This is basically a restatement of the core of Robin Hanson’s years-long set of Overcoming Bias posts about “homo hypocritus”. The short answer is status. The

This is basically a restatement of the core of Robin Hanson’s years-long set of Overcoming Bias posts about “homo hypocritus”. The short answer is status. The game you are playing with others (whether you want to or not) is all about political status. It’s not at all about objective successful outcomes. It’s about who can utilize politics as a resource to take what they want and entrench their hold of it. For example in medieval times, decrying scientific progress as heretical served the purpose of allowing monarchs and religious figureheads to retain power. Who gives a shit how planetary orbits work if you can decapitate your enemies becuz god. This is a very deeply ingrained evolutionary aspect of humans and we are not modern or sophisticated in terms of defeating it. To expect otherwise is naive & frankly frustrating.