The essay is a joy. Yet maybe we want the sense of progress as much as the conservative wants the sense of safety. We both are addicted to endless conflict, as you imply. Reading this felt slightly heretical, as if it were a gentle reminder that the entire point has been misplaced in the unending struggle.
Utterly brilliant, Alex. Your boosting of strategic anchoring as a way to calm overexcited amygdalae was especially sweet! A larger list of specific (political) examples would be most edifying to help really grasp the incredible possibilities!
When you ref'd that Yale study about how creating an imaginary cocoon of safety would happily swaddle triggered amygdalae, temporarily turning their owners into liberals...the picture jumped into my head that just shutting off FOX News for a day or two would accomplish the same thing.
At the very least, Harris pushing the building of the Wall would utterly suck the wind from the sails of the most potent conservative campaign issue this cycle.
For example, gun violence. The current highly polarized paradigm of liberals screaming to take away guns, triggering conservative amygdalae to reflexively hold on even tighter. Which drowns out even common sense proposals like background checks & red flag laws.
Strategic anchoring might address the issue thusly: "We Liberals want to end all resistance to, and 100% support the right to gun ownership when a few teeny tiny conditions are added to the mix [add policy positions here], to ensure that all proud American gun owners can bear arms in a "well-regulated" manner, as the 2nd Amendment so patriotically stipulates. U-S-A! U-S-A!"
Indeed. I touch on that in one of the footnotes but "Progress" very often can be seen as totally maladaptive, antithetical to Progress, given legitimate environmental pressures like poverty, war, weather, etc,
Always years ahead of the zeitgeist
The essay is a joy. Yet maybe we want the sense of progress as much as the conservative wants the sense of safety. We both are addicted to endless conflict, as you imply. Reading this felt slightly heretical, as if it were a gentle reminder that the entire point has been misplaced in the unending struggle.
Glad you picked up on that. Its important that liberals understand the unchecked liberal impulse to see everything as similar to oneself is psychotic.
yes, that’s what psychosis is, I suppose
Utterly brilliant, Alex. Your boosting of strategic anchoring as a way to calm overexcited amygdalae was especially sweet! A larger list of specific (political) examples would be most edifying to help really grasp the incredible possibilities!
When you ref'd that Yale study about how creating an imaginary cocoon of safety would happily swaddle triggered amygdalae, temporarily turning their owners into liberals...the picture jumped into my head that just shutting off FOX News for a day or two would accomplish the same thing.
At the very least, Harris pushing the building of the Wall would utterly suck the wind from the sails of the most potent conservative campaign issue this cycle.
I agree regarding a larger list! That will definitely be on my mind.
Please. And even break it down by policy issue.
For example, gun violence. The current highly polarized paradigm of liberals screaming to take away guns, triggering conservative amygdalae to reflexively hold on even tighter. Which drowns out even common sense proposals like background checks & red flag laws.
Strategic anchoring might address the issue thusly: "We Liberals want to end all resistance to, and 100% support the right to gun ownership when a few teeny tiny conditions are added to the mix [add policy positions here], to ensure that all proud American gun owners can bear arms in a "well-regulated" manner, as the 2nd Amendment so patriotically stipulates. U-S-A! U-S-A!"
Wow!! That is some piece of writing! Thanks. I’ll work on it…😊
Indeed. I touch on that in one of the footnotes but "Progress" very often can be seen as totally maladaptive, antithetical to Progress, given legitimate environmental pressures like poverty, war, weather, etc,