Liberal and left-wing politics associated with higher intelligence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Or they realized that they work hard and don’t want to just outlay the majority of their 401k in taxes for programs for inner city kids whose parents aren’t around to stop them from car jacking? I’m liberal, but I get the annoyance with a lot of progressive policy these days. A lot of it is done to weaken strong on crime policy or to water down education by making everything, like getting the right answer or taking tests, optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Probably not just that. I remember an interesting interview with some kind of social/psychology/neurology scientist years ago--as people get older they tend to feel more anxiety (not exactly the right word) about maintaining what is familiar. Stuff that is "other" and unfamiliar tends to be experienced as more threatening. They depend more on the familiar to protect them. Sure there are exceptions, but probably exceptions that provide the rule--if all grannies and grandpas were taking up crazy adventures it wouldn't be a story when they do. Hanging on to privilege may be a part of it, but there may also be a process that is more common to humanity. Aristotle said youth are passionate and idealistic, the aged are grumpy:

"According to Aristotle, the young have strong but changeable passions. They are quick tempered and lacking in self-control, and this makes them all the more likely to yield to their passions. They are eager for superiority and easily feel slighted. They love honour and victory more than money, and would rather do noble deeds than useful ones. As the greater part of their life lies before them, they live more in expectation than in memory; and as they are lacking in experience, they have exalted notions and tend to see the good rather than the bad. Although they are confident and courageous, they are still accepting of the rules of their society; and although they like spending their days with others, they have not yet learned to value their friends for their usefulness. They are quick to pity because they think that everyone is honest. If they wrong others, this is more to insult than to do real harm. As they are fond of fun, they are witty – wit being nothing other than well-bred insolence. They think they know everything and so they overdo everything. This is the source of all their mistakes.

In contrast to the young, the elderly live by memory rather than by hope. As they have a lot of experience, they are sure about nothing and under-do everything. They are small-minded because they have been humbled by life. As a result, they are driven too much by the useful and not enough by the noble. They are cynical and distrustful and neither love warmly nor hate bitterly. They are not shy but rather shameless, and feel only contempt for people’s opinion of them. As that which is desired most strongly is that which is needed most urgently, they love life, and all the more when their last day has arrived."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Or they realized that they work hard and don’t want to just outlay the majority of their 401k in taxes for programs for inner city kids whose parents aren’t around to stop them from car jacking? I’m liberal, but I get the annoyance with a lot of progressive policy these days. A lot of it is done to weaken strong on crime policy or to water down education by making everything, like getting the right answer or taking tests, optional.

You said the same thing just from the selfish a-hole point of view. Moderate conservative is code for “I’ve got mine now cut my taxes and f everyone else.”

[Anonymous]

I think the IQ thing is simple. I think intelligence equates to being more curious about phenomena in general, including social and political phenomena and being more likely to explore the complex aspects of social and political issues. I also think that opens one to empathy.

There are certainly knee-jerk left-wingers as well as right-wingers who don't spend a lot of mental energy challenging their own assumptions, but by and large (IMO) rw kneejerk extremism has a more dominant presence in our society generally, especially these days (not to mention the promotion it gets from the rw evangelicals--progressive and moderate evangelicals, who do exist, are very marginalized now) . LW knee-jerk thinking is also much more limited to younger adults while the RW version shows up across age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet they still struggle with simple concepts such as the number of human sexes.

LOL. Excellent point.

I think it's more like liberals realize that our understanding of life and nature is not concrete, and we learn more and more about our natural world as we study and open our minds to studying and research, whereas conservatives are stuck believing what they have been told is true by propaganda.

It's like how people were told that the earth was flat, and when a scientist told them that it's not, the powers that be who were afraid of losing their power on the stupid masses, jailed the truth teller.

Unfortunately covid revealed liberals were anything but open minded and tolerant and receptive to new information rathet than guided by unquestioning dogmatic belief.

Your point is?

Covid revealed how many ignorant and selfish people there are who would not practice basic public health measures to stop the spread of a deadly pandemic, forcing schools and businesses and the global economy to shut down until vaccines were available to save lives and provide protection from hospitalization and death.

Good grief.
We were told that taking the vaccine would prevent the spread of Covid - which turned out to be totally WRONG. Refusing to take the vaccine was neither ignorant or selfish. For many, taking the vaccine was a health risk.

The businesses and schools were forced to stay shut by ignorant people. Once we knew children were not at risk, there was no reason to keep schools closed. And, states that opened schools did not see a spike in Covid cases.

By the time the vaccine was developed Covid HAD spread everywhere. Nobody said it would prevent it. The expectation was primarily that it would lessen disease risk for the vaccinated and lessen transmissability, both of which were true. For the fast majority of people, NOT taking the vaccine was a much more serious health risk than taking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

As my children say, their grandparents are kind of mean.

That's YOUR family. Don't generalize.

[Anonymous]

It would be easier to believe in government based solutions if those that promoted them pounded on the government to ensure it was delivering as was promised. That does not happen. If it is so important to have the government in position to do so much it is even more important to take active steps to ensure the government delivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

As my children say, their grandparents are kind of mean.

That's YOUR family. Don't generalize.

See? Cranky and mean, raising their voice for no reason because they feel personally attacked by some rando on the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

As my children say, their grandparents are kind of mean.

That's YOUR family. Don't generalize.

See? Cranky and mean, raising their voice for no reason because they feel personally attacked by some rando on the internet.

It's not cranky and mean to refrain from generalizing from one's family to all older persons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to liberal African Americans as well?

The sample size in most studies would probably be too small to validate the results for population subgroups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to liberal African Americans as well?

The "study" only looked at Asian and White kids in 300 or so families in Minnesota. The study also skewed heavily female (63%). The flaws are obvious but I guess people are having too much fun to actually read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being smug, self-satisfied and condescending towards others does not attract voters to your side.

And humoring idiots drags us all down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Personally, I wised up to the idea that good intentions are not enough, and having the right Feels don't make for good policies. Sorry if I don't just follow the horde whenever they come up with another defund the police idea. I'm content to watch people battle out for their grand ideas and try to come up with real solutions though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Personally, I wised up to the idea that good intentions are not enough, and having the right Feels don't make for good policies. Sorry if I don't just follow the horde whenever they come up with another defund the police idea. I'm content to watch people battle out for their grand ideas and try to come up with real solutions though.

How about the noted success of trickle down economics and doubling down on policies that make women into second class citizens? Conservatives keep running into that wall, purely because it gives them the right feels. You follow the horde plenty; you just like to think, like all cons do, that they’re iconoclasts, cowboys on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But I was very liberal in my younger days, and now have turned moderately conservative. I guess I got dumber?

You got numb in your comfy box, more selfish and transactional, less empathetic and curious. You lost the idealism of youth and became what you once despised. It’s the tragedy of living a privileged life.

Personally, I wised up to the idea that good intentions are not enough, and having the right Feels don't make for good policies. Sorry if I don't just follow the horde whenever they come up with another defund the police idea. I'm content to watch people battle out for their grand ideas and try to come up with real solutions though.

How about the noted success of trickle down economics and doubling down on policies that make women into second class citizens? Conservatives keep running into that wall, purely because it gives them the right feels. You follow the horde plenty; you just like to think, like all cons do, that they’re iconoclasts, cowboys on their own.

Oh I'm sorry - I know you really want to duke it out with a die hard republican or something. I just simply haven't kept pace with the more cutting edge elements of the left wing and would probably be called a moderate or even moderately right leaning these days.