December 15, 2024 @ 03:42 Original Source: - [Epistemic Exhaustion and the Retention of Power (2024)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/hypatia/article/epistemic-exhaustion-and-the-retention-of-power/D53FD093288CDC9DAAB02DE4C0740ACE) by Mart Satta and published by Cambridge University Press on March 21, 2024 ## Epistemic Exhaustion Epistemic Exhaustion is a term used by Mark Satta in [a paper he wrote](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/hypatia/article/epistemic-exhaustion-and-the-retention-of-power/D53FD093288CDC9DAAB02DE4C0740ACE) to describe a feeling of cognitive fatigue generated by efforts to determine, retain, or communicate what one believes under conditions that make doing so especially taxing. This fatigue typically comes from a combination of engaging in epistemic activities, which are behaviors involved in investigating, analyzing, communicating, or advocating for beliefs, and environmental factors and conditions that make doing so especially taxing, exhausting, and difficult. This combination of factors increases the cognitive burden to a point of rendering participants into a state of total cognitive exhaustion. Some indicators of epistemic exhaustion include: - Finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on certain epistemic activities - Finding that epistemic activities that used to feel attainable, enjoyable, or worthwhile now feel unattainable, unenjoyable, or not worthwhile - Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of undertaking epistemic activities that you once found manageable - Feeling detached from or apathetic about epistemic matters you once cared deeply about - Feeling significantly more stressed, pessimistic, or hopeless about your epistemic condition, the epistemic condition of others, or the prospect of successfully engaging in certain epistemic activities when compared to your previous attitudes on such matters - Becoming less effective at certain epistemic activities because you rapidly fatigue, easily become overwhelmed, or are pessimistic about your prospects of success - Becoming less tolerant of those who hold opposing views - Experiencing burnout in connection with certain epistemic activities Note that this list is not exhaustive, nor is it criteria for a diagnosis of epistemic exhaustion (or any other condition). --- A society that is highly polarized and/or oppressed is likely to develop widespread epistemic exhaustion amongst those that live there. Mark Satta, in his paper, argues that epistemic exhaustion is a tool that can be and is weaponized by powerful groups and individuals to remain in power. Epistemic exhaustion tends to be a powerful deterrent to the very ideas and actions that would threaten powerful, entrenched leaders. It is undeniable that myself and a vast portion of the electorate in the United States are experiencing epistemic exhaustion due the widespread tolerance and complicity of Trump's twisting, distorting, and devaluing of not only expert opinion and sources of authority on virtually every subject, but also truth itself. Nearly half of the country is existing and interfacing in an entirely separate epistemic reality than the other - one where Trump actually won the 2020 election but had victory stolen from him through widespread (and nonexistent) voter fraud perpetuated by the Democratic Party during COVID (and we won't even got into the COVID conspiracies, good Lord). --- Notable Citations - Time the time and effort to correct misinformation Used/Referenced in: - What Is Wrong With Everyone? - Related Notes: Epistemic Exhaustion (Notations)