26 June

I get very tired of ‘debates’, and rarely engage with them. They define our age too because they’re the team sports I often talk about, driven by social media. The algorithms there prioritise people arguing, it drives engagement and likes. There’s an assumption that is also wrong, which we use for democracy too, that lots of debating leads to progress and change. It never does, it’s just hot air. Change is driven by rare events and rare minds, causing millions to imitate and emulate something. That then gives the appearance of millions having debated that outcome. It is never that, 99% of it was people imitating something. Have a look at every public issue that emerges, and you’ll see how it’s structured like Premier League footy. People forming teams, that then battle each other. Imitative rivalry, what Rene Girard (rightly) called the root of all culture. Left v Right. Renewables v fossil fuels. Etc. Discuss things and the first thing most will do is try to place you (in their mind at least) as speaking for one of the teams. There’s little to no engagement with actual ideas, often those passionately engaged in the team sports haven’t even read them (as is nearly always the case with the ‘trans’ debates, for example, why I often return to them as an example).