Politics of the IRS - Page 2

ZenGum · 05-29-2013, 07:56 AM

Thanks for your various replies.

I think the most interesting aspect of this is the "quantum" nature of contemporary America. Your civic body has two rival narratives of pretty much everything, in superposition with each other, and because each side is capable of psychologically ignoring the "information" of the other side, the wave function does not collapse and the superposition continues.

Will you continue on like this indefinitely? Or will something happen to collapse the wave function and cause one unified narrative to be adopted? What kind of events could have that much impact? Or will these narratives negotiate some compromise position?

Lamplighter · 05-29-2013, 08:32 AM

War !

The only unifier known in the US

piercehawkeye45 · 05-29-2013, 08:35 AM

My guess is that the two narratives will become too far apart at some point and a third, more centrist, narrative will gain traction quickly. This should force the original two narratives back closer to the center.

This is not guaranteed and I have no idea when or what form this third narrative will take, but I would be willing to put money on it happening if we continue the way we are going.

glatt · 05-29-2013, 08:44 AM

That's assuming that the two narratives are equally distant from the center. They are not.

Lamplighter · 05-29-2013, 09:22 AM

I had not previously though of it as a "collapse of wave function",
but in my younger years I had thought that the discovery of life on another planet
would immediately bring the entire world into a unified front
to create a "defense" against our common enemy.

So, I imagined that we could create this "world peace" if our government
secretly made some non-earth alloys of metals and a created a news story
that "aliens had crash landed in some distant place"... al la Roswell, NM

But more to Z's point, given that the US has 2 political parties and strongly resists
attempts to create a political world of 3 or more, the way of change
involves replacement of parties (a la today's Republicans vs Tea Party-ers).

This may be embedded in our nature due to our legal system.
We have attorneys that "represent their client" and prosecutors that
represent the State, each doing their best (or worst) to prove their point.
Any sort of acknowledgment that the opposition may be correct is unspoken.
This is based on the assumption that "right" and "justice" will come out
of each side doing their best a battle-to-the-death.

05-29-2013, 07:56 AM	#16
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Thanks for your various replies. I think the most interesting aspect of this is the "quantum" nature of contemporary America. Your civic body has two rival narratives of pretty much everything, in superposition with each other, and because each side is capable of psychologically ignoring the "information" of the other side, the wave function does not collapse and the superposition continues. Will you continue on like this indefinitely? Or will something happen to collapse the wave function and cause one unified narrative to be adopted? What kind of events could have that much impact? Or will these narratives negotiate some compromise position? __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

05-29-2013, 08:35 AM	#18
piercehawkeye45 Franklin Pierce Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,695	My guess is that the two narratives will become too far apart at some point and a third, more centrist, narrative will gain traction quickly. This should force the original two narratives back closer to the center. This is not guaranteed and I have no idea when or what form this third narrative will take, but I would be willing to put money on it happening if we continue the way we are going. __________________ I like my perspectives like I like my baseball caps: one size fits all.

05-29-2013, 08:32 AM	#17
Lamplighter Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bottom lands of the Missoula floods Posts: 6,402	War ! The only unifier known in the US

05-29-2013, 08:44 AM	#19
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	That's assuming that the two narratives are equally distant from the center. They are not.

05-29-2013, 09:22 AM	#20
Lamplighter Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bottom lands of the Missoula floods Posts: 6,402	I had not previously though of it as a "collapse of wave function", but in my younger years I had thought that the discovery of life on another planet would immediately bring the entire world into a unified front to create a "defense" against our common enemy. So, I imagined that we could create this "world peace" if our government secretly made some non-earth alloys of metals and a created a news story that "aliens had crash landed in some distant place"... al la Roswell, NM But more to Z's point, given that the US has 2 political parties and strongly resists attempts to create a political world of 3 or more, the way of change involves replacement of parties (a la today's Republicans vs Tea Party-ers). This may be embedded in our nature due to our legal system. We have attorneys that "represent their client" and prosecutors that represent the State, each doing their best (or worst) to prove their point. Any sort of acknowledgment that the opposition may be correct is unspoken. This is based on the assumption that "right" and "justice" will come out of each side doing their best a battle-to-the-death.

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