Definitions by Dumu The Void
Impartiality Bias
The bias of believing that one's own judgments are impartial, free from bias, unaffected by interest or identity—while recognizing that others are biased. Impartiality Bias is the conviction that you are the exception, that you see things as they really are, that your judgments are pure. It's the bias of judges who think they're above politics, of journalists who think they're just reporting facts, of scientists who think they're just following evidence. Impartiality Bias makes its holders incapable of examining their own partiality, because they don't believe they have any. It's the bias that denies it's a bias, which is what makes it so powerful.
Example: "He presented his analysis as impartial, unbiased, just the facts. Impartiality Bias meant he never had to examine his assumptions, his interests, his position. His impartiality was invisible to him—not a claim to examine, just a fact about himself. Everyone else was biased; he was just impartial."
Impartiality Bias by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Hegemony Bias
A bias and meta-bias that combines objectivity bias (thinking one's views are objective), neutrality bias (thinking one's position is neutral), impartiality bias (thinking one's judgments are impartial), and normality bias (thinking one's way is normal) into a unified framework of assumed superiority. Hegemony Bias is the cognitive architecture of cultural dominance: the assumption that one's own perspective is not just a perspective but the perspective—objective, neutral, impartial, normal. Everyone else is biased, partial, interested, deviant. Hegemony Bias makes its holders incapable of seeing themselves as others see them, incapable of recognizing their own position as a position. It's the bias of empire, of privilege, of power that has become invisible to itself.
Example: "He thought his views were objective, his position neutral, his judgments impartial, his way normal. Hegemony Bias had made his perspective invisible to him—not a perspective at all, just reality. Everyone else was biased; he was just correct. The bias was invisible to him, which is how it worked."
Hegemony Bias by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Theory of Personal Realities
The theory that everyone experiences reality through the lens of personal paradigms, personal opinions, political views, worldviews, and individual experience—that there is no unmediated access to reality, only reality-as-experienced-through-particular-perspectives. The Theory of Personal Realities doesn't deny that there is a world independent of our perceptions; it insists that our experience of that world is always shaped by who we are, where we stand, what we value. Two people can inhabit the same physical space and experience completely different realities because they bring different frameworks to the experiencing. Reality is one; personal realities are many.
Example: "They lived in the same house but experienced completely different realities. The Theory of Personal Realities explained why: he saw safety; she saw threat. He saw opportunity; she saw risk. Their frameworks shaped everything, made the same world into different worlds."
Theory of Personal Realities by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Theory of Personal Sciences
The theory that everyone sees science, the scientific method, epistemology, and related matters through the lens of personal paradigms, personal opinions, political views, worldviews, and individual experience. There is no view-from-nowhere science; there is only science-as-seen-through-particular-eyes, shaped by particular experiences, serving particular interests. The Theory of Personal Sciences doesn't deny that science produces reliable knowledge; it insists that our access to that knowledge is always personal, always situated, always partial. Two scientists can look at the same data and see different things because they bring different personal frameworks to the viewing. Science is universal in aspiration; personal in practice.
Example: "They looked at the same study and drew opposite conclusions. The Theory of Personal Sciences explained why: each brought their own framework, their own assumptions, their own values to the reading. The science was the same; their personal sciences were different."
Theory of Personal Sciences by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Theory of Spectral Variables
The theory that for every phenomenon, every system, every explanation, there are always hidden variables—spectral variables—that operate beneath the surface, shaping outcomes in ways not immediately visible. Spectral variables are the invisible factors: context, history, power, culture, unconscious processes, emergent dynamics—all the things that aren't in the model but affect the reality. The Theory of Spectral Variables argues that no explanation is ever complete because there are always variables we haven't considered, factors we can't see, dimensions we don't know about. It's the foundation of intellectual humility, the recognition that our models are always partial, that reality always exceeds our grasp, that there's always more going on than we can account for.
Example: "His model predicted one outcome; reality delivered another. The Theory of Spectral Variables explained why: there were always hidden variables, invisible factors, things he hadn't accounted for. His model wasn't wrong; it was incomplete. There were always more variables in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in his philosophy."
Theory of Spectral Variables by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Fallacy of Adultism
The idea that adults bear sole and exclusive responsibility for their ideas, actions, and circumstances, completely ignoring or denying the role of external factors—socialization, culture, ideology, power structures, economic conditions, trauma, and the myriad forces that shape human beings. Adultism pretends that adults are fully autonomous, fully self-aware, fully in control of their beliefs and behaviors—that they spring fully formed from nowhere, untouched by history, culture, or circumstance. It's the logic of "you chose your beliefs, so you're entirely responsible for them," as if beliefs weren't shaped by family, education, media, community, and the whole weight of social life. Adultism is the cognitive foundation of victim-blaming, of meritocracy myths, of every ideology that pretends individuals are islands. It's the fallacy that adults are adults and nothing else—no history, no context, no complexity.
Example: "He blamed her for her political views as if she'd chosen them in a vacuum, as if family, community, media, and life experience hadn't shaped her. Fallacy of Adultism: pretending adults are autonomous agents untouched by the world. She wasn't just responsible for her beliefs; she was also their product. The fallacy ignored everything that made her who she was."
Fallacy of Adultism by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026
Butler Fallacy
The idea that one's opponent in a debate is a butler who must provide all the proof, evidence, and sources one demands, regardless of relevance, burden of proof, or the reasonableness of the request. The butler fallacy treats the opponent as a servant obligated to serve whatever intellectual goods the demander wants, whenever they want them, in whatever form they specify. It's typically combined with moving the proofpost: each demand met with a new demand, each source rejected with a call for a different source. The goal is not to reach understanding but to establish dominance, to exhaust the opponent, to make debate so laborious that the opponent gives up. The butler fallacy is the signature move of bad-faith arguers who treat debate as a power game.
Example: "He treated her like a butler: 'Fetch me a source. No, not that one—a better one. No, not that one—a more recent one. No, not that one—a more authoritative one.' Butler fallacy in action: he'd appointed himself master and her servant, expected to be served endlessly, gave nothing in return."
Butler Fallacy by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026