Determinants of political ideology

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I was going on the assumption we all understand we each have the ability to think, but maybe you are asking how it is we can do that? If so, I would avoid speculation there and simply suggest a common awareness of our ability to think as a reasonable starting point.



While having an ability to think and finding it impossible to not do so, and while having at least some instincts and desires in need of being met and satisfied from outside of oneself, we form or embrace beliefs (and take action) as required to alleviate our fears of not having those instincts and desires met and satisfied.

So again: The "how" is present because of simple ability, and the "why" is driven by inherent needs and desires.

As poorly as I might do in this kind of discussion, I nevertheless participate because I am inherently able to think at least a bit and because I believe doing so (participating) might at least be somewhat beneficial to someone ... and that belief has now been proved true by my finding it necessary to go find and learn the meaning of "tautological".

But if you yet find my words lacking, I will, and for those same reasons, to keep trying to add at least something here.

People with higher IQ are probably more likely to question received belief, and thus to examine fringe ideologies. Of course, the fact that IQ does not correlate with rationality means that profoundly absurd fringe views do sometimes take root in very intelligent people.

To me, one of the strongest arguments for centrism is that it avoids alienating too much of the population and causing civil strife, the way more extreme ideologies would. In this case the golden mean is sometimes a good idea just to avoid pissing people off too badly.

Oh my figurative god, you're not a Cartesian dualist or New Mysterian, are you?

Oh my figurative god, you're not a Cartesian dualist or New Mysterian, are you?

Most people are. Many are Cartesian dualists. The ones who aren't tend to be New Mysterian.

I suppose I'm quite heterodox, then. I've fully internalized physicalist thinking (well, at least Cartesian materialism) since I was in the 7th Grade and commonly think of my thinking in terms of mental films of neurons firing and reconnecting.

I've just found out that somebody (Albert Breton, to be specific) has published a book arguing that extremism and rationality may be compatible (at least "rationality" in an economistic sense).

http://www.amazon.com/Political-Extremi ... 0521804418