We live in a cult-based society and “critical thinking” is a standin for the fact that neoliberal capital allows you to criticize them in ways that make them more money. It’s not about having a skillset. It’s about having a “Freedom”
While I agree with both the cult-based society argument and the "neoliberal capital commodifies our criticism of them" argument too, I don't think the way reactionaries tend to use the term "critical thinking" is linked to either of those, at least from what I've seen.
I think it's more like what the other reply said, that the term of is used by capital-R rationals who think "I am a critical thinker, therefore all my thoughts are critical thinking and therefore I am the arbiter of objective truth and reason."
I have not seen it used much in a systemic context.
Oh yeah I don’t think they consciously mean it that way. It’s more like the reason for the distortion is that need to extol the freedoms of capitalism while still artificially limiting thought. I think the Rationalist movement is a cultural outgrowth of these more systemic methods of capitalist information control.
We live in a cult-based society and “critical thinking” is a standin for the fact that neoliberal capital allows you to criticize them in ways that make them more money. It’s not about having a skillset. It’s about having a “Freedom”
While I agree with both the cult-based society argument and the "neoliberal capital commodifies our criticism of them" argument too, I don't think the way reactionaries tend to use the term "critical thinking" is linked to either of those, at least from what I've seen.
I think it's more like what the other reply said, that the term of is used by capital-R rationals who think "I am a critical thinker, therefore all my thoughts are critical thinking and therefore I am the arbiter of objective truth and reason."
I have not seen it used much in a systemic context.
Oh yeah I don’t think they consciously mean it that way. It’s more like the reason for the distortion is that need to extol the freedoms of capitalism while still artificially limiting thought. I think the Rationalist movement is a cultural outgrowth of these more systemic methods of capitalist information control.