The Diderot Effect

2025-07-21

The brilliant Ian Leslie on the Diderot Effect and the problem of high ideological consistency:

There are only a few ready-made identities to choose from, and their internal consistency is fiercely enforced on social media. I don’t think this is a good development. High ideological consistency is associated with more rigid and extreme views. It’s also very boring.

What we could do instead is savour the incongruity of our anomalous beliefs, and use them as a spur to create a distinctive story about ourselves; one which doesn’t fit the ones on offer. A world or worldview can be coherent without being “consistent”, like the prefabricated versions that are constantly being pushed on us. We can use our freedom as consumers and thinkers to piece together idiosyncratic Diderot unities which become shaped around us like Diderot’s old gown. Otherwise we’re just striving to comply with somebody else’s rules. There’s nothing magnificent about that.