Cynical Theories
by Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay · first published 2020
73% recommend27% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Traces the intellectual lineage of identity-focused critical theories back through postmodern and Marxist roots; praised for its clear history of how these ideas developed, suited to readers wanting debate background.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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If you want to know what led us here, read: Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity--And Why This Harms Everybody https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1634312023/
on “The rise and decline of thinking over feeling” ↗Yep, I'm familiar with Marcuse, and I recommend the book Cynical Theories for a critical introduction to this ideology that's spreading through our once-cherished institutions like a malignant tumor.
on “Silicon Valley’s Safe Space” ↗Not one but several individuals have done just that, sometimes going into excruciating detail. James Lindsay (of the hoax grievance studies fame, co-author of "Cynical Theories" [1] - a book which goes a long way into answering this question) has lately made a career out of describing the ins and outs of these things [2 (and elsewhere on that site)]. Charles Pincourt (with Lindsay…
on “Duke Medical prof. calls mandatory equity training “Maoist political propaganda”” ↗…looking for books that explain the underlying structures and dynamics of "wokeness" for a while. I feel "the Coddling" does a good job for some aspects of it. The best book I found so far in this regard is "Cynical Theories" by Helen Pluckrose. You read it and just think: "yeah, this is it". Unfortunately it's written like a PhD thesis, so not the lightest read.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading these days?” ↗I don’t think this has much to do with 9/11. I would recommend reading Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay’s Cynical Theories. There’s a long trail of development that stems back well before the early 2000s.
on “Hate crime bill: Hate talk in homes ‘must be prosecuted’” ↗If you would actually like to know the history of the current trend, read Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
on “A YouTube chat about chess got flagged for hate speech” ↗…Works, still reading that one. Really dense and detailed examination of energy history of mankind for the former, and infrastructure of technological civilization for the latter. 5) Pluckrose & Lindsday. Cynical Theories. Good 101 on CRT and modern woke movement. 6) Alexander. New Jim Crow. Good 101 on war on drugs, although some broader social arguments the book makes straightforwardly don't seem to follow, or are contradicted…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗…Coleman Hughes regarding his college experience at Columbia are insightful resources. To delve into the philosophical roots that lead to the type of absurd reasoning mentioned by the original poster, "Cynical Theories" by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay, released in 2020, is recommended. Despite Lindsay's more recent radical stance, the book provides a critical exploration of these theories. It is also heavy on citations.…
…many people are fundamentally at odds with common illiberal corporate policy today (although it's often difficult to articulate why without being dismissed as a bigot). For more on this, I recommend Cynical Theories[0] by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53052177-cynical-theorie...
on “Women are getting most of the new jobs. What's going on with men?” ↗It is not complex and doesn't require much background knowledge ("critically" reading a couple books like So You Want To Talk About Race is enough, or you can just skip those and read Cynical Theories). This "critical sense of the term" is basically a political wedge. There are two almost completely unrelated issues at play: 1) Institutions, like in most of the world, sort people by class and reward…
on “Black couple ‘erases themselves’ from their home, its value goes up by $500k” ↗…stupid because 'Irish people are stupid', DiAngelo's work makes me feel exactly the same way. If you're interested in doing some more research of your own I can recommend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynical_Theories
on “Coca-Cola says 'Be Less White' learning plan was about workplace inclusion” ↗I would highly recommend the "Cynical Theories" book for some background on the academic disciplines and "scholars" this stuff is coming from. I feel like the book is in fact too kind, but it is a good background (and it makes a case for liberal/universalist…
on “Coca-Cola says 'Be Less White' learning plan was about workplace inclusion” ↗…the universities are functionally revolutionaires: "Justice" doesn't mean fairness in their thinking, it means "privileging" the oppressed group and de-privileging the oppressor group. (See the book "Cynical Theories" for a thorough--and left-leaning--analysis of the development of the academic ideas from disillusioned Marxists Foucault/Derrier to the current state.) This isn't really "justice" in the sense of fairness,…
on “Luxury Beliefs Are Status Symbols” ↗To better understand this phenomenon, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay (both of "sokal-squared" fame) have written a book [0] in scholarly detail to trace its roots. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Cynical-Theories-Scholarship-Everythi...
on “What's wrong with science and how to fix it: reflections after 2578 papers” ↗I've been reading "Cynical Theories" by Pluckrose and Lindsay which explains this whole thing as coming from a one-dimensional, activistized Postmodern framework. In this framework, society is a subtle network of power that creates oppressors…
on “The moral case against equity language” ↗