What is consensus?
Mater’s Musings #31: Consensus
17 responses to “Mater’s Musings #31: Consensus”
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It’s similar to “the science is settled”, but more dangerous.
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“What is consensus?”
I detest the word, if somebody uses that word in conversation with me I know they are either ignorant or they have limited views on the subject. I guess it’s why the progressive left loving using the word, especially when it comes to spruiking their nonsense such as climate change. The other word I detest is “gender”.
Both are oblique, shallow nothing burger words.
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I detest the word, if somebody uses that word in conversation with me I know they are either ignorant or they have limited views on the subject.
Indeed, every new discovery displaces and supersedes an earlier consensus.
Before relativity the consensus was that the domain of Newton’s laws extended tiniest fragment of existence within an atom to the ponderous courses of unimaginably vast stars.
Before traipsing off to WA the consensus was that all swans were white.
Before the discovery of heliobacter pylori consensus was that stomach ulcers were all caused by stress.
Imagine where we would be if ‘consensus’ had ruled science.
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Consensus is only achieved by following the path of least resistance and is poison to both good decision making and leadership. It’s an intellectually lazy approach that seems low risk but in reality can be the complete opposite.
At best, you get a decision that is disliked the least by the group. And one that is strongly influenced by individual biases and personalities. At worst, it smothers innovation and excellence, fatally damages trust and absolve everyone of any accountability.
Let’s call it what it is – pluralistic ignorance. -
We spruik immutable truths as “relative” and the constantly evolving as “absolute”.
One sees that also in the churches.
The resurrection becomes a “metaphor” but women’s ordination is a dogma.
It’s simply the long marchers’ way of subverting an institution whilst at the same time consolidating power within it as they take it over.
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Margaret Thatcher quote:-
Consensus: “The process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values, and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects; the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner: ‘I stand for consensus?”
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