Everybody wants to call themselves something or be a part of some group. I guess that's how human nature works. But that doesn't mean that whatever group you're part of or what opinions you hold really matter. I argue that much of what people believe doesn't matter at all, either because they don't act on their beliefs, or the ideas they hold simply have no practical bearing on everyday life.

One of the brightest students I met was a hardcore Communist. Every day in class he wore a Lenin suit with the Soviet symbol. Eventually we had a chat and it turned out he was both very friendly and intellectually sharp. When it came down to it, it didn't really matter that I was on the opposite side of the political scale; we pretty much reached the same conclusions about society, and agreed on similar philosophical conclusions.

If you believe evil polar bears are secretly controlling the world, why should I care? If you're friendly, I'll still like you. If you're a dumbass, you're dumb either way.

To be certain, people in general take their beliefs very seriously. I've been attacked several times for the opinions I express publically, but this has less to do with politics and more to do with human psychology. People want to fit in and if they see someone that doesn't, that's a threat to their homogeneous views. And so that person is attacked until it caves in or runs off. It's one of the most horrific features of crowdism, but if you truly understand how pointless it is to go around caring about what other people say or believe, you'll start to look at outcomes, e.g. what really goes on in reality. Let's leave the rest to our dreams.