The Truth Isn’t in the Middle

There’s a common saying we all use when criticizing both sides of a contentious issue these days. It goes something like: “the Nut Balls on this side believe x, while the Nut Balls on the other side believe z. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.”

This sort of phrase strikes me as an intellectual cop out. When we say this we’re essentially expressing a non-opinion in an effort to virtue signal our “superiority of thought”. We’re basically saying: “Look at me, I can think INDEPENDENTLY of these Nut Balls!”

But this is not independent thought — we’re just taking the average of two opposite opinions. We’re succumbing to the same problem we’re trying to virtue signal our way out of: group think.

With most of the majorly contentious issues today the answer does not lie in the middle. It lies somewhere far off to either side, and it’s not easily expressed in a sound bite from a party leader. The debates that take place in the mainstream are the tiny ice caps rising above the water which conceal the massive iceberg below.

When our ship hits the iceberg, those who think the answer lies in the middle will chose to neither panic nor remain calm — and they’ll sink with the ship all the same.

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