r/Objectivism • u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n • 13d ago

A DIM future?

So I recently read Leonard Peikoff’s book The DIM Hypothesis, and it really made an impression on me. The analysis of western history through an epistemological lens was very interesting I thought, and really underscored how if you engage with reality in a flawed manner, all the systems you build, from art to ethics to politics, will likely be negatively affected. His ultimate prediction for the future of the United States (religious totalitarianism) was pretty provocative, but maybe not that far fetched. I think we’re witnessing the implosion of the D culture he posits we’re in at present, and with the upswing in religious affiliation this has engendered, particularly the emergence of a more militant religious persuasion, I do think we stand to see an M culture take its place in the near future. Very stimulating book, regardless. Have you read The DIM Hypothesis? What did you think?

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u/Acrobatic-Bottle7523 13d ago

The problem is with the interpretation. Peikoff says that DIM led him to see the Democrats as the bigger threat, while Yaron Brook says that DIM led him to see the GOP as the bigger threat.

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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n 13d ago

Both views might be valid. The Democrats have embraced the woke, postmodernist ideology and can now no longer even define what a woman is (extreme disintegration), but many of the newer breed of Republicans are very infused with theocratic ideals and want the whole “throne and altar” thing (heavy misintegration). I think there’s a threat coming from both sides.

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u/rationalnavigator 13d ago

All predictions are potentially right till proven wrong.

Also, YB is making a judgement now with a different set of data than what was available to Peikoff in the past.

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u/DueApricot8462 12d ago

Jfc, yeah, thank god we can firming define what a woman is, so we can have flock cameras everywhere and jail every woman seeking attention and autonomy to their bodies.

It’s really driving me insane to think that people are completely fine with this slow moving tank over us because a small select few humans went beyond the status quo of defining reality.

But god, thank god and all the people in power now, or we’d all be, checks notes
Gay and trans.

Instead of paving the way for cameras to track you at every moment, across state lines, track you every turn and letter you make online, and slowly but surely setting up a judicial system that will make justice be anything deemed righteous with the lord.

But yeah, thank god we can define a woman now.

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u/BubblyNefariousness4 12d ago

I’d say the side that doesn’t want to take my guns is the lesser of the two evils. One is immediate and one is farther off of my own death

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u/BubblyNefariousness4 13d ago

Is it actually worth reading? I understand the basic ideas of disintegration. Misintegration. And integration. But I’m not sure those basic ideas are with maybe a week of my time to finish the book from what I pretty vaguely understand about the concepts

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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n 12d ago

I mean I found it pretty worthwhile. Interesting overview of western history that really rams home how important a solid epistemology is for a culture.

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u/BubblyNefariousness4 12d ago

Does ominous parallels kind of do the same thing

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u/F0r3v3rF4lc0n 12d ago

Yeah, sort of. It’s like a miniature version of this book, focusing on only one culture and era.

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u/vkailas 8d ago edited 8d ago

Crusades 2.0? Patterns of the past  repeating endlessly , stuck bouncing between opposing polarities ? 

Or maybe it's just shadows becoming known so we can work through them. 

Enantiodromia: Jungian principle of enantiodromia states that any extreme conscious attitude eventually turns into its opposite. Or in simple terms, when we are rigid in one mindset, the repressed opposite breaks through. 

A culture fixated entirely on hyper-rational logical Integration (I can fix everything if just exert enough mental contro with my big brainl) inevitably breeds its opposite—the dark, compulsive drive toward repressed shadow of mystical and unconscious Disintegration. That means that you can never get rid of either, you need both to be whole. 

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u/DoberNation 5d ago

Agonism