It seems to me that claiming the right to say what someone else believes, entirely ignoring what they protest, is a strong claim of status over them (compare: “stop hitting yourself!”). Perhaps, at least to the extent that they’re recognizable as non-responsive to reality or to denial, imaginary positions allow the claimants and their readers to join in putting down those nutty technophiles or whoever.
It seems to me that claiming the right to say what someone else believes, entirely ignoring what they protest, is a strong claim of status over them (compare: “stop hitting yourself!”). Perhaps, at least to the extent that they’re recognizable as non-responsive to reality or to denial, imaginary positions allow the claimants and their readers to join in putting down those nutty technophiles or whoever.