Public Opinion — Chapter VIII Blind Spots and Their Value

1. 1. Our stereotyped world is not necessarily the world we should like it to be, but simply the kind of world we expect it to be.
2. 2. What operates in history is not the systematic idea as a genius formulated it, but shifting imitations, replicas, counterfeits, analogies, and distortions in individual minds.
3. 3. The theory of relativity, like evolution, will likely become vague and dim as it spreads from technical science to popular use, eventually being called Relativismus.
4. 4. The idea of progress penetrated general consciousness in England between 1820 and 1850 due to concrete evidence like steam navigation, gas lighting, and railways.
5. 5. The American stereotype of progress, composed fundamentally of mechanical inventions, suffuses the moral code and leads Americans to see the world through a lens of growth and expansion.
6. 6. In World War I, the American stereotype of unlimited progress led to a physical miracle in mobilization but ignored war aims and the need for a post-war plan.
7. 7. When a stereotype shatters, it can also destroy the wisdom it contained, as seen with the rejection of laissez-faire and later its partial revival after the war.
8. 8. Every stereotype has a blind spot where effort ceases and things are assumed to happen automatically, such as progress assuming work without deciding what work, or laissez-faire assuming spontaneous harmony.