a careful perfection

Everything is so carefully chosen & worn; and yet it requires a certain nonchalance. The clothing implies an attitude; it would look strange if worn in too formal and stiff a manner. The tie and waistcoat and jacket already look quite inflexible, and so the achievement is to wear such a careful assemblage without undue fuss, to lean against railings, to have a hand in one pocket; to look quite flexible & at ease, or as in this case to be contemplating some distant prospect, no doubt the chap above is thinking about Wittgenstein’s later philosophy and so appears quite removed from the carapace of his clothing.

The clothing also invites the prospect of fluidity; I immediately wonder, What would it look like when he moves? Would it tug at the midriff? If he reached into a pocket for his pipe and lighter, would it look suave or awkward? Would he be able to deal out justice to a pack of wandering migrants or chavs?

when the consensus doesn’t hold

Good video by Morgoth:

It seems human nature to observe and then follow the consensus. Women, especially, are tribal conformist creatures, as multiple studies and the experience of the ages have demonstrated. I’ve lost track of how many German cows I’ve seen with a dreadful Louis Vuitton bag on the train:

– women especially don’t acquire things because of any inherent value, but because women like Meghan Markle have one, and they want to be just like her. It is natural, then, that the Government would create a “we fear reprisals against the Muslim community!” narrative; because if the NPCs see it on TV, they will parrot “the worst thing about this Truck of Peace attack is that innocent Muslims will certainly be targeted by the far-right. Nigel Farage, who is a racist, is probably stabbing innocent Muslim babies.”

It is effective. However, since it is not even remotely true, the natural human tendency to notice patterns (e.g. that most crime is committed by dark-skinned immigrants or children thereof) will lead to a certain cognitive dissonance. When a NPC begins to question the fabricated consensus, because it is so unified & internally coherent, it will collapse all at once in his mind. And then he will most likely go to the other extreme.