the.com/extremism
The belief that the other side is too extreme, so logic no longer applies.
means Holding ideas or pursuing methods so far outside the mainstream that most people consider them dangerous or unreasonable.
from Built from 'extreme,' from Latin 'extremus,' the superlative of 'exter' ('outer') — literally 'outermost.' The '-ism' was bolted on in the 19th century to name it as an ideology rather than just a position, turning 'being at the far edge' into 'a creed about staying there.'
- origin shift
- once meant mathematical limits, not politics
- relative label
- nobody self-identifies as extreme, only others are
- horseshoe theory
- far left and far right agree on more than they admit
- radicalization path
- usually gradual, not a sudden conversion