e.g. if an otherwise smart person feels they can kill another person with impunity when they do not agree with a view of the world, that certainly looks crazy and irrational and deserves exile.
This is the common view held by most politicians and celebrity commentators and influencers, not to mention their armies of foot soldiers. I'm not saying these people are being paid well to cover something up. I am saying they are also 'agentic' just like those they claim on the other side are also agentic without yet understanding what the means.
This is a classic observation of 'an object fact of the collective psyche '- for you such an observed fact cannot be seen in the broad light of day because the activity has been rendered deep into the unconscious, by you. It's no use saying "I do not do that" because you do not even know that you do not do it. I paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld here and the 'unknown unknowns'.
See if you can get your head around this theory. It will likely be the first time you've had to consider it. But do not dismiss it out of hand just because of that! Take The Orwell Test beforehand to prepare yourself for some forbidden knowledge. You do not have to do any of this. But I ask you: do you really want to know? If the answer is no, then that is fine, proceed as normal no harm done.
Let us go:
Have you considered the possibility that your political opponents are 'agentic'. That is to say, obedient instruments of authority? Yet are not really aware of it, due to having been buried deep inside the walls of their own ideology for a long time.
To understand this theory you have to consider another possibility - we all live our lives within our own story - a view of the world which we find cosy and want to be true, yet is usually untrue. Why would we choose to live that fantasy? Because it's easier to throw our own obligations and duties onto a master of some kind, 'out there', either real life or metaphysical, than it is to carry out these duties locally, internally and with honour.
To act with honour, in the world, is an extremely hard act for anyone. And the temptation offered by a protectionist master is an attractive and cosy escape route. The key benefit is you can make this escape and no one will know. Even you will soon forget that you have done it by making it into an unconscious activity. An unknown, unknown. You will have created your new world and it will now belong to you and all that goes on in it. But you will have done it nonetheless. You can only escape it in theory. You cannot escape something you have actually done in reality. Will the watchman who watches the watchmen, charge for that eventually?
So, when our most loved commentators suggest our opponents are irrational, crazy or similar, to believe them will be a terrible mistake because they're reinforcing the escape you have already made - it means you too can all escape from your own obligations and duties for a little bit longer, all backed by the experts helping us to close ranks with others also making the escape. An obedient army of agents signalling loyalty to authority. On all sides of the political war game. And no one is even aware of it happening.
Your political opponents can be highly intelligent, have proper morals and be 'successful'. While appearing irrational. If the largest factor driving their behaviour is 'obedience' to the hierarchy of their 'tribe'. Meaning even though they have all these high qualities, they still appear to be acting irrationally and making bot-like decisions.
The only thing making your opponents appear irrational to you is that their own story is not your story. All else is equal. Given you cannot see your own self hypnosis, this will not be a visible possibility for you. Access to the key to unlock what you locked up already is like reversing a 256 bit hash - possible, but not really in 'this imaginary universe' you have created.
Think about it - if these opponents are in an 'agentic state' this does not make them irrational actors, per se. It makes them highly rational. Because they know for certain from decades of interacting socially, that if they signal obedience to authority well enough and better than the rest, they will climb their particular social hierarchy, more than any other activity will help them to rise - even more than abstract principles such as morals, patriotism and planet saving.
So it is highly rational to act as the hand, not the brain - as an agent or instrument of authority by signalling obedience to it. It is not in the least bit irrational. They are not crazy actors. This is not a simulation. It is an absolute material world activity playing out predictably and as expected. But you can only see this cause and effect if you can look into the possibility that you yourself are also in the agentic state and are acutely aware of it - you have taken The Orwell Test and passed it. You have brought your shadow out into the light for observation, after its long pleading with you to do it. My goodness it will be angry with you for the solitary confinement you imposed on it. And you will project this anger onto your opponents to try and get rid of the gut feeling of course - a tell tale sign it is happening.
The apparent paradox of The Orwell Test is that you can only know that you have passed it. You cannot know if you have failed it. If you fail it, you will not know you have failed it - it is an unknown unknown still, and you will dismiss the test as BS, walk away from it and continue as an obedient instrument appearing to be a bot in a simulation, or a crazy irrational fool to your political opponents.
This theory will be extraordinarily hard for anyone to accept is possible. Because we all belong to our own tribe and pay respect to the authority in it as a first duty because of the rewards it offers. It is hard because we can only see ourselves doing it by making an extraordinary effort while looking in the mirror - losing the protection of an all powerful master, means freedom from slavery to the extent you allow it to happen. I laugh about the identity crisis which thrives on so called slavery, it's such a tiny insignificant issue relatively, when 99.999% of all people are in abject slavery at the deepest level...today, right under our noses.
The effort to gain freedom is unbearably hard because freedom comes with no more protection from the world or any kind of Master. If you cross over into the forbidden zone you will now be autonomous. There are no longer any guarantees, no insurance. And it is not a round trip journey, it is one way you cannot come back once you have decided. You will be leaving everything you loved and cherished behind, forever. How you now act in the real world you have just entered is 'on you' absolutely and nature will treat you with no more justice than she treats a rock. You are now the re-creator of the world you live in. No longer an agent of superior forces giving you permission to kill with impunity. You are now the brain, AND the hand. You are now autonomous.
Do you still want to go there? I totally understand that few people knowing this will want to cross over and enter. We all know this by intuition. We all create a pantomime to cover up our lack of honour and courage. Do you remember in ancient history how the primordial tribes prior to the formation of society used to select their leader from the one who was always found at the front of every battle or wild animal attack? These 'noble lords' do not last long. Yet they are honoured highly by every descendant for eternity. And in rituals we have always eaten their body and drunk their blood, in remembrance.
Today, whence the hero's?
Think now about the wild animal as being the dragon that one day all of us must face, either today or a nano second before we return to the dust. We all must face the dragon, in the end. Better sooner than later?
So why would anyone undertake such a journey and cross over into the forbidden zone? Because it sends a new kind of signal to the world - that just like the warrior lord, you are now ready to 'enter'. You have chosen autonomously to become ready to move onto the higher ground, and wherever that may lead you are going with it, fully, never to turn back and become a pillar of salt. You are curious. You are deadly serious about your life and the world you affect with it. You finally want to Know. That is why. Finally you have decided to signal your authentic self to the tribe and not a master in authority.
Until then you must accept that obedience trumps abstract principles by far for the vast majority of people and most people will remain loyal actors to a protective father figure - your Master.
But there is nothing special about someone who wants to make this final journey to cross over and enter. There are no rewards for it. You cannot earn it. Nor can you buy a ticket. You do it because you want to Know. That is all.
So to call your political opponents who are acting apparently irrationally - robots, is not unreasonable at all. A metaphor like 'robot' is a much better way to describe them because a metaphor conveys meaning far more successfully that plain or scientific language. Why do you think all the zombie films are so popular? They convey perfect meaning for the 'undead' - criminal actors who simply will not go away no matter how many times you kill them.
See here for more detail: The 450 Volt Truth