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Real-world examples would have been nice. I don't know how generalizable this is to people in the real world. That is to say not that I don't think that many p

Real-world examples would have been nice. I don't know how generalizable this is to people in the real world. That is to say not that I don't think that many people default to this about particular topics, but that at this point in time many people have heard anecdotes (if it hasn't happened to them) about authority figures or experts disbelieving something real, as in physicians saying it's "all in your head" to something that turns out to be stage 4 cancer, or whatever. Thus it should be easy to at least make a crack in the armor of anyone with orthodox privilege in one area by reference to these modern-day events where people are disbelieved, and even abusively so (in the case of medicine). Sure, politeness might work too, but only in creating a veneer of tolerance. An appeal to politeness does not crack the armor the way an example of modern orthodox being wrong would.

vekker 3y ago
I think real-world examples are very dangerous to provide here, because they can easily derail the conversation into arguing about the validity of those examples, because if they are currently unconventional ideas, someone with orthodox privilege will see them as simply false, and bad examples. That's the blindness referred to. The Zeitgeist around the date PG wrote this article is probably no coincidence; if you really want recent examples of divisive topics. Historical examples are great for that reason, and there are plenty in the history of science. One typical example I love, is Wegener's theory of continental drift and how long it was ridiculed, hindering scientific progress, before it was finally accepted many decades later, in the form of the theory of plate tectonics.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  The Zeitgeist of that time was an example of the reverse of orthodox privilege (as discussed in the article). Or so it seemed to me. As competing orthodoxies were actively fighting out in the open, each with their own powerful champions. Meanwhile everyone who depends on a job to survive knows that there are opinions that you just don't bring up. So it seems to me orthodox privilege, in the vein brought up by Graham, is really a subset of power privilege.

vekker 3y ago

I think real-world examples are very dangerous to provide here, because they can easily derail the conversation into arguing about the validity of those examples, because if they are currently unconventional ideas, someone with orthodox privilege will see them as simply false, and bad examples. That's the blindness referred to. The Zeitgeist around the date PG wrote this article is probably no coincidence; if you really want recent examples of divisive topics. Historical examples are great for that reason, and there are plenty in the history of science. One typical example I love, is Wegener's theory of continental drift and how long it was ridiculed, hindering scientific progress, before it was finally accepted many decades later, in the form of the theory of plate tectonics.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago
The Zeitgeist of that time was an example of the reverse of orthodox privilege (as discussed in the article). Or so it seemed to me. As competing orthodoxies were actively fighting out in the open, each with their own powerful champions. Meanwhile everyone who depends on a job to survive knows that there are opinions that you just don't bring up. So it seems to me orthodox privilege, in the vein brought up by Graham, is really a subset of power privilege.