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Americans are absolutely convinced their narratives about Soviet history are correct despite never actually learning anything about Soviet history (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I’ve spent the last few years devouring Soviet history. Books, papers, blog posts, podcasts, all of it. I can’t get enough. Not to brag, but I do feel as though I’ve achieved a certain level of understanding about the USSR, its history, and eventual collapse. But I’ve also put the work in.

And yet, whenever I engage people I know IRL or online, I’m amazed by how doggedly people will defend what they just inherently “know”: that the Soviet Union was an evil totalitarian authority dictatorship that killed 100 million of its own people and eventually collapsed because communism never works. None of these people (at least the people I know IRL) have learned anything about Soviet history beyond maybe a couple days of lectures and a textbook chapter in high school history classes. Like, I get that this is the narrative that nearly every American holds in their heads. The fact that people believe this isn’t surprising. But what is a little surprising to me is that, when confronted with a challenge to that narrative from someone they know has always loved history and has bothered to learn more, they dig their heels in and insist they are right and I am wrong.

This isn’t about me, I’m just sharing my experience with this. I’m just amazed at how Americans will be completely ignorant about a topic (not just the USSR) but will be utterly convinced their views on that topic are correct, despite their own lack of investigation into that topic. This is the same country where tens of millions of people think dinosaurs and humans walked around together and will not listen to what any “scientist” has to say about it, after all.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Most Americans can't fuckin read. Low comprehension and ability to understand what they read. Half the country can't read above a 6th grade level so they just parrot what the government and mass media has been telling them for years. Also, dunning kruger effect is part of it.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Most Americans can't fuckin read.

If fucking only. ForwardsFromGrandma would be far less pernicious if they couldn't.

Half the country can't read above a 6th grade level

The content 6th graders are expected to read has escalated dramatically from decade to decade. Americans have no problem ingesting large, often sophisticated, written narratives. Reading comprehension isn't the problem.

The problem is that much of what we're presented with is bullshit. Garbage in, garbage out.

Getting through the Bible cover-to-cover is hard work. Grasping the various mysteries and allegories and heavily dated metaphors is harder still. You can have a masterful understanding of Biblical literature, of history and interpretation and theological significance. So fucking what? You're still using a fairy tale as a first principle. A doctoral thesis in Angelology might involve ten thousand hours of research in a dozen dead languages. Who cares, when the subject matter is pure myth? What does it matter that I can finally convincingly answer the question "How many angels can dance in the head of a pin?"

Also, dunning kruger effect is part of it.

Its the blind leading the blind. I read a textbook by Larry Summers while earning my masters at the University of Chicago. I can talk circles around your lay Marxist. I can Do The Math that makes neoliberal theory plausible. I get a job teaching this theory to my students, in between speaking gigs at business events and interviews on talk shows. Everyone gets to receive my erudite understanding. No one can question my genius.

But when the foundation is made of turds, so what? What does reading comprehension help you with?