Losing Faith In Contrarianism

When too many people try to adopt the contrarian position at once, it’s no longer contrarian. Mavericks become the new consensus-following herd. If everyone tries to outsmart each other by adopting novel or obscure contrarian positions, it leads to player-versus-player environments where the froth and chop of memetic war makes winning even harder.

When too many people try to adopt the contrarian position at once, it’s no longer contrarian. Mavericks become the new consensus-following herd. If everyone tries to outsmart each other by adopting novel or obscure contrarian positions, it leads to player-versus-player environments where the froth and chop of memetic war makes winning even harder.

A contrarian isn’t one who always takes the opposite path just for the sake of it. That is simply a conformist of a different sort. A true contrarian is one who reasons independently, from the ground up, based on factual data, and resists pressure to conform.

Windsor did not achieve superior results by going against the grain at every chance. Stubborn, knee-jerk contrarians follow a recipe forcatastrophe. Savvy contrarians keep their minds open, leavened by a sense of history and a sense of humor.

This gives us the first rule of thumb for contrarianism: if your society engages in practices which cause harm to others, and offers elaborate reasons as to why this is justifiable, that’s where you might investigate the claims of the fringe weirdos.

• People can disagree with it, like the thesis of a persuasive essay. It’s debatable.


• Something you truly believe and can advocate for. Before future investors, customers, and team members do, you have to have personal conviction in it. And you have to believe people will be better