The marriage of irony and sincerity helps us to take the perspectives of others: the racist, the exaggerated feminist, the conservative. Each ironic position you play with is simultaneously saturated with sincerity, which means that you can honestly be with their feelings and values while still being in opposition to them. This saves a lot energy that would otherwise be expended on anger and resentment and it helps creating mutual understanding or even unexpected alliances and synergies. It helps you play the game of politics. Strangely, it is much easier to defeat someone if you honestly care
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