--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations…" description: "\"“As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom, the eventual result was an anything-goes relativism that extends beyond religion to almost e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg" --- # As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom… ![“As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom, the eventual result was an anything-goes relativism that extends beyond religion to almost every kind of passionate belief: If I think it’s true, no matter why or how I think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell me otherwise…” quote by Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg) > ““As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom, the eventual result was an anything-goes relativism that extends beyond religion to almost every kind of passionate belief: If I think it’s true, no matter why or how I think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell me otherwise. That’s the real-life reductio ad absurdum of American individualism. And it would become a credo of Fantasyland.”” [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive relativism leads to a belief that any personal truth is untouchable, eroding shared standards and fostering a fantasy of absolute individualism. **In simple terms:** Too much relativism harms shared truth. Key Takeaway Question assumptions, seek common ground. Themes relativism individualism truth culture Mood critical thought‑provoking Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political debate - education - media consumption - personal belief formation Key Concepts epistemology social critique Questions to Reflect On - What truths do you hold despite popular opinion? - How can societies balance individual freedom with shared standards? A Different Perspective Relativism can protect minority perspectives from oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Relativism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relativism/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [“Conservatives are correct in pointing out that the anything-goes relativism of the campuses wasn’t sequestered there, but when it flowed out across America, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/conservatives-are-correct-in-pointing-out-that-the-anything-goes/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“We Filipinos are individualistic in a different way from American individualism. Our individualism is selfish. And individualism ng Americans, iba-- iyong liberty, iyong freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teodoro-a-agoncillo/we-filipinos-are-individualistic-in-a-different-way-from-american/) [Teodoro A. Agoncillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teodoro-a-agoncillo/) > [Our individualism is rooted in our very nature. It is based on conviction born of experience. Equal opportunity, the demand for a fair chance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/our-individualism-is-rooted-in-our-very-nature-it-is-based-on/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [The real Jack Johnson was both more and less than those who loved or those who hated him ever knew. He embodied American individualism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-ward/the-real-jack-johnson-was-both-more-and-less-than-those-who-loved-or/) [Geoffrey Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-ward/) > [“The call to level the playing field, pushed to its logical conclusion, is a call for the systematic subversion of American individualism and democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-horowitz/the-call-to-level-the-playing-field-pushed-to-its-logical-conclusion/) [David Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-horowitz/) > [American individualism, much celebrated and cherished, has developed without its essential corrective, which is belonging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/american-individualism-much-celebrated-and-cherished-has-developed/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Joan played den mother to the rebirth of American individualism. That she filled that role for so many is why I am grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-murray/joan-played-den-mother-to-the-rebirth-of-american-individualism-that/) [Charles Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-murray/) > [“The French visitor to America Alexis de Tocqueville, writing in the 1830s, described the connection between American individualism and historical amnesia: Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fea/the-french-visitor-to-america-alexis-de-tocqueville-writing-in-the/) [John Fea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fea/) > [“Extreme religious and quasi-religious beliefs and practices, Christian and New Age and otherwise, didn’t subside but grew and thrived—and came to seem unexceptional. Relativism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/extreme-religious-and-quasi-religious-beliefs-and-practices-christian/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“Moral relativism,” Colin said. “No it’s not. I don’t think God gives a shit if we have a dog or if a woman wears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moral-relativism-colin-said-no-it-s-not-i-don-t-think-god-gives-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Men tend to be more orthodox in belief. Their concern for the rules keeps a congregation from drifting toward mushy moral relativism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-murrow/men-tend-to-be-more-orthodox-in-belief-their-concern-for-the-rules/) [David Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-murrow/) > [“How could they be so certain of the superiority of their truths when they knew so little, if anything at all, about other cultures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-shafak/how-could-they-be-so-certain-of-the-superiority-of-their-truths-when/) [Elif Shafak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-shafak/) > [“The cold logic of mid-twentieth-century atheism has now given way to an era of renewed 'spirituality,' but it is an awakening more thrapeutic than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-mark-bertrand/the-cold-logic-of-mid-twentieth-century-atheism-has-now-given-way-to/) [J. Mark Bertrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-mark-bertrand/) > [Conceptual relativism is a heady and exotic doctrine, or would be if we could make good sense of it. The trouble is, as so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-davidson/conceptual-relativism-is-a-heady-and-exotic-doctrine-or-would-be-if/) [Donald Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-davidson/) > [“Are decisions really products of analysis of a situation; or are simply out of preconceived notions? I believe, at some point of one's existence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ldr/are-decisions-really-products-of-analysis-of-a-situation-or-are/) ldR ## More by Kurt Andersen > [“Since the turn of the century, American fundamentalists had reveled in their sense of persecution by an infidel elite, but in the 1960s the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/since-the-turn-of-the-century-american-fundamentalists-had-reveled-in/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“If I think it’s true, no matter why or how I think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell me otherwise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/if-i-think-it-s-true-no-matter-why-or-how-i-think-it-s-true-then-it-s/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“Libertarianism used to have a robust left wing as well. Both disliked government. Both were driven by a fantastically nostalgic conviction that a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/libertarianism-used-to-have-a-robust-left-wing-as-well-both-disliked/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“But what other place on Earth has been more congenial to believers and promoters of mad dreams and schemes of so many kinds? California…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/but-what-other-place-on-earth-has-been-more-congenial-to-believers/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“The antisharia movement lobbied states to pass statutes and constitutional amendments banning the use of sharia in their courts and legal systems, a fantasy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/the-antisharia-movement-lobbied-states-to-pass-statutes-and/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [I'm comparing Americans to international peers in terms of GDP, educational system - the sort of benchmarks we used to designate a so-called developed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/i-m-comparing-americans-to-international-peers-in-terms-of-gdp/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [TED was simply wonderful, an intellectual spa, a 21st-century Chataqua, superb and singular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/ted-was-simply-wonderful-an-intellectual-spa-a-21st-century-chataqua/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“The early advocates of universal literacy and a free press…did not foresee…the development of a vast mass communications industry, concerned in the main neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/the-early-advocates-of-universal-literacy-and-a-free-press-did-not/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“EVEN PAUL GOODMAN, beloved by young leftists in the 1960s, was flabbergasted by his students in 1969. “There was no knowledge,” he wrote, “only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/even-paul-goodman-beloved-by-young-leftists-in-the-1960s-was/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“IN ADDITION TO having become a distinctly Christian party, the GOP is more than ever America’s self-consciously white party. The nationalization of its Southern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/in-addition-to-having-become-a-distinctly-christian-party-the-gop-is/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“Sixteen hundred years ago Saint Augustine instructed, basically, Don’t be stupid. “Shall we say, then,” he wrote about Genesis, “there was such a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/sixteen-hundred-years-ago-saint-augustine-instructed-basically-don-t/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“After more than three decades and many hundreds of studies, the overwhelming scientific consensus is that GMO foods are safe to eat. The National…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/after-more-than-three-decades-and-many-hundreds-of-studies-the/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“P. T. Barnum was the great early American merchandiser of exciting secular fantasies and half-truths. His extremely successful precircus career derived from and fed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/p-t-barnum-was-the-great-early-american-merchandiser-of-exciting/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [I am proud to be American. We wouldn't have our big dreams without this quality, but if we can't agree on the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/i-am-proud-to-be-american-we-wouldn-t-have-our-big-dreams-without/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [“In 1848 the Homeopathic Medical College was founded in Philadelphia, eventually becoming the Drexel University College of Medicine. Homeopathic M.D. degrees were issued by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/in-1848-the-homeopathic-medical-college-was-founded-in-philadelphia/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) [Explore all 83 Kurt Andersen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Keep the faith, and keep going strong!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doreen-virtue/keep-the-faith-and-keep-going-strong/) [Doreen Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doreen-virtue/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Holiness sincerity, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/holiness-sincerity-and-faith/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The only limitations for your life are the limiting beliefs in your mind. —Matt Morris”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-morris-1/the-only-limitations-for-your-life-are-the-limiting-beliefs-in-your/) Matt Morris (1 > [“Just because your faith is shaken doesn’t mean the faith is shaken. The eternal truths of the Kingdom aren’t altered or affected by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-arthur/just-because-your-faith-is-shaken-doesn-t-mean-the-faith-is-shaken/) [Sarah Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-arthur/) > [Grit, determination, the right amount of crazy, self belief - everything it takes to be a champion. I have that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dustin-poirier/grit-determination-the-right-amount-of-crazy-self-belief-everything/) [Dustin Poirier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dustin-poirier/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Once you pull the trigger, you've got to throw balls aggressively and with conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-smith/once-you-pull-the-trigger-you-ve-got-to-throw-balls-aggressively-and/) [Alex Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-smith/) [Browse all 37,796 Faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom, the eventual result was an anything-goes relativism that extends beyond religion to almost every kind of passionate belief: If I think it’s true, no matter why or how I think it’s true, then it’s true, and nobody can tell me otherwise. That’s the real-life reductio ad absurdum of American individualism. And it would become a credo of Fantasyland.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kurt Andersen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations-of-reality-bloom-the-eventual/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Faith" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations-of-reality-bloom-the-eventual/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/kurt-andersen-8221_faith_as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations_1265920.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As we let a hundred dogmatic iterations of reality bloom, the eventual result was an anything-goes…” — Kurt Andersen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kurt Andersen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As we let a hundred dogmatic...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations-of-reality-bloom-the-eventual/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/as-we-let-a-hundred-dogmatic-iterations-of-reality-bloom-the-eventual/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```