“That’s a stupid fucking question,” answered a Socialist Alliance activist when I asked sincerely where they were getting what sounded like inflated poverty statistics. “If you don’t believe in gay marriage or gun control, unfriend me,” demand multiple Facebook statuses from those I know. “That’s gross and racist!” spluttered a red-faced Ben Affleck when the atheist and neuroscientist Sam Harris criticized Islamic doctrines on Bill Maher’s Real Time.This except was taken from The Psychology of Progressive Hostility.
So what explains this kind of behavior that inspired the raging liberal meme?
In his remarkable book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Haidt recalls a telling experiment. He and his colleagues Brian Nosek and Jesse Graham sought to discover how well conservative and what Haidt terms ‘liberal’ (ie: progressive) students understood one another by having them answer moral questions as they thought their political opponents would answer them. “The results were clear and consistent,” remarks Haidt. “In all analyses, conservatives were more accurate than liberals.” Asked to think the way a liberal thinks, conservatives answered moral questions just as the liberal would answer them, but liberal students were unable to do the reverse...
People get angry at what they don’t understand, and an all-progressive education ensures that they don’t understand.I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Haidt. Since I first heard him on this brilliant Econtalk, I watched every video on the internet with his name on it. I think open minded liberals should listen to him very carefully with a sober mind.
I've also accumulated a lot of respect for the publication, Quillette, since I first heard about them in this interview.
In regard to the article cited above, let me stick up for liberals a bit. It is very true that the SJW Warriors and other far left people are extraordinarily volatile, but lets not compare them to conservative moderates. The fair comparison is to the hardcore right wingers, who are anything but civil. Consider this 1,000,000+ subscriber youtube channel who regularly calls people "libtards".
It's a shame the left and right mirror each other in a lot of ways. I'm especially disappointed at the way leftists lately have received a reputation for shutting down free speech. I think this is especially harmful when Trump leverages this politically correct madness for his advantage.
If people are destined to play tribes, I think there are healthier ways of doing it. Like perhaps the center left and center right could unite against the radicals on either side. Make tolerance, open mindedness, and civility a part of their group identity. That's the way to do it.
