Liberal Syndrome

[polaris93]

Many of us who are conservatives have noted the childishness, aggressiveness toward anything or anyone perceived as "not liberal", and other alarming behaviors of so many liberals (we need a better word for it, people; "liberal" suggests "classical liberal," which is not the same thing). Well, why not work that up the way medical problems are,

Comments

[galadrion]

Randian Altruism. If you look at her articles and other nonfiction, you'll discover that she's done pretty much just that. Incidentally, the problem is semantic and epistemological at base, not dietary or otherwise external. Modern Liberalism is, quite literally, a mimetic infection.

[polaris93]

Very seriously, liberals often resort to "diets" that don't work but do leave the dieter significantly malnourished. They spend wayyy too much time in front of the TV or using their electronic gadgets, which do expose them to significant amounts of radiation -- which means they don't get out in the sun enough and walk a lot. And so on. Many conservatives do that, too, but the "mimetic infection" you speak of only works if the emotional brain is susceptible to it. Many of us do grow up -- when I was young, I voted Democrat and all the rest of it, but changed as time went by, and I suspect the same is true for lots of others who are now conservatives. But during those years I took good care of my health in all sorts of ways, and that may have helped me to grow up and look at the world realistically. Memes have to work in physical brains -- and physical brains include the emotional/limbic brain, the fight-flight centers, and all the rest. So don't dismiss medical concerns so lightly. They, too, are part of our lives and help to

[galadrion]

It sounds more reasonable to me that those diets and other problematic lifestyle choices are an effect of poor thinking habits than a cause of them - these people do stupid things because they don't think well, rather than not thinking well because of the stupid things they do.

As for the mimetic infection only working if the (emotional) brain is susceptible to it... well, most of them started learning those habits of thought in the cradle, from parents who were either the Woodstock crowd or who wanted to be. Not many emotional safeguards in place at that age, typically...

[polaris93]

Actually, a feedbacl loops is probably in place when it comes to diet and poor thinking. The bad diet makes you stupid; the stupidity makes for poor dietary choices; the latter make you stupider; and so on