Some people call me crazy, but I actually like to read and hear about views that contradict mine. That’s one of the reasons I come here. But there is a trend afoot where people avoid learning things that conflict with their perceptions. Even worse, they gravitate to media that provides clownish arguments for opponents.
“One classic study sent mailings to Republicans and Democrats, offering them various kinds of political research, ostensibly from a neutral source. Both groups were most eager to receive intelligent arguments that strongly corroborated their pre-existing views.
There was also modest interest in receiving manifestly silly arguments for the other party’s views (we feel good when we can caricature the other guys as dunces). But there was little interest in encountering solid arguments that might undermine one’s own position.”
FM…I am at the point where both parties pretty much look like clowns, the vote on the AIG bonus pretty much solidified for me the MOST politicians are losers - neither of them fit my world view…I have very few politicians that inspire me. How would I be classified?
x2 on your post. That fits how I feel as well. I’m beginning to think that it just doesn’t matter who holds office anymore; they’re all power-hungry, petty little people.
Since you already “x2” on bluerader_mike, does that make it x3 or just plain 4?
For Fatmouse: as a general rule it’s hard to even consider a cogent argument from the “other side”, let alone seek it out. Those stats you posted are not surprising.
Oh, you really don’t want me to answer that for you do you?
While the article was talking about political divides, I was thinking of this more along the lines of topics. Atheists don’t want to be around Christians. And likewise Christians don’t want to be around atheists. On global warming, people will only listen to their own side, which often characterizes the other side as fools and points out only the most clownish of “mistakes” or some such.
Great strides are taken when people get a full range of input and make connections that may not have been made before. That’s why I like the LR. While I might disagree with about 99% of what you write, it helps me understand how others think and sometimes provides information I didn’t have. So, there is actually a place for people like P-Tex, kittycat, and yahey. Sometimes, there is even a place for me.
Some people call me crazy, but I actually like to read and hear about views that contradict mine. That’s one of the reasons I come here. But there is a trend afoot where people avoid learning things that conflict with their perceptions. Even worse, they gravitate to media that provides clownish arguments for opponents.
“One classic study sent mailings to Republicans and Democrats, offering them various kinds of political research, ostensibly from a neutral source. Both groups were most eager to receive intelligent arguments that strongly corroborated their pre-existing views.
There was also modest interest in receiving manifestly silly arguments for the other party’s views (we feel good when we can caricature the other guys as dunces). But there was little interest in encountering solid arguments that might undermine one’s own position.”
So, you’re surprised by basic human nature when it comes to affinity? How surprising. How come, for the most part, I hear this familiar refrain from those of us here in the LR who tend to gravitate a bit more to the left than to the right? Unsurprisingly, us right-leaning folks don’t seem to be so burdened with the need to explicate for everybody else why our brethren from the center-left, or even hard left, just can’t seem to see things our way (hahaha!).
Those on the left want to understand what others are thinking, while those on the right like to tell you what others are thinking. Is that what you were saying?
Nope. I’m saying that people being people, they tend to want to hear the viewpoints with which they’re most comfortable. No surprise there. We saw it writ large during this past presidential election, on both sides of the aisle. You’re not going to change basic human nature. Not when it’s developed as such over hundreds of thousands of years.
I’m sort of left-leaning - though I don’t like that classification. But, anyway, I spent a couple of weeks commuting to a distant job site with a buddy of mine who’s leanings are long the lines of Limbaugh. And the whole commute he subjected me to right-wing talk radio, since it was his car. And I’m sure he did it on purpose to mess with me because though we’re good friends, he knows I’m a libral.
It was like torture - like being strapped down and water boarded. I had to switch it to sports radio a few times while reso
But, the weird thing is that shit just gets into your head. After those couple of weeks whenever I heard right-wing keywords like “welfare,” “Democrat,” or “taxes,” I found myself associating them with bad things. Without any rational basis. Just pure brainwashing.
It’s scary how powerful that shit is.
And I’m not singling out right-wing radio. I’m sure someone who listens to Olbermann all the time probably picks up his biases.
If you don’t think for yourself, it’s easy to get sucked into making decisions on personality and emotion. I catch myself doing it all the time.
