And now for something completely different...

BBC4's Holy Flying Circus was a nice piece of television, wonderfully self-referential, and also a sad reminder of the departure of Graham Chapman, gone 'to meet the great Head of Light Entertainment in the sky' (Cleese, 1989).

Towards the end of Holy Flying Circus, there is a particular scene that will strike a chord with many of the people trying to navigate the world with reason. By the end of the infamous debate between the Pythons, Michael Palin & John Cleese, and their opponents, Palin had become badly upset. Palin stormed from the stage as soon as the debate closed, Cleese following him backstage to hear him vent his feelings:

Cleese:  I understand why you're angry, of course I do...
Palin:     They didn't listen, they didn't debate. They just shouted us
               down and played to the gallery. We took it seriously and
               they took the piss.
Cleese:  I know.
Palin:     And I thought you were going to be swaggering
               and offensive?
Cleese:  Yes. Well, I was kidding about that.
Palin:     Oh, shame. Might have actually been useful out there.
Cleese:  You've changed your tune...
Palin:     They mauled us, John! They tore us to shreds.

This point is laid out well in Ben Goldacre's Bad Science (2008). In the introduction, he writes 'You cannot reason people out of positions they didn't reason themselves into', echoing the words of Jonathan Swift:

'reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired...'

Jonathan Swift, in a Letter to a Young Clergyman; 1720.

Reason is the most magnificent mechanism, yet those who refuse it persist in their attempts to stymie questions and stifle debate using stubbornness, charisma or sheer volume. Bad Science is a great book for uncovering these sorts of unreasonable attempts to close down the space used for meaningful thought.

But what drives us towards such closed mindedness?

'That's the thing that's scary about monsters. Indoctrination. All it takes is one bite, one facehugger egg or one pit stop into the swamp of sadness and suddenly you're out there on the fringe - bombing abortion clinics or driving a Prius with a co-exist sticker down to your local Co-op. Human fear is nothing more than the manifestation of our aversion to the archetypal other, and our nagging doubt that we and they are one and the same. You know, Hegel, Satre, whatever...'         - Katie Willert, on After Hours at Cracked.

Cracked's team gets towards the heart of this issue, about the way our fear, particularly of the the implacable, the insatiable, the unwaveringly fundamental, can drive us towards closing our mind. It can send us running to the redoubts of belief for the protection we fear moderacy won't offer.

The American Republican Party serves as a particular example of this right now; American conservative speechwriter and commentator Mr David Frumm (2011):

'In the aftershock of 2008, large numbers of Americans feel exploited and abused. Rather than workable solutions, my party is offering low taxes for the currently rich and high spending for the currently old, to be followed by who-knows-what and who-the-hell-cares. This isn’t conservatism; it’s a going-out-of-business sale for the baby-boom generation.

I refuse to believe that I am the only Republican who feels this way. If CNN’s most recent polling is correct, only half of us sympathize with the tea party. However, moderate-minded people dislike conflict — and thus tend to lose to people who relish conflict.'

To what, then, may moderates turn to for comfort?

It is worth knowing that Asquith sealed a majority for the British Liberal Party at the1906 election with monotonous statistics; combating Joe Chamberlain's soaring stump speeches with well-evidenced argument and a calm reasoned approach.

It is worth knowing that Attlee became Prime Minister, not through wartime rhetoric, but through the hard work of home front civil administration during the second world war.

And it is worth seeing how Holy Flying Circus ends; because Michael Palin is still a national treasure; and no one knows who the Bishop of Suffolk or Malcolm Muggeridge are, beyond two people who were, once upon a time, mean to the nicest man the world.

==========
References:
==========
+ BBC4's 'Holy Flying Circus' 19 October 2011.

+ Ben Goldacre's 'Bad Science'; Fourth Estate, 2008.

+ After Hours' '4 Terrifying Psychology Lessons Behind Famous Movie Monsters'; from Cracked.com.

+ David Frumm's 'When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality?'; in New York; 20 November 2011.