The Four Quadrant Model

The Four Quadrant Model

What Is It?

In broad terms, the model is a tool for illustrating how the media stigmatizes certain nuanced views that challenge the status quo by portraying people who hold those views as prejudiced or intolerant.

Definitions

The Dupes

People who believe they can infer someone’s true intentions, beliefs or morality based on their support for, or opposition to, the policy initiative.

First Principle Thinkers or "Contrarians"

The individuals that hold nuanced positions that oppose the policy on the x-axis, but support the moral virtue on the y-axis. In the words of Eric Weinstein, “These are people who are thinking for themselves, and are not buying baked-cakes. They’re buying the ingredients and they’re saying, well, I want more of this ingredient, I don’t like that ingredient. So they’re attempting to avoid having any pre-baked idea put in front of them.”

Troglodytes

Those who oppose the x-axis policy and possess the moral vice represented by the lower-half of the y-axis (e.g. sexists, racists, bigots, etc).

Rent Seekers

"Woke" people or companies who have a vested-interest in the x-axis policy because they profit from it, but do not produce much or anything of value in return.

Visual Explanation

The horizontal line (or x-axis in mathematical terms) represents one’s level of support for a particular policy initiative. The vertical line (y-axis) represents some kind of moral virtue.