Well, it certainly reflects my experiences during the Trump years, and even prior to his win. I was a registered democrat, but never would vote for Clinton. I didn't vote. I will never forget the emotional driven hate I was subjected to as a result. A life long friend sent me a mean spirited letter which maligned my character and defined me as a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, etc. I guess she forgot I had a brother whom I was very close to, and cared for the whole time he battled AIDs. He lost that battle. Her memory also slipped away and forgot I grew up in a neighborhood that became predominately black, and had developed many friendships there. True she went to college, but her cognitive skills were always a problem. Bad in math, bad in science, but a very good cheat. She also was a total elitist, since everyone without money in her book was a loser. A cousin, once a military captain, who then taught international law also went after me claiming my non vote for Kilary may cause Trump to win. We never spoke after his tirade and he died from cancer less then 2 years later. My brother is no different in his emotionally based hate for Trump either and it goes unabated all these years. Well, Rachel Maddow is his guru. The democrats also cultivated this emotional based hate and used it to their advantage, and that's how a riot became an insurrection, and that's why no one addresses the obvious which is the democrats tried to remove and elected president from office on a lie. I still don't fully understand it, but this emotional based reasoning continues in many forms during Biden's time in office, a man given to lying, pushing wars and death. He is an opportunist willing to say anything to climb the political ladder. One cousin on Facebook said that once Trump was gone Biden would be our savior. She still feels he is. I was listening to Jeffery Sachs speak eloquently on our neocon agenda not that long ago, and he was doing fine, before he interrupted himself to tell his audience he never got a good night's sleep the whole time Trump was in office. It is the Biden administration who is backing this neocon agenda as he did in our middle eastern wars, yet Sachs sees Trump as his greatest fear. I saw Liz recently say that Trump can never be president again, and this from a woman spawned by Dick Cheney.
Beyond excellent comment, and Brad's post is as well - can somebody please tell me if Brad's is called a substack, column, or a post, or what - I can't believe I'm truly asking this, and that it's an actual concern, maybe I need a semester at Oberlin. Am I fat?
You have given me a LOT to think about! I have never seen anything like it. Not even in fourth grade at recess! That they really believe it is probably the craziest thing I've ever heard - crazier than TDS itself is. There is no helping them, either. What a miserable existence they must have. Thank you for the correct terminology, as well. I hate not having the correct terminology for things and saying someone is a whack-job doesn't have quite the same impact in a discussion with normal adults.
Good post! Yes the world is complex, but there are still some clear, binary dichotomies, such as Female - Male. And I think the Left - Right dichotomy may be basically the Consequentialist - Deontologist difference.
The leftist is the Consequentialist who believes only the outcome matters. "By any means necessary" is a leftist motto. The rightist is a Deontologist. The correct outcome of the system is what happens if people in the system interact voluntarily according to the rules of the system. So a rule of law system is right, and an authoritarian system, where the ruler decrees the outcome is left.
So the the Left - Right dichotomy may be pretty simple.
Nobody can make me feel anything. I and I alone am responsible for what I feel. If my feelings reflect reality, they're correct. If they don't, it is I who must change them. No one has the duty to change his behavior to accommodate my unrealistic feelings.
Imagine if a political leader said that in answer to each new college craziness!
Regarding the first footnote, the correct answer to a wife’s question about her weight was in a comic by Nicole Hollander many years ago: “You were too thin before, now you’re perfect.”
Thanks for a great article on such an important topic. Everyone recognizes the deep polarization in society today, and we hear superficial calls for unity. But unity is impossible when a large group has abandoned thinking in favor of feelings.
Rational people can agree on reality, but it is impossible to get people to agree on their “feelings”. Half of marriages end in divorce, when only two people need to be on roughly the same page as far as their feelings. But somehow a society of 330 million people can function based on “feelings”?
How do we get back to a society that ignores the temper tantrums of overgrown children, and restores rational thought to our institutions?
"How do we get back to a society that ignores the temper tantrums of overgrown children, and restores rational thought to our institutions?"
Maybe a start would be to make the politicians and government regulators more accountable to the people again. Irresponsible people are not rational people.
I agree with your conclusions and unfortunately we see frequent examples of this behavior along the lines of the examples you shared. I'd like to expand the use of "feelings first" beyond the academia and American Progressives.
Let me state right out that I "self identify" as a Republican. I also identify as a realist, desiring facts and supporting evidence to match a conclusion, and freely recognizing when and where my beliefs are subjective rather than objective. Can we agree that many Republicans in office and Trump supporters also fall into the abyss of "feelings first" when stating that the 2020 elections were stolen, extending to the claims of 2022 election fraud in Arizona? No objective, factually supported evidence has come to light supporting such a conclusion.
My overall conclusion - America is fracturing into tribes driven by emotions rather than rationality - is not new. But I think it's responsible to recognize these flaws in both major parties and start to look for a solution, which may be best served by a new political paradigm that is more representative of the American majority.
yes. this touches on something that took me a few years to figure out: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
while literally no one I knew liked Trump, I had a few friends that would start vibrating with rage everytime his name was brought up. this was usually followed by something about Hitler or Putin etc.
it boils down to this...their emotional perception of Trump didn’t match the reality of Trump.
some folks are so triggered by him that he can’t just be a crude, gross reality TV star. no way. he must be a Russian spy or Worse Than Hitler.
and they can’t stand that the rest of humanity can’t see him as thus. their cognitive dissonance is torture for these people.
Interesting that Clinton and the democrats and those that support them proclaim to be very sensitive to any manifestation of prejudice. one cannot challenge the idea that a child isn't in a position to determine he, or she wants to transition into the opposite sex at an early age, or believe that a non-trans-gendered male should not pee in a female bathroom, or compete in woman's sports, and if you do your labeled as a prejudiced pig. Yet people think nothing of calling Trump's base deplorables. A meme on Facebook traveled about referencing Trump's base as an ignorant and uneducated lot. A 3rd cousin posted it and said it was so sad, but true. They fail to see what a prejudicial statement they have come to except. Hard to believe since we're not talking stupid.
well, because they are the educated elite, all of their emotional tantrums and prejudices can be justified. and if not they can hire someone at the NYT to write a flowery editorial to make it sound legit...
“discomfort is now considered oppressive”. Truth! That statement pretty much sums up everything. Kids today have been coddled to the point that they can’t deal with anything, be it physical, mental, or emotional discomfort.
Jung found that thinking and feeling lie on a continuum, and the MBTI (Myers Briggs Personality Inventory) is based on Jung's work. I am an INTJ (which you probably already knew, Brad). It is. sometimes confused with autism or just being a jerk. I. Describe myself as being born without the give-a-shit gene.
Come to think of it, my personal dislike of Hillary Clinton as a candidate might also have been purely emotional. She just seemed so fake compared to Trump, though maybe Trump is just the better actor and picked the better role to play (not trying to look nice and clean, and he also didn't play the religious angle like a lot of Republicans). I'm not sure I knew enough of about either sides politics to make any educated choice, but then I also don't get to vote.
To be fair, Clinton would probably just have continued the neocon agenda from the Bush and Obama administrations to the further detriment of our interest over here in Europe - all that Nation Building through bombs and drones that floods us with Refugees + the whole Ukraine mess.
Well, it certainly reflects my experiences during the Trump years, and even prior to his win. I was a registered democrat, but never would vote for Clinton. I didn't vote. I will never forget the emotional driven hate I was subjected to as a result. A life long friend sent me a mean spirited letter which maligned my character and defined me as a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, etc. I guess she forgot I had a brother whom I was very close to, and cared for the whole time he battled AIDs. He lost that battle. Her memory also slipped away and forgot I grew up in a neighborhood that became predominately black, and had developed many friendships there. True she went to college, but her cognitive skills were always a problem. Bad in math, bad in science, but a very good cheat. She also was a total elitist, since everyone without money in her book was a loser. A cousin, once a military captain, who then taught international law also went after me claiming my non vote for Kilary may cause Trump to win. We never spoke after his tirade and he died from cancer less then 2 years later. My brother is no different in his emotionally based hate for Trump either and it goes unabated all these years. Well, Rachel Maddow is his guru. The democrats also cultivated this emotional based hate and used it to their advantage, and that's how a riot became an insurrection, and that's why no one addresses the obvious which is the democrats tried to remove and elected president from office on a lie. I still don't fully understand it, but this emotional based reasoning continues in many forms during Biden's time in office, a man given to lying, pushing wars and death. He is an opportunist willing to say anything to climb the political ladder. One cousin on Facebook said that once Trump was gone Biden would be our savior. She still feels he is. I was listening to Jeffery Sachs speak eloquently on our neocon agenda not that long ago, and he was doing fine, before he interrupted himself to tell his audience he never got a good night's sleep the whole time Trump was in office. It is the Biden administration who is backing this neocon agenda as he did in our middle eastern wars, yet Sachs sees Trump as his greatest fear. I saw Liz recently say that Trump can never be president again, and this from a woman spawned by Dick Cheney.
Excellent comment, thank you for sharing!
Thanks!
Beyond excellent comment, and Brad's post is as well - can somebody please tell me if Brad's is called a substack, column, or a post, or what - I can't believe I'm truly asking this, and that it's an actual concern, maybe I need a semester at Oberlin. Am I fat?
Haha, I think all those are interchangeable. Any works!
"Brad has just posted an article on his Substack"
Thanks, got it!!
Thanks Fred, he's on substack. I understand the confusion.
You have given me a LOT to think about! I have never seen anything like it. Not even in fourth grade at recess! That they really believe it is probably the craziest thing I've ever heard - crazier than TDS itself is. There is no helping them, either. What a miserable existence they must have. Thank you for the correct terminology, as well. I hate not having the correct terminology for things and saying someone is a whack-job doesn't have quite the same impact in a discussion with normal adults.
"What a miserable existence they must have." Yep. And misery loves company.
Which must be why they made sure we got a Bidet. What amazes me is that some of them still think he's wonderful!
Good post! Yes the world is complex, but there are still some clear, binary dichotomies, such as Female - Male. And I think the Left - Right dichotomy may be basically the Consequentialist - Deontologist difference.
The leftist is the Consequentialist who believes only the outcome matters. "By any means necessary" is a leftist motto. The rightist is a Deontologist. The correct outcome of the system is what happens if people in the system interact voluntarily according to the rules of the system. So a rule of law system is right, and an authoritarian system, where the ruler decrees the outcome is left.
So the the Left - Right dichotomy may be pretty simple.
Nobody can make me feel anything. I and I alone am responsible for what I feel. If my feelings reflect reality, they're correct. If they don't, it is I who must change them. No one has the duty to change his behavior to accommodate my unrealistic feelings.
Imagine if a political leader said that in answer to each new college craziness!
Regarding the first footnote, the correct answer to a wife’s question about her weight was in a comic by Nicole Hollander many years ago: “You were too thin before, now you’re perfect.”
That's probably a safer approach than:
Wife: "Do these pants make my butt look fat?"
Husband: "No. Your butt makes your butt look fat"
Thanks for a great article on such an important topic. Everyone recognizes the deep polarization in society today, and we hear superficial calls for unity. But unity is impossible when a large group has abandoned thinking in favor of feelings.
Rational people can agree on reality, but it is impossible to get people to agree on their “feelings”. Half of marriages end in divorce, when only two people need to be on roughly the same page as far as their feelings. But somehow a society of 330 million people can function based on “feelings”?
How do we get back to a society that ignores the temper tantrums of overgrown children, and restores rational thought to our institutions?
"How do we get back to a society that ignores the temper tantrums of overgrown children, and restores rational thought to our institutions?"
Maybe a start would be to make the politicians and government regulators more accountable to the people again. Irresponsible people are not rational people.
I agree with your conclusions and unfortunately we see frequent examples of this behavior along the lines of the examples you shared. I'd like to expand the use of "feelings first" beyond the academia and American Progressives.
Let me state right out that I "self identify" as a Republican. I also identify as a realist, desiring facts and supporting evidence to match a conclusion, and freely recognizing when and where my beliefs are subjective rather than objective. Can we agree that many Republicans in office and Trump supporters also fall into the abyss of "feelings first" when stating that the 2020 elections were stolen, extending to the claims of 2022 election fraud in Arizona? No objective, factually supported evidence has come to light supporting such a conclusion.
My overall conclusion - America is fracturing into tribes driven by emotions rather than rationality - is not new. But I think it's responsible to recognize these flaws in both major parties and start to look for a solution, which may be best served by a new political paradigm that is more representative of the American majority.
yes. this touches on something that took me a few years to figure out: Trump Derangement Syndrome.
while literally no one I knew liked Trump, I had a few friends that would start vibrating with rage everytime his name was brought up. this was usually followed by something about Hitler or Putin etc.
it boils down to this...their emotional perception of Trump didn’t match the reality of Trump.
some folks are so triggered by him that he can’t just be a crude, gross reality TV star. no way. he must be a Russian spy or Worse Than Hitler.
and they can’t stand that the rest of humanity can’t see him as thus. their cognitive dissonance is torture for these people.
it’s really that simple...
Interesting that Clinton and the democrats and those that support them proclaim to be very sensitive to any manifestation of prejudice. one cannot challenge the idea that a child isn't in a position to determine he, or she wants to transition into the opposite sex at an early age, or believe that a non-trans-gendered male should not pee in a female bathroom, or compete in woman's sports, and if you do your labeled as a prejudiced pig. Yet people think nothing of calling Trump's base deplorables. A meme on Facebook traveled about referencing Trump's base as an ignorant and uneducated lot. A 3rd cousin posted it and said it was so sad, but true. They fail to see what a prejudicial statement they have come to except. Hard to believe since we're not talking stupid.
well, because they are the educated elite, all of their emotional tantrums and prejudices can be justified. and if not they can hire someone at the NYT to write a flowery editorial to make it sound legit...
They were well educated and most of all kelt apart from the slimy rest of us.
Well said. Lots to ponder. Can't wait to share and see the discussion.
“discomfort is now considered oppressive”. Truth! That statement pretty much sums up everything. Kids today have been coddled to the point that they can’t deal with anything, be it physical, mental, or emotional discomfort.
Jung found that thinking and feeling lie on a continuum, and the MBTI (Myers Briggs Personality Inventory) is based on Jung's work. I am an INTJ (which you probably already knew, Brad). It is. sometimes confused with autism or just being a jerk. I. Describe myself as being born without the give-a-shit gene.
Come to think of it, my personal dislike of Hillary Clinton as a candidate might also have been purely emotional. She just seemed so fake compared to Trump, though maybe Trump is just the better actor and picked the better role to play (not trying to look nice and clean, and he also didn't play the religious angle like a lot of Republicans). I'm not sure I knew enough of about either sides politics to make any educated choice, but then I also don't get to vote.
To be fair, Clinton would probably just have continued the neocon agenda from the Bush and Obama administrations to the further detriment of our interest over here in Europe - all that Nation Building through bombs and drones that floods us with Refugees + the whole Ukraine mess.