From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Oct 06 2002 - 22:54:48 BST
Sam and all:
Sam said:
On the intellectually able part you said: "If progressive and conservative
ideologies represent intellectual and social values respectively, then by
definition conservatives are, in some sense, intellectually disabled or
rather UNable."
I agree with you that if you grant the definition, your conclusion follows.
So let me put this part of the question a little differently. Is it your
view that those who are Conservative (politicians/ voters/ sympathisers) are
unenlightened?
(By unenlightened I mean that (very generally speaking) they view the world
through a lens that has been effectively shown as false, and so therefore
the question of why they hold the views they do is a matter for
psychological or moral investigation, not further rational debate. Their
view cannot be rationally or intellectually defended, therefore the fact
that a person holds such a view needs to be explained by non-rational
factors.)
DMB:
I see what you're getting at and think its a good question. There is a
strong correlation between ideology and intelligence/education. For example,
the difference between KKK members and civil libertarians is striking. They
differ by scores of IQ points and more than a couple years of education, but
that's only part of the story. There are lots of other reasons for this
disability, but more than anything else I think its a matter of overall
psychological development. The connection between cognitive development and
one's more basic emotional needs is becoming more clear everyday. And we now
understand that childhood trauma not only causes neurosis and such, but also
impares congnitive function. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we don't
choose our ideologies off the shelf like so much breakfast cereal, rather
one's worldview is directly related to one's level of development. There is
no such choice. Its a reflection of one's development, a manifestation of
who and what you are. Do the unenlightened hold conservative views? "That
was the Victorian stance, affecting some romantic notion of social quality
without any real intellectual penetration of the meaning of Quality."
"Victorians repressed the truth whenever it seemed unacceptable, like
when..." "With Victorian spirits atrophied and their minds hemmed in by
social restaints, all avenues to any quality other than social quality were
closed." Yea, I guess you could say that.
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