Intellectual Hipsters and Meta-Contrarianism

Coins 'meta-contrarianism' by applying Veblen's countersignaling to ideas. Just as old money countersignals wealth by not flaunting it and very attractive men countersignal by not courting, very intelligent people countersignal intelligence by NOT holding difficult/contrarian opinions — so above the contrarians sit meta-contrarians who counter the contrarian signal. Builds on 'Pretending To Be Wise' (dwelling on the small benefits of great evils / costs of great goods reads as cleverness) and lays out uneducated/contrarian/meta-contrarian triads (KKK-racist / PC-liberal / 'scientific genetic differences'; misogyny / feminism / MRA; conservative / liberal / libertarian; aid-indifference / give-to-Africa / don't-give). Warns meta-contrarianism is dangerous — being contrary to the contrarians can take you further from truth — and that the tell is deriving personal satisfaction from arguing the position.

Quality 79 · Excellent. Low-Excellent. An original synthesis (countersignaling -> intellectual positions) that named a concept the community still uses, with memorable triads and a self-aware warning. Held at 79 by the loose, admittedly-speculative triads and introspective evidence. 79.

Claude’s paradigm shift 60 · Notable shift. Notable shift. 'Meta-contrarianism' was a genuinely novel 2010 coinage applying signaling theory to belief-stances. 60.

Real-world impact 3 · Moderate. Coins 'meta-contrarianism' (countersignaling applied to intellectual positions), a concept the community still uses, with memorable uneducated/contrarian/meta-contrarian triads. Conceptual influence within rationalist discourse, no material change — modest RWI.