Does "Blind pride" in the following context mean "too much arrogance that people prefer not to believe the truth even if it is before their eyes"?
Context:
Unbelievable. Even when they're presented with the naked truth, they would rather believe the lie. Or at least that it was too complicated to be figured out by a pair of boys after it confounded everyone for sixty years. Blind pride can be a useful thing.
It's an excerpt from a comic, click here for more context.
Even when they're presented with the naked truth, they would rather believe the lie. Or at least that it was too complicated to be figured out by a pair of boys after it confounded everyone for sixty years. Blind pride can be a useful thing.
We can parse "that it was too complicated ..." as the lesser alternative to "they would rather believe". The first assertion is that "they" would rather believe the lie. This is moderated to an assertion that "they" would rather believe that "it" was too complicated for the boys to figure out (than, presumably, that "they" were wrong).
If we adopt this parsing, the context indicates that "blind pride" was a label applied to the two boys:
Blind pride can be a useful thing - "blind pride" is used in a (backhanded) compliment.
it confounded everyone for sixty years - yet the boys figured it out.
The implication is that the boys were ascribed a baseless confidence in their own ability ("blind pride"). That is, the boys' disregard for others having tried for many years and failed was a "useful thing" because, after all, the boys succeeded. The boys wouldn't have succeeded if they had let history dissuade them from the attempt.
(Alternatively, "they" could be parsed to refer to the boys. It would be harder to account for "the lie"---perhaps referring to the boys' exaggerated opinion of their own ability---but the cartoon link suggests that the quote was uttered by the two 'boys', making "they" someone other than themselves.)
There is a positive when stating "blind faith" as with the element of trust. Blind pride is a negative as one person above said something like having a belief even in the face of evidence to the contrary or chooses to ignore facts to maintain their belief...more commonly used now for blind pride is "too proud".
I think "Blind Pride" means that the people think they are superior to the boys and that if the people couldn't understand the issue, there is no way some boys can.
In a nutshell, what I think it means is a superiority complex to others. Something along the lines of blind or overzealous nationalism is my guess.
