That's powerful. I wish more people in politics, the media, and the public could ask themselves if their thoughts are truly their own.
Reminds me of the song “Thought Contagion” by Muse. One verse from that song, “You’ve been bitten by a true believer…you've been bitten by someone’s false beliefs.”
We’d like to think that people seek out political parties representing their values/policy preferences, but there’s a large body of evidence showing that when political parties change their official stance, voters of that party do too.
Have they been persuaded by reason? Maybe some of them. But I imagine many just get herded from one policy position to the next by the tides of ingroup think.
Do the voters really change their stance or could it be that they are stuck choosing one of two options, neither of which ever perfectly reflect their value system? As a result they begrudgingly vote for the party that predominantly aligns with their values, because no alternative exists.
“This thought has infected you.”
That's powerful. I wish more people in politics, the media, and the public could ask themselves if their thoughts are truly their own.
Reminds me of the song “Thought Contagion” by Muse. One verse from that song, “You’ve been bitten by a true believer…you've been bitten by someone’s false beliefs.”
We’d like to think that people seek out political parties representing their values/policy preferences, but there’s a large body of evidence showing that when political parties change their official stance, voters of that party do too.
Have they been persuaded by reason? Maybe some of them. But I imagine many just get herded from one policy position to the next by the tides of ingroup think.
Do the voters really change their stance or could it be that they are stuck choosing one of two options, neither of which ever perfectly reflect their value system? As a result they begrudgingly vote for the party that predominantly aligns with their values, because no alternative exists.
I'll write about this next week.
Certainly some amazing parallels to psychology, the fourth tenant reminiscent of the unconstrained Id.
To be just, judge your own judgments.