Interesting that the explanation of "bias" occurs to psych-os so readily, but not so much when it comes to the obvious bias against conservatives.
Or so says John Haidt, in this speech here, nicely power pointed. Terrific talk, < 30 mins. In fact, one of the best talks I have ever seen.
And John Tierney wrote about it, and the New York Times published it. I'm pinching myself. Must be dreaming.
Some little pieces on this debate in which I have had a voice.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Mr. Overwater? Thoughts?
(Nod to Neanderbill)
6 comments:
Hello Mungowitz,
I've actually been reading Haidt's stuff for a while. It's pretty interesting. You and your readers might find this article interesting where he finds that libertarians are more like liberals than they are like conservatives in many ways:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703673604575550243700895762.html
Like the author, I was pleased at how open the association was to his input. I think there is a higher proportion of conservatives in APSA, but I don't know that APSA would react positively during the same meeting as the speech.
I did read the NYT article, but I haven't seen the PowerPoint yet. I teach tonight so I'll try to comment tomorrow. Another conservative social psychologist to take a look at is Phil Tetlock.
Thanks!
Hello Dr. Mungowitz,
I am a junior college student, studying economics, in Southern California. I wanted to leave a comment expressing general appreciation to you and Angus for the blog.
I found this video and article particularly interesting as it struck close to home for me. During high school I was very liberal and very confrontational--and also very ignorant--in regards to political discourse. I feel this blog, amongst others, has really helped me look at the world a bit more objectively.
Over the last two years I have become very disillusioned w/the "liberals" of SoCal. The answer to every pressing social or economic problem: more government. There is an abundance of very blatant intellectual dishonesty and laziness in contemporary liberalism. I never felt that way growing up. It always seemed like liberals or democrats had people's best interest in mind. They always came off as very intelligent and articulate--and most importantly, objective. I have come to discover the aforementioned statement is the exception in contemporary liberalism, not the rule.
I apologize if this came off as rambling. I just wanted to comment, thank you guys for the insights and say that I'm looking forward to future posts.
Great find!
Dr. Jonathan Haidt spends a whole lot of time discussing the idea of getting trapped in one's group-think, sacred belief systems, and the makes the comment that he does about Anthropomorphic Global Hooey in slide #18; does he not see the dramatic irony there.
But then the kicker is slide #40, bulletpoint "A". Quite possibly the real motive behind tellng his own tribal community things that they do not want to hear. It's either that or, as a centerist, he realises that this is a necessary bone he feels compelled to throw to the tribe so that they'll consider his ideas.
Haidt compares conservatives in academia to closeted gays - really??? Kindof an off-target analogy for a psychologist.
Here's a less sympathetic reaction:
http://jacobtlevy.blogspot.com/2011/02/political-bias-in-academia-revisited.html
A commenter on that article says that libertarians are overrepresented in academia relative to the general population. I don't know of any evidence on this point, but it feels* right to me.
Do any of you have information on either proportion (academia or general population)?
* When I say "feel" it's weaker than even saying I believe something. All I'm reporting is my purely subjective reaction.
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