What makes a liberal? Why are people conservative?

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt offers a fascinating look into how our moral psychology shapes us into who we are. Worth a look for anyone who has ever wondered, "How can they possibly think that way?" during a political discussion with someone of a differing belief system:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind...

Maybe if we started trying to understand where other people were coming from, we could stop having pointless pissing contests that go nowhere and actually all learn something from each other and our differences.

Or we can all just go back to being enormous cock-holes to each other. Just a thought.

Edit:

Here's a link to an article on the same subject, from which Charles Lane copy/pasted giant blocks of text a couple posts down.

Tags: cock-holes, conservative, liberal, moral, politics, psychology

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hillbilly on July 25, 2010 at 3:20pm

"cons like to line up behind authority....even if Pappy is an abusive idiot..... They are anti-authoritative..... they call it elitism."

Thank you for that coherent argument.

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Permalink Reply by GodHatesTrash on July 25, 2010 at 8:54pm

Not surprised it went over your uneducated head, hillbilly. Authority and authoritative are two different words.

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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly on July 25, 2010 at 9:38pm

Holy cow, you're right.

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Permalink Reply by GodHatesTrash on July 26, 2010 at 5:40am

Glad you read it again. I know I'm speaking in generalities here, but it is my experience that the vast majority of conservatives aren't big on the whole reading for comprehension thing.

So don't worry, little snowflake. You just proved to me that you're very special, and there is nobody quite like you.

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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly on July 27, 2010 at 9:34pm

Little snowflake. I like that.

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Permalink Reply by Action Jeans on July 26, 2010 at 7:16am

If you'll notice my reply to GHT, I'm trying to keep it a little less antagonistic in this thread. Maybe if we could let up on the sarcasm and the defensiveness we can keep the conversation going a little longer.

I'm really interested in every possible opinion on this subject. Maybe just try not taking stuff being said in here too personally so everyone can be candid as possible without being personally offensive.

For my part, I'm trying to do the same.

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Permalink Reply by Action Jeans on July 26, 2010 at 7:02am

I understand where you are coming from but, just for the sake of this thread, could we all just try to reel in the derision?

I'm not saying don't talk about why you have it. That's actually an important aspect of this discussion. I just mean try not to direct it at anyone posting in this thread. I was kind of hoping to get a fresh perspective on peoples' points of view without the usual back and forth that most of these threads tend to degrade into.

Especially those points of view that I don't agree with and have a hard time understanding. I just feel like that's going to be harder to achieve if we're stirring up animosity.

For instance, where Hillbilly misunderstood your post. I realize it's difficult to pass on an opening like that but try not to rub it in, if you could.

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Permalink Reply by GodHatesTrash on July 27, 2010 at 3:22am

I appreciate that, although I do think this board is a weird place to try this, given all the internets out there.

I see Hillbilly doing his same old same old, arguing for argument's sake, which is an authoritarian method of disengaging debate.

They are the party of no for a reason - they never offer an intelligent alternative. Just the two-year old's "NO".

I just wanted to affirm our little friend's uniqueness, hoping it would pacify him.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Chestnut on July 29, 2010 at 5:57am

I read a study once that stated that people react to politics on a visceral level, with less thinking than when they react to science issues, or faith issues. I thought that was interesting, and it feels valid. My gut says it's true. The political beliefs I hold make me feel a certain way, as I'm sure that most peoples do. I can intellectualize them, and love political forums, but I also know that sometimes it takes self-supervision to curtain the urge to think, "That person's a dummy." When having discussions with people who hold other systems to be more valid for themselves, I can see that same thought wash over their faces, or flavor the words they chose to key into their computer. I stop and remember, "We are all products of our own lives." It's one of the things that makes this country great though - that we can freely state our beliefs, that we can openly talk about things

Many people come to their political way of thinking through their upbringing, tendered by life experiences and hopes. I don't think any way is wrong, but mine - leftist liberal yeller-dawg democrat - is perfectly right for me.

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Permalink Reply by Hillbilly on July 25, 2010 at 7:58pm

I was walking the dog and this quote came to mind about this thread,

"There are two kinds of people I can't stand in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch."

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Permalink Reply by Van on July 26, 2010 at 1:07pm

Personally with me it's the French:)

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Permalink Reply by Charles Lane on July 26, 2010 at 8:38pm

Van, tu stupide idiot, fu toi!!! (I feel the familiar tense best suits us)

Sorry all (except Trash, he deserves to live in France), I had to drop a french insult on Van after that post.

You know I read through the whole thread and... Trash was actually saying something of substance, not that it made any sense, but then the inner rage came out.