This has been one of the top 10 stories in the news for over a month. But as a mindless drone, you weren't programmed to be aware of it. The party does your thinking for you.
Indeed. It's called "received wisdom". It's common among lefties, and there's nothing "wise" about it.
Received wisdom refers to the body of ideas, beliefs, norms, knowledge, or “folk wisdom” that a group, organization, or society generally accepts as true or authoritative—often without direct personal verification, critical examination, or firsthand evidence.
It is knowledge imparted by others and taken as given, typically transmitted through tradition, authority, tenacity (repeated exposure until acceptance), social consensus, or modeling.
It is closely related to (and sometimes used interchangeably with) "conventional wisdom" (e.g. "we all know/everybody knows")
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Importantly, received wisdom is not inherently accurate; it can contain useful practical knowledge, outdated assumptions, or outright falsehoods that persist because they feel familiar, socially reinforced, or tied to group belonging.
Connection to Social Learning
Social learning (most classically associated with Albert Bandura’s work, but also studied in evolutionary, cultural, and developmental psychology) is the process by which individuals acquire behaviors, attitudes, skills, values, and knowledge by observing others, imitating models, noting the consequences of actions (vicarious reinforcement), and participating in social interactions—rather than relying solely on direct personal trial-and-error.
Received wisdom is a primary content and outcome of social learning:
- It is transmitted through observation, modeling, teaching, storytelling, norms, and group practices.
- Less intelligent people often adopt it via copying high-status individuals, conforming to the majority, or deferring to so-called experts/authorities.
- Once accepted, it becomes part of the shared cultural knowledge or organizational culture that new members absorb, helping coordinate behavior and transmit practices across generations or groups (sometimes called the “ratchet effect” of cumulative culture).
- It can be adaptive (efficiently spreading useful skills or norms) or maladaptive (propagating myths, biases, or groupthink when critical evaluation is weak).
In short, social learning is a key mechanism by which received wisdom spreads and stabilizes; received wisdom is much of the what is socially learned and then treated as settled truth.
Why It Matters
- Efficiency: Relying on received wisdom lets people skip costly individual experimentation.
- Social cohesion: Shared accepted beliefs support group identity and coordination.
- Risks: It can resist updating when new evidence appears, contribute to pluralistic ignorance or conformity pressures, and embed inaccurate assumptions (e.g., organizational “that’s how we’ve always done it” rules, or cultural myths).
I don't recall any JPP lefties practicing what science calls healthy social learning.
In practice, healthy social learning involves not only absorbing received wisdom but also selectively evaluating models, testing claims against experience or evidence, and updating when warranted—balancing social transmission with individual discernment.