Sincerity

[Sol]

Mods, please move if this isn’t the right place.

I’ve been thinking a lot about sincerity lately. There was an interesting discussion on the podcast “Know Your Enemy,” quite a while ago about it, I think in the context of Christopher Lasch’s Plain Style. The context is not too relevant, but IIRC one of the hosts made the argument that some basic level of sincerity, of simply stating what you believe clearly and without obfuscation, is essential to democracy. That’s really stuck with me, partly because it kind of rings true – being able to authentically debate and decide on ideas requires that sort of baseline honest engagement –  but also because it was a bit of an indictment of how I (and other people) tend to talk about ideas.

Like most people on here, I have a lot of strong opinions and feelings, but communicate mostly in one liners. When I talk about political feelings or experiences with my IRL friends, I tend to talk about them in light and ironic tones – “Can you believe so-and-so said this? Wild!” With the looming threat of a Trump second term on the horizon, that “light and ironic” tone feels incredibly useless.

I think for me these questions have a personal dimension. I’ve mentioned here a few times my somewhat recent transition, which for me was preceded by 5 years or so of very serious questioning, and a kind of “knowing without knowing.” Even now, although I’ve transitioned in most important ways, I still have a kind of internalized transphobia. I’m deeply uncomfortable talking about these important experiences with other people, and can’t watch or read a piece of media about or for trans people without giving myself an ironic distance, even though I want to do those things. It’s like there’s a part of me that sends out a “cringe alert” whenever I try to relate honestly to my experiences, and then when I dig on it it’s just free-floating bias.

What do you all think? What role do you think sincerity should play in politics? What role does it play in your life?

jao, because I won't post this if I can't ironically distance myself in some way.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Irony-poisoning is really the worst thing the internet has done to our society. I completely agree that the lack of sincere exchanges of ideas is a danger to democracy. It also poisons interpersonal relationships as well, and I suspect it's a big part of why so many people are lonely these days. Even when people have "friends", if their friendship has to be couched under 3 or 4 layers of irony, it's hard to draw much meaning from it. So I've always tried to be sincere and look for people who share that sincerity.

Of course there's nothing wrong with a few zingers and one-liners on the occasion. Political discourse has always been full of those, and this forum would be a lot duller without them. But if you find yourself resorting to that all the time, you might want to expand your posting habits a little.

[afleitch]

It's a really interesting issue. I agree that in interpersonal relationships something has been lost. But I'm also mindful that I've faced homophobia expressed in 'sincerity' and that on a grander scale, 'sincere' but egregious ideas are often given credibility over scrappy, and often chaotic good ideas.

As an aesthetic, as presentation, sincerity can be dangerous but it's appeal lies in the fact that as both of you note, it's such a rarity in how we communicate with each other.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's a really interesting issue. I agree that in interpersonal relationships something has been lost. But I'm also mindful that I've faced homophobia expressed in 'sincerity' and that on a grander scale, 'sincere' but egregious ideas are often given credibility over scrappy, and often chaotic good ideas.

As an aesthetic, as presentation, sincerity can be dangerous but it's appeal lies in the fact that as both of you note, it's such a rarity in how we communicate with each other.

Of course it's possible for someone to be sincere and still have awful ideas. I don't think anyone would suggest otherwise.

Personally though, I'd always rather deal with someone who sincerely espouses awful ideas than with someone who advances the same ideas with an air of post-ironic detachment, like the 4chan troll who says the vilest racist sh*t and then claims it's "just a joke" the moment he's called on it. At least if someone is earnestly racist and owns up to it, I can take a shot at exposing the flaws in their thinking. The 4chan troll would just laugh at the whole exercise.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     While some level of politic is required, I think the extent to which virtually everyone today cloaks what they really mean behind layers of politeness and triangulation is having a devastating effect on discourse as you can never really know what anyone means. The result of this is that we frequently just make assumptions, often grossly uncharitable ones, based on who we think the messenger most closely resembles. Ironic one-liners don't denote meaning so much as they signal ingroup affiliation (the coin of interpersonal relations today), but how do you know that the person dropping one actually means it and isn't just signalling in order to be accepted by you (for whatever purpose)?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Excellent post, Sol. I often say this to whoever will listen, and I don't have much to add or subtract. Great responses from everyone so far too.