Can you point out the axiomatic assumptions I’m making? I explain why thinking “Those that disagree with me must be stupid, evil, or both.” is bad: “It prevents finding common ground and encourages wild policy swings as power is transferred from one uncompromising faction to the next. The same facts can generate different viewpoints, each deserving of a spot in the marketplace of ideas, even if we personally disagree with them.”
The quiz requires login only because I don’t want the same person answering the quiz multiple times. Google account isn’t visible to me unless you leave your email at the end.
My analysis is more focused on the situation we have in the US today, with a still narrow (in the grand scheme) Overton window. I agree with you that in general there are failure modes, and the specific examples you bring (soviet collapse in ’90, tankies, etc). I’ll revise to make the claims sound less universal.
I agree that the “unable” / “too dumb” camp is problematic, but I think it’s a relatively small fraction compared to the “unwilling” camp, which just has no real incentive to be informed.
And I’ve dropped the account requirement on the quiz since you’re probably right. 100 data points at the moment, so pretty anecdotal but I’ll start looking at the data soon.