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I really don't like that phrase. It should be "reality has a progressive bias". Progressive is the opposite of conservative. "Liberal" is a specific ideology, a
by BillyTheMage 1y ago
I really don't like that phrase. It should be "reality has a progressive bias". Progressive is the opposite of conservative. "Liberal" is a specific ideology, and will end up in a position somewhere on the progressive-conservative spectrum based on how progressive or conservative it is.
Specifically it is the ideology of Capitalism, representative democracy, the rule of law, etc... basically the ideology of the enlightenment.
This misuse of Liberal is easy to track the etymology. The colloquial usage of "liberal" does sound like an opposite of conservative, it's basically a synonym for "lenient". But colloquial usage is often totally incorrect in certain contexts, like this one.
People who use "liberal" as an opposite of conservative are just bad at type theory.
- nicklaf 1y agoFWIW, Colbert quipping that "reality has a well-known liberal bias" was clearly satirical of conservatives' tendency to trot out the canard of "liberal" bias. You could just as well say he still agrees with your point about reality comporting more with a progressive understanding of ethics, while at the same time parodying Fox News for incoherently making spurious charges of "liberalism" at every turn.
- palmfacehn 1y agoInvoking Colbert, a well known Democrat partisan, speaks to the problems with this discussion. Additionally, passionate invocation of "facts", "reality" and "objectively true" should be red flags for any discussion.
- jackstraw42 1y agoperfect username. I guess it was too long ago for some people to remember the joke?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- MattPalmer1086 1y agoI believe Colbert came up with it in the first place.