one microcosm of mainstream conservatism’s failure is their love of “think tanks” as an innovative response to hostile academia. the left took over the university, so the right responded by creating the think tank. so the story goes. “a university without students”

putting out policy papers is great and all, but it kind of misses the point. demographics are destiny not only on a national level, but also when crafting an elite. winning “the battle of ideas” has little to do with acquiring and wielding power - ultimately a religious exercise

the same normie conservative who calls america a “propositional nation” believes that a “university without students” can succeed because “we have better ideas.” but the students are in great measure the point. the next generation of elites who staff government, media, ngos, etc

so while the think tank plays around with facts, the university has a monopoly on values - which are more important. values frame how facts may be ascertained, which facts are morally acceptable, when and how facts may be used. being an elite means internalizing these values

one of moldbug’s most important lines is that “the sovereign is he who selects the null hypothesis.” notice that despite everyone’s direct experience, the university is always “neutral” while think tanks are by definition “ideological.” notice who gets to define base truth.

the liberal sophist’s constant refrain: “do you have a study?” is a shell game because “studies” only occur within the context of a wider epistemological and moral framing. what does it mean to ask for “a study” to show that, e.g. men are not women? it means “bend the knee”

the important disagreements are in the end always about what constitutes valid knowledge. a nonliberal is by definition a troglodyte when first principles reasoning, tradition, beauty, and so on are denigrated as sources of truth. only the word of "our institutions" is acceptable

leaving aside whether masks or mask mandates are good, the differing attitudes toward masks over this year demonstrate it well. wearing masks was low status conspiracy theorizing until the institutions changed their mind, at which point it was eternally true and morally necessary

at least, from the perspective of right-thinking high-status (power serving) opinion. a priori thinkers, on the other hand, are unlikely to have changed their mind about the underlying usefulness of masks. but at no point could "a study" have made a difference one way or another.

this is why the "think tank mindset" is a dead end. it misapprehends the nature of power. the "battle of ideas" is a meaningless sideshow when the terms on which it is fought are set elsewhere. it is a fiction. appealing because of its simplicity but always won or lost in advance

studies are edicts. the think tank conservative is like someone who notices that the king issues edicts and determines that if he starts issuing edicts as well, he will therefore be a king. modus pwnens. the power of the university has always lain elsewhere.

until the conservative rejects the very foundation of institutional truth and builds his own, until he starts molding generations of elites in his image, until he is neutral and his enemies the ideologues, he will continue to lose. and a whole think tank battalion won't fix that.