The below is a post from a conservative I’ve been talking to for a few weeks online. Gordon keeps a nice blog at theindependentwhig.com (I call him TIW). I respond here, below his entry. I warn you that neither of us are kind to a particular kind of liberal. This bit is taken, a little out of context, from his original review of “The Righteous Mind” at amazon.com. More
I’ve been trying to rep for Dr. Jon Haidt (pronounced “height”), a sensitive, intelligent psychologist, ever since I was struck amidship with the moral info that he and his partners have had online for years at yourmorals.org. There is a great review of Haight’s new book “The Righteous Mind” in the New York Times. Very glad to see the Times pick this up and do such a nice, long treatment. It helps me feel confident that my own work will find an audience. More
A word about intelligence. Psychology has a split between conservative views and liberal ones about intelligence: some (probably most) leave intelligence out of personality, while others prefer to think of it as at least somewhat represented by our aspect of intellect. In the Big 5 personality world, Intellect/Openness is one of the 5 main groupings of traits: intellect-related traits are roughly 10% of total personality traits. But however you define intelligence, testing it directly shows differences between how our different personalities use our intellect. More
Constancy should be paired as much as possible with empathy. Being constant allows efficacious empathy, as opposed to the half, three-quarter, and one-eighth’s versions of it we like to dole out to our parched charities. More
Dr. Jon Haidt recently posted a quote from Mark Twain that every ideology’s insanity can only be seen by those who believe other ideologies. There’s a real wisdom in that, a hopelessness of truly understanding the other that is so complete that giving up on their sanity provides a certain release: just put them each in an insanity bucket, go about one’s life around them, and ignore they’re all standing around in strange buckets, sloshing their water around, unable to move but not realizing it. More
Many Christians bear a special burden when it comes to politics in America, one the rest of us don’t share. Knowing about it helps tremendously in communication with them. More
Simple, exciting ideas from a philosopher you can actually comprehend, ideas that put the goofy to our terrible normal way of communicating. Do the video or written version. More
Here’s the order I suggest working on the various challenges you face before becoming a great communicator. More
What is the goal of political conversation- is it solely to convince? A discussion on how important it is to have a standard of excellence in political conversation. More
General video explanation of the Reach the Right approach to political communication, and a little update on my tour of the south and midwest. Making my way back- Colorado and Wyoming interviews remaining.
A case study of an excellent liberal attack ad. The great stuff liberals get from using these ads- and what it costs us. More
The weird, wacky way our political arguments are win-win for our subconscious minds, and annoying for our conscious ones. More
Hey look, a useful Marxist! Impossible, you say? Oh come on- stretch a little this morning, it’ll feel good. Besides, it’s his birthday today. More
The very best way to understand political difference in the brain, from groundbreaking research in neurology: the parable of the scout and the general. More
The essential power of personal stories of suffering as an essential beginning to the painful, complex process to reach the right.
An exemplary conversation- learning from 2 educated, interesting conservative Republican women. More
The right and the left use numbers in very different ways, and there’s often a silent agreement to not concentrate on them- each for their own reasons. On the tyranny of numbers. More
Fighting Winston’s dictum, or how high-altitude smokers have an advantage in political communication. More
It’s good to have a few models of reality you juggle, like any physicist, mathematician, or philosopher. If you don’t, you typically end up banging your face against walls with malice aforethought- walls that are not really there, or are paper thin. Take advantage of a lefty’s flexible sense of things- a quick, helpful zen model. More
The best way to seem like you’re discussing something, when you’re really not- they call you on it quickly in couples therapy, but we put up with it in political discussions. More
The Brain in Two Acts- a new, fascinating hemispheric model of why conservatives and liberals are so different. More
I realize they’re soo mean and primitive and all, but- can the left please insert a little true intelligence, a little tolerance toward religion- not be so smug and condescending? Why it’s critical to do so. More