"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."

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- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"

Poll Results

OptionVotes
I agree with this statement 22
Nate Dogg 7
I disagree with this statement 1
I do not understand this statement 0


people are for loving (HI DERE), Friday, 6 August 2010 18:55 (fifteen years ago)

well everybody already knows how I voted on this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY8UD-eLIfw

gross rainbow of haerosmith (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Friday, 6 August 2010 18:59 (fifteen years ago)

there's a slightly amusing joke about this quote in the mediocre movie "next stop wonderland"

congratulations (n/a), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:03 (fifteen years ago)

the right wing is consistently inconsistent in a consistent manner.

Gucci Mane hermeneuticist (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

I wonder sometimes if the elevation of consistency as an overarching important virtue is killing our society's ability to compromise.

people are for loving (HI DERE), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

shh! Compromise is for RINOs and socialists.

Gucci Mane hermeneuticist (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:09 (fifteen years ago)

Write-in vote for: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function"- F Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up

flintstones in my passway (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:34 (fifteen years ago)

I wonder sometimes if the elevation of consistency as an overarching important virtue is killing our society's ability to compromise.

― people are for loving (HI DERE), Friday, August 6, 2010 2:08 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark

^^^^^THIS

pies. (gbx), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:37 (fifteen years ago)

it's not that consistency isn't to be valued (i refuse to budge on, say, choice and my opposition to the death penalty), it's that the media and public at large has laid down such crude terms for political dialogue that being nuanced actually just means you're "undecided" and uncourageous in your convictions.

pies. (gbx), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:39 (fifteen years ago)

yeah that is a better way of stating what pisses me off about discussing politics with ppl

people are for loving (HI DERE), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:49 (fifteen years ago)

this is why libertarianism seems like the most pernicious of all political ideologies imo---it's probably the simplest to sign up for, intellectually, and it makes virtually every political decision incredibly easy to make, as they are all stripped of any moral or ethical calculus.

like i watched that "yes men" documentary the other night (it's...ok, and v smug), and they had all these dudes at these libertarian think tanks on. they were all well-spoken, and seemed genuinely unlike most rightwing crazies---they had come to their position intellectually, not viscerally. but then they just stopped, because libertarianism/free-market thinking is like truth machine that makes what should be wrenching ethical decisions for you.

pies. (gbx), Friday, 6 August 2010 19:55 (fifteen years ago)

gbx, HI DERE otm

also dislike the way that "thought this, thought about it some more, changed mind" is shocking flip-flopping etc and not just, you know, a natural reaction to seeing more real-world evidence

rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 6 August 2010 20:08 (fifteen years ago)

A lot of people don't want reasoned changing of minds, they want conversion. (Because their own faith in a view of things is that shallow, it seems.)

Ned Raggett, Friday, 6 August 2010 20:10 (fifteen years ago)

When I was in fourth grade, I read this quote, and I tried so hard to make jokes out of it. "Hemoglobin is the consistency of your mind!" "A foolish hobgoblin has a consistent mind!" And they all, consistently, bombed.

spanikopitcon (Abbott), Friday, 6 August 2010 20:16 (fifteen years ago)

the elevation of consistency as an overarching important virtue is killing our society's ability to compromise.

yesss

sexual intercourse began in 1963 (m coleman), Saturday, 7 August 2010 01:05 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Thursday, 12 August 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

i used this line in an editorial once, criticizing a local school board for egregiously stupid "zero-tolerance" prosecutions of minor student offenses. one of the school board members came up and asked me where the quote was from. when i said emerson, she gave me a blank look.

a tenth level which features a single castle (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 12 August 2010 23:16 (fifteen years ago)

there's a slightly amusing joke about this quote in the mediocre movie "next stop wonderland"

― congratulations (n/a), Friday, August 6, 2010 3:03 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that movie is how i know this quotation!

horseshoe, Thursday, 12 August 2010 23:20 (fifteen years ago)

The key ingredient in the quote is "foolish". A foolish consistency is one that ignores changing conditions, overlooks new information, or is blind to results that do not jibe with expectations. This quote seems to me to describe a lot of conservative Republicans, libertarians, and fundamentalists to a tee.

Aimless, Friday, 13 August 2010 14:44 (fifteen years ago)

yeah. quote basically describes ideologues. and ideologues = fundamentalists.

a CRASBO is a "criminally related" ASBO (contenderizer), Friday, 13 August 2010 17:01 (fifteen years ago)

he media and public at large has laid down such crude terms for political dialogue that being nuanced actually just means you're "undecided" and uncourageous in your convictions.

...this is why libertarianism seems like the most pernicious of all political ideologies imo---it's probably the simplest to sign up for, intellectually, and it makes virtually every political decision incredibly easy to make, as they are all stripped of any moral or ethical calculus.

― pies. (gbx)

^^^
^^^
^^^

a CRASBO is a "criminally related" ASBO (contenderizer), Friday, 13 August 2010 17:03 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Friday, 13 August 2010 23:01 (fifteen years ago)


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