and complexity to a situation, where there is a lot of room to say, “hmmm, well maybe you have a point about that detail” this “radical dismissal” will stay firm—no room for subtlety. “Nope, no way,” they will say, “you are a science denier, a fool, a conspiracy theorist, a tin foil hat-wearing moron.” They don’t even think it is funny you are so stupid and uninformed, they become vicious, angry, and hateful.

Why? I’ve got a few theories, as I am sure you do. But it is difficult to settle on any one of them. As with everything else going on, I do believe it is part of the agenda to polarize our thinking. Everything in our everyday life is being digitized—one or zero.

Not just the obvious things, but the not-so-obvious. Take for instance filling out an intake form at the doctor’s. There are fewer and fewer boxes where you can explain your situation, making the information more personalized and unique. And there are more and more “yes/no” type questions, or “pick from this list of four choices.” If your situation doesn’t fit in their pre-selected options, you are out of luck. “Is your toe one of these colours: 1. Blue, 2. Red, or 3. Black.” If your toe is “a sort of yellowy brown with red around the edges,” you are plumb out of luck.

These sorts of encounters with the “limited multiple choice world” train us to think in black and white, or at least train us to remove all nuance, uniqueness, and subtlety. And as a result, this destroys flexibility. Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of “getting along” with a diverse culture. You have to have tolerance, and flexibility, to navigate many different viewpoints and ideas. We are losing the ability to be flexible and tolerant to new or opposing ideas, pretty quickly.

And of course, once a certain percentage of the masses are hypnotized into this rigid black-and-white thinking, they have to be fed something to latch onto and believe in. So, the agenda then goes to work on that. Feeding the masses the lies, the deceits, the fake science, and fake news. The ones who have been mesmerized into this inflexible thinking then have something to be rigid about.

For all intents and purposes, it really doesn’t matter what they are fed, as long as it is the presumed authority that is feeding it. These masses could be just as convinced the vaccines are dangerous, or that Biden is a bad president, or that Covid is a hoax. It really doesn’t matter what they will believe, evidence or no evidence, they will believe what the “right people” tell them. And once they’ve told them, that’s it.

They will lock onto it like a snapping turtle will lock onto your big toe (the sort of yellowy brown one with red around the edges)—and not even lightning will cause them to let go.

Todd Hayen is a registered psychotherapist practicing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He holds a PhD in depth psychotherapy and an MA in Consciousness Studies. He specializes in Jungian, archetypal, psychology. Todd also writes for his own substack, which you can read here

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