Synopsis
This paper examines “Bean Soup Theory,” named for the social-media response to a recipe intended for an iron-deficient audience: “What if I don’t like beans?” It uses cultural rhetoric to trace a progression from individualized algorithmic response, to whataboutism as conversational derailment, to anti-intellectualism as a broader refusal to value knowledge that is not personally applicable.
The problem it responds to
Algorithmic platforms routinely place people before content not intended for them. Instead of moving past it, users are rewarded for recentering themselves, generating engagement through lateral comparison and critique.
What the work contributes
- Names a platform-specific version of whataboutism.
- Connects algorithmic engagement incentives to individualism and echo-chamber formation.
- Shows how small acts of conversational recentering scale into hostility toward expertise and shared knowledge.
- Applies cultural-rhetorical analysis to ordinary digital behavior.
Development
- Completed as an academic rhetorical-methods paper.
Keywords