Democrats are in denial. Their party is actually in deep trouble.

[Berkut]

So.
Is Berkut level 2 or level 4?

The critical idea is that I am level (DGuller - 1) at the very most.

Of course, I am too simple to even understand this, so who can really say?

[DGuller]

So.
Is Berkut level 2 or level 4?

I don't think there are levels above 3 when it comes to politics.  Well, I think I'm at level 3, so I would think that, won't I?     In theory he could be level 20, but I guess everyone at some point has to take it on faith that they're at the highest level there is.

  Well, that's not very reassuring.

[viper37]

except in Canada where the NDP and Liberals do surprisingly well in lightly populated wastelands. Probably due to the 'First Nations' or whatever we are supposed to call the Native Americans these days.

not really, but it's the way the ridings are designed.  See for Quebec, if you look closely at the voting results, you will see in a particular riding that the Conservatives are very strong in the very rural part where there's not many people, while the Libs and NDP are stronger in cities.  But city people are more numerous, so they tend to cancel the conservative vote.

[The Brain]

Am I stupid or just very intelligent?

[DGuller]

Am I stupid or just very intelligent?

Is there is level 5 out there, you're definitely on it.

[The Brain]

Am I stupid or just very intelligent?

Is there is level 5 out there, you're definitely on it.

IQ 5!

[grumbler]

I think what we have here is a difference in levels of thinking.  Someone who played poker a lot with deep understanding will understand what I'm talking about. 

Different players think at different levels, and better players think at higher levels, but on any given hand, players of vastly different levels will make the same decision.  If you're level 1, level 3, or level 5 player, you'll call, and if you're level 2 or level 4 player, you'll fold.  If you're a level 2 player, you're incapable of conceiving of thinking above level 2.  So if you see a level 5 player call, you'll assume that he's a level 1 player, and think that you're better than him.  Of course, this doesn't hold true for every hand, otherwise there would be no difference between level 1 and level 5 players, but this situation comes up often, and this is one reason why losing players can so easily get deluded about how their skills stack up.

So coming back to here, you see me reach the same conclusion that a die-hard Democrat would reach, and since you're one and only one level higher in the sophistication of thinking compared to die-hard partisans, you conclude that I am a die-hard partisan as well.  You cannot conceive of a situation where someone could be thinking on a level one higher than yourself, and that he would just happen to reach the same conclusion that someone one level lower than yourself would reach in this particular case. 

Am I claiming that I think about politics on a level one higher than you?  Yes, yes I do, not that it's that great of an accomplishment.  Will I be able to convince you of this fact?  No, I'm not under any delusion about that, not until you mature some more intellectually.

Nothing funnier than watching level 1 thinkers delude themselves into thinking that they secretly are level 5 thinkers who just look and act like level 1 thinkers.

[grumbler]

Am I stupid or just very intelligent?

Yes, indeed.

[Razgovory]

I think the Democratic strategy right now is to wait for demographic change.  They have neglected their ground game since 2010, which isn't good, but simply waiting for the boomers to die is a viable strategy.

Oh they have tried to push their ground game, their 50 state strategy and everything. It just has not worked very well. But failure is not the same thing as neglect. They have just not found an issue to mobilize paranoid people as well as the anti-Government stuff the Republicans have been trotting out there. Bernie Sanders and his anti-Corporate stuff is what they need to rally the crazies. Everybody wants a boogie man for all of their problems.

They did okay in 2006 when Howard Dean was in charge.

[Razgovory]

Okay, can we stop talking about our D&D characters?

[DGuller]

Nothing funnier than watching level 1 thinkers delude themselves into thinking that they secretly are level 5 thinkers who just look and act like level 1 thinkers.

Well, one of us is deluded, isn't it?  You can never be 100% that you're not the one, but I'm sure enough to be willing to put money on the line whenever a thought process is testable.  I'll always wager against you or Berkut if we're on opposite sides of the betting line, without too much of a nagging doubt that I'm being made a sucker.

[Razgovory]

Oh, I'd bet Grumbler is 100% sure of everything he says.

[Berkut]

Nothing funnier than watching level 1 thinkers delude themselves into thinking that they secretly are level 5 thinkers who just look and act like level 1 thinkers.

Well, one of us is deluded, isn't it?  You can never be 100% that you're not the one, but I'm sure enough to be willing to put money on the line whenever a thought process is testable.  I'll always wager against you or Berkut if we're on opposite sides of the betting line, without too much of a nagging doubt that I'm being made a sucker.

The difference between me and you is that I am not nearly as sure that I am every so much smarter than everyone who disagrees with me. I would in fact wonder if perhaps you are thinking more clearly than I am - although posts like this go a long way towards re-assuring me that it is not terribly likely. Overweening arrogance (and the seemingly compulsive need to tell everyone over and over and over again how truly brilliant they are) is one of many strong indicators that the person is not nearly as bright as they imagine themselves to be...

[DGuller]

The difference between me and you is that I am not nearly as sure that I am every so much smarter than everyone who disagrees with me.

I can believe that.  Now replace "smarter" with "more objective and rational", and I call bullshit.

I would in fact wonder if perhaps you are thinking more clearly than I am - although posts like this go a long way towards re-assuring me that it is not terribly likely.

That I have a hard time believing.  You always act as if you're in position to deliver definitive judgment on whether my thinking is clear or partisan, so that's not really consistent with what you're trying to sell here.

[dps]

So.
Is Berkut level 2 or level 4?

I don't think there are levels above 3 when it comes to politics.  Well, I think I'm at level 3, so I would think that, won't I?     In theory he could be level 20, but I guess everyone at some point has to take it on faith that they're at the highest level there is.

  Well, that's not very reassuring.

Fools often tend to think they're the smartest people around.  Smart people tend to realize that there's always someone smarter then them out there somewhere.

I consider myself a pretty smart guy.  IRL, I've know several people who are smarter than me.  Here on Languish, there are several posters I figure are roughly as smart as I am, and some that may be smarter.  You're not one of 'em.