Less Arrogance, More Humility

[Telecaster]

Since the powers at be in LuLa land seem determined to allow Coffee Corner to function, at least in part, as an outrage/grievance/polemic vector, here's a topic I'd like to devote to less partisan, more analytical & evidence-centric articles on political/ideological/tribal motivation and behavior.

I'd also prefer to simply link to the articles without commenting on them. Anyone wanting to comment on a piece can always start their own topic.

————

The first such piece comes from Sage Journals and is titled Psychogical Features of Extreme Political Ideologies. Here's the abstract:

"In this article, we examine psychological features of extreme political ideologies. In what ways are political left- and right-wing extremists similar to one another and different from moderates? We propose and review four interrelated propositions that explain adherence to extreme political ideologies from a psychological perspective. We argue that (a) psychological distress stimulates adopting an extreme ideological outlook; (b) extreme ideologies are characterized by a relatively simplistic, black-and-white perception of the social world; (c) because of such mental simplicity, political extremists are overconfident in their judgments; and (d) political extremists are less tolerant of different groups and opinions than political moderates. In closing, we discuss how these psychological features of political extremists increase the likelihood of conflict among groups in society."

Here's the full piece: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721418817755

-Dave-

[Telecaster]

Here's a two-part piece by the Swedish data scientist and blogger John Nerst. It concerns his re-imagining of the traditional left-right political compass.

Part 1: https://everythingstudies.com/2019/03/01/the-tilted-political-compass-part-1-left-and-right/

Part 2: http://www.everythingstudies.com/the-tilted-political-compass-part-2-up-and-down/

-Dave-

[Telecaster]

This isn't an article but rather the concluding paragraph of the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's book Symbolism: Its Meaning and Effect, published in 1927.

"It is the first step in sociological wisdom, to recognize that the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur—like unto an arrow in the hand of a child. The art of free society consists first in the maintenance of the symbolic code; and secondly in fearlessness of revision, to secure that the code serves those purposes which satisfy an enlightened reason. Those societies which cannot combine reverence to their symbols with freedom of revision, must ultimately decay either from anarchy, or from the slow atrophy of a life stifled by useless shadows."

-Dave-

[faberryman]

Not sure how this leads to less arrogance, more humility.

[Telecaster]

This piece is US-focused but is likely relevant elsewhere too. It was published by the Heterodox Academy last November and is called Hidden Tribes: A Study of America's Polarized Landscape.

https://heterodoxacademy.org/social-science-hidden-tribes/

-Dave-

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Not sure how this leads to less arrogance, more humility.

Maybe each article should be accompanied by a pixel count, to keep it Photographic!   

[Telecaster]

From Quillette: In The Culture Wars, Be A Sancho Panza, Not A Don Quixote.

"Many progressives throw terms such as Nazi and white supremacist around now like confetti."

https://quillette.com/2019/04/07/in-the-culture-wars-be-a-sancho-panza-not-a-don-quixote/

-Dave-

[Telecaster]

One more for now…from the Meanjin Quarterly, originating in Australia. In Defense of the Bad, White Working Class, a piece on empathy with echoes of the Quillette (also Australian in origin) article above.

"The habits of progressive social and political discourse almost seem calculated to alienate and aggravate lower class whites. I confess that if a well-dressed, university-educated middle-class person of any gender or ethnicity so much as hinted at my ‘white privilege’ while I was a lumpen child, or my ‘male privilege’ while I was an unskilled labourer who couldn’t afford basic necessities, or my ‘hetero-privilege’ while I was a homeless solitary, I’d have taken special pleasure in voting for their nightmare. And I would have been right to do so."

https://meanjin.com.au/essays/in-defence-of-the-bad-white-working-class/

-Dave-

[Jeremy Roussak]

I'd also prefer to simply link to the articles without commenting on them. Anyone wanting to comment on a piece can always start their own topic.

I think I've made it clear that that is not allowed. Some comment, or at the very least explanation of the reason why the article might be considered interesting, is mandatory. I will delete posts that don't conform.

Jeremy

[Chairman Bill]

The Dunning-Kruger effect appears to be strongest amongst those on the extremes, as does a dislike of inconvenient facts. The mindset is not so different (if different at all) from that of religious zealots and fundamentalists; the cognitive dissonance that arises when faced with facts that are contrary to their beliefs results in a hardening of the belief, a refusal to accept that the facts are indeed facts, and the conviction that they know better than what are disparagingly referred to as 'so-called experts' (a form of the well-poisoning fallacy).

[Robert Roaldi]

I think I've made it clear that that is not allowed. Some comment, or at the very least explanation of the reason why the article might be considered interesting, is mandatory. I will delete posts that don't conform.

Jeremy

It appears to me that Telecaster has added enough text with each link, along with the text in the link, to fulfill these conditions. The only truly obscurely named link, the first, was accompanied by the full abstract.

[Jeremy Roussak]

It appears to me that Telecaster has added enough text with each link, along with the text in the link, to fulfill these conditions. The only truly obscurely named link, the first, was accompanied by the full abstract.

I agree. I was commenting on his expressed wish, not his compliance.

Jeremy

[Robert Roaldi]

I agree. I was commenting on his expressed wish, not his compliance.

Jeremy

Ok. Understood, thanks.

[MMitchell]

There's always a Left and a Right - no problem. But when corporate media monopoly combines with large and extremely profitable international trade deals and so forth, their opinions tend to overwhelm any independent and contrary public opinion.

There are such things as matters of principle and matters of fact. It's important for people to discern the two. To preserve the status quo, it's vital that a people have time-honored principles and standards that they agree upon.

Democracy is a time-honored principle, but if the public is allowed to vote on matters that can overturn any of their time-honored principles, i.e. vote away certain rights and liberties, then society may suffer accordingly. Of course, discerning which time-honored principles are imperative to maintain and which are merely organizing principles for a time period - that's the trick.