prompter: Explain dialectical materialism in simple terms

assistant: Dialectical materialism is a way of understanding the world that focuses on the interactions between opposing forces or contradictions. It is based on the idea that everything in the world is constantly changing and evolving, and that these changes are driven by the struggle between different classes, groups, or ideas.

According to dialectical materialism, material reality is the foundation of everything in the world, including our thoughts and beliefs. Our ideas and beliefs are shaped by our material conditions, such as our social and economic status, and they in turn shape the material world around us.

This way of thinking is often associated with the philosopher Karl Marx, who used dialectical materialism to analyze the workings of capitalism and the struggle between the working class and the capitalist class. Marx believed that through this struggle, the working class would eventually overthrow the capitalist class and create a more equal and just society.

Overall, dialectical materialism is a framework for understanding how the world works and how change happens, based on the constant interplay between opposing forces and the material conditions that shape them.

prompter: How does dialectical materialism explain the problems with capitalism?

assistant: Dialectical materialism analyzes the contradictions and conflicts inherent in capitalism, such as the exploitation of the working class by the capitalist class and the tension between profit and the needs of workers and society. These contradictions can lead to crises and instability. Dialectical materialism also emphasizes the role of class struggle in historical change and points towards the possibility of a more equitable and democratic system.

assistant: Dialectical materialism explains the problems with capitalism by showing how it creates its own contradictions and crises that lead to its downfall. Some people may think that capitalism evolves in a process of dialectical materialism at a mature stage when corporations compete against rival corporations and capitalization clumps. Others may think that capitalism is a negation of individual private property that will be negated by a higher form of social organization such as communism.

assistant: Dialectical materialism is a philosophical approach that tries to explain how society changes and develops over time. It is based on the idea that everything in the world is made up of matter and that the relationships between things are constantly changing and evolving.

According to dialectical materialism, change happens through a process of contradiction and conflict between different forces. These forces can be economic, social, or political, and they are often in opposition to one another. Through this conflict, new ideas, technologies, and social structures emerge, leading to progress and development.

One of the key concepts in dialectical materialism is the idea of class struggle, which refers to the conflict between different social classes in society. This struggle is seen as a driving force for change and development, as the oppressed class fights to overthrow the ruling class and establish a new social order.

prompter: I have so many questions about this...

What would be the alternative to dialectical materialism? Is there such a thing as non-dialectical materialism?

How do we know any of this is true? What are the data or supporting arguments to justify dialectical materialism? Is dialectical materialism even falsifiable, and if so, how?

Why is contradiction necessary? Why couldn't forces act unopposed, or in concert with each other? 

Why would conflict necessarily lead to progress? For example, nuclear war that ended civilization would not be progress. Similarly with development - the conflict that resulted in extermination of Jewish artists and financiers did not "develop" Germany in any meaningful way. WWII putting the world on a war footing and redirecting industrial production also set us on a path toward high pollution and carbon emissions, and so on.

If conflict between forces leads to progress, then why would states purportedly based on Dialectical Materialism be one-party states? Why would their judicial systems dispense with presumption of innocence or independent counsel for the accused?

Why would class struggle be profoundly more important than other forms of social struggle? 

How do you decide which groups of people constitute a class, and how do you decide which classes are oppressors or which are oppressed? Isn't it possible that a class could have some advantages and other disadvantages, or that there could be give and take?

What if the oppressed class just keeps losing? Is there some kind of destiny to guarantee that they will win eventually? How do we know that? What is to prevent an oppressed class from being co-opted and becoming oppressors? What is to prevent an oppressed class from simply switching places with the oppressors, becoming the new oppressors of new oppressed classes?

assistant: A simple explanation of dialectical materialism is: things are the way they are in the world because of they are driven by objective "material" conditions in the world instead of being driven by subjective thoughts and ideas, and things change because of contradiction inherent within said material conditions of the world.

prompter: What separates it from materialism in the making of history, idealism, or social change?