Ditch the Unity Myth: Epistemic Wilderness Survival

The source introduces the concept of the **epistemic wilderness**, arguing that society is not a unified whole but a complex landscape characterized by deep cognitive diversity. It explains that individuals possess highly divergent **epistemic postures**—their stances toward truth and evidence—which are partly rooted in **neurobiological** differences, leading some toward cooperative inquiry and others toward adversarial reasoning. The text critiques the political myth of a singular "people," asserting that this fiction ignores genuine **cognitive diversity** and allows dissent to be pathologized as disloyalty or deviance. Navigating this complexity requires **epistemic maturity**, demanding the abandonment of comforting unity fantasies despite the psychological discomfort they provide. The essay advocates for developing **epistemic hygiene**—habits that promote clarity—in order to manage misinterpretation and manipulation within this heterogeneous human condition.