Western cognitive dissonance

Classic sample from the BBC here. The dialectic runs as follows:

China is:

- the world's oldest extant state (dating back to at least 200BC);
- the fastest growing economy in the world now;

These are facts. But China is also very monocultural (this is a fact), and that is its greatest weakness (this is a value judgment).

That the former results from the latter is ruled out (presumably) as a result of the prevailing faith in mankind, underpinned by the political doctrine that we have 'strength through diversity.' Whoever believes that we have overcome religion is as deluded as this piece of reasoning. It is likely that we will never transcend faith; will never want to transcend faith. But let's not congratulate ourselves for going beyond religious faith. Secular faith is no better.

The brain is a funny thing. What did Celine say? That's right, he pissed on 'em:

‘The head is a kind of factory that doesn’t run exactly the way you’d like… imagine… two thousand billion neurons… all a complete mystery… where does that get you?... neurons left to their own resources! The slightest attack, your head goes haywire, you can’t pin down a single idea… you’re ashamed of yourself.’