Politics is sometimes hard to discuss. Partly since most of us seem to unconsciously take political matters with the same degree of seriousness as our forefathers used to, because we use the same mode of thought as they used to. Back then, a bad political choice or alliance, could mean death, while the normal cost today in a democratic society might be ridicule for having supported the losing team or position.
I know this isn’t that relevant to your post, but I kind of think the evo-psych explanation for why people care about politics is really stupid.
Here’s a better explanation:
In America, if you do not vote, you’re considered a bad person.
If you vote without being knowledgable about the issues and having a coherent political belief system, you are considered a bad person.
Therefore, if you aren’t knowledgable about political issues or don’t have a coherent political belief system, you are considered a bad person.
Or here’s another one: when something is on the news a lot, people will care about it even if it doesn’t affect them at all and isn’t really inherently interesting (the royal wedding, the Casey Anthony trial, celebrity gossip). Politics is probably the topic most heavily featured on the news. Therefore lots of people will care about it.
I know this isn’t that relevant to your post, but I kind of think the evo-psych explanation for why people care about politics is really stupid.
Do you mean that this particular evo-psych explanation is really stupid? That I can understand, since it does include burdensome details and questionable, overly simple specific claims. But in general people’s political instincts being explainable by evo-psych seems to be among the most obvious and least controversial applications.
Here’s a better explanation:
In America, if you do not vote, you’re considered a bad person.
People in countries that are not the USA have similar political instincts to those in the USA. This includes countries like Australia where people are motivated to vote by legal obligation instead of shame and countries that aren’t democracies at all so voting doesn’t come into it. This explanation is not better. It is a specific explanation for a phenomenon that is more general. Even apart from this it strikes me as an implausible just so story.
Or here’s another one: when something is on the news a lot, people will care about it even if it doesn’t affect them at all and isn’t really inherently interesting (the royal wedding, the Casey Anthony trial, celebrity gossip).
This strongly suggests to me that the bias towards spending time on politics has an evolutionary psychology cause. Interest in gossip about high status figures, shaming and criticising targets, calling for punishment, advocating policies for the distribution of resources and privileges and advocating people or groups as deserving of allegiance. It’s all part of the monkey social hierarchy game.
The explanation isn’t for why people care about politics per se, but that we care so deeply for politics that we respond to adversity much, much harsher in political environments than in others. Or, our reactions are disproportionate to the actual risks involved in it. People become angry when discussing if something should be privatized or if taxes should be raised. If one believes that there is some general policies that most benefit from, it’s really bad to become angry at those whom you really should be allies with.
That’s different from what I’m used to here in Sweden. For most people here it’s accepted to not vote—if you put a blank vote in the ballot box. Even though most vote (more than 80%) it’s not considered bad to not have a political opinion, you can just say you don’t understand enough. In the bad all old days it seems that there was something of a taboo to ask others what they voted for, which made it easy to skip discussing politics.
The explanation isn’t for why people care about politics per se, but that we care so deeply for politics that we respond to adversity much, much harsher in political environments than in others. Or, our reactions are disproportionate to the actual risks involved in it. People become angry when discussing if something should be privatized or if taxes should be raised. If one believes that there is some general policies that most benefit from, it’s really bad to become angry at those whom you really should be allies with.
I feel like many people (especially the type of people who discuss politics) have strong political opinions that aren’t rationally justified. When their beliefs are attacked they get emotional because they can’t back it up with logic.
Sure, I agree. And I’d add that even those who can show reasonable arguments for their beliefs can get emotional and start to view the discussion as a fight. In most cases I’d guess that those who engage in the debate are partly responsible by trying to trick the other(s) into traps and having to admit a mistake, by trying to get them riled up or by being somewhat rude when dismissing some arguments.
I know this isn’t that relevant to your post, but I kind of think the evo-psych explanation for why people care about politics is really stupid.
Here’s a better explanation:
In America, if you do not vote, you’re considered a bad person.
If you vote without being knowledgable about the issues and having a coherent political belief system, you are considered a bad person.
Therefore, if you aren’t knowledgable about political issues or don’t have a coherent political belief system, you are considered a bad person.
Or here’s another one: when something is on the news a lot, people will care about it even if it doesn’t affect them at all and isn’t really inherently interesting (the royal wedding, the Casey Anthony trial, celebrity gossip). Politics is probably the topic most heavily featured on the news. Therefore lots of people will care about it.
Do you mean that this particular evo-psych explanation is really stupid? That I can understand, since it does include burdensome details and questionable, overly simple specific claims. But in general people’s political instincts being explainable by evo-psych seems to be among the most obvious and least controversial applications.
People in countries that are not the USA have similar political instincts to those in the USA. This includes countries like Australia where people are motivated to vote by legal obligation instead of shame and countries that aren’t democracies at all so voting doesn’t come into it. This explanation is not better. It is a specific explanation for a phenomenon that is more general. Even apart from this it strikes me as an implausible just so story.
This strongly suggests to me that the bias towards spending time on politics has an evolutionary psychology cause. Interest in gossip about high status figures, shaming and criticising targets, calling for punishment, advocating policies for the distribution of resources and privileges and advocating people or groups as deserving of allegiance. It’s all part of the monkey social hierarchy game.
The explanation isn’t for why people care about politics per se, but that we care so deeply for politics that we respond to adversity much, much harsher in political environments than in others. Or, our reactions are disproportionate to the actual risks involved in it. People become angry when discussing if something should be privatized or if taxes should be raised. If one believes that there is some general policies that most benefit from, it’s really bad to become angry at those whom you really should be allies with.
That’s different from what I’m used to here in Sweden. For most people here it’s accepted to not vote—if you put a blank vote in the ballot box. Even though most vote (more than 80%) it’s not considered bad to not have a political opinion, you can just say you don’t understand enough. In the bad all old days it seems that there was something of a taboo to ask others what they voted for, which made it easy to skip discussing politics.
I feel like many people (especially the type of people who discuss politics) have strong political opinions that aren’t rationally justified. When their beliefs are attacked they get emotional because they can’t back it up with logic.
Sure, I agree. And I’d add that even those who can show reasonable arguments for their beliefs can get emotional and start to view the discussion as a fight. In most cases I’d guess that those who engage in the debate are partly responsible by trying to trick the other(s) into traps and having to admit a mistake, by trying to get them riled up or by being somewhat rude when dismissing some arguments.