LIBERALS SMARTER THAN CONSERVATIVES?

Via nakedcapitalism we get this article supplied by Science Daily. It cites a study that seeks to explain the political divisions that we see around us. According the London School of Economics study, liberals are smarter than conservatives because - from an evolutionary perspective - liberals (which includes atheists) have a firmer grasp on the world around them. The study argues that ...

More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history ...

What this means is that in the past we used to only cling to each other in family, tribal or small communal units. We did so because it was necessary (protection), comforting (reassuring) and the only world we could know. Over time we've been genetically programmed to put family, friends, and community first. This makes communal traditions, like marriage rituals, important because they perpetuate and enforce clan patterns. Both liberals and conservatives are genetically wired this way.

But then there's a split. And this is where the chaos begins.

As our civilizations have gotten bigger and evolved over time our "tribal" units have had to adapt to others, especially as technology has enhanced our capacity to communicate (starting with the printing press) and travel (starting with wind sails and navigation equipment). Throughout time people have either retrenched, and embraced what is familiar and comforting, or they have tried to understand novelty and other developments that require constant reassessment. The former become conservative, and pursue comforting patterns. The latter pursue activities outside of their comfort zone, like caring for "genetically unrelated strangers."

While conservatives might mock the "it takes a village" mentality, the goal of liberals is to take the tribal and communal mind-set to the next level. The whole must be cared for and made better if we are all to do better. This concept is "evolutionary novel" and liberal. Or as the study suggests ...

What this means is that as your world and your perspective opens up you tend to adapt to things you don't necessarily understand.

The study even taps into the whole fear-mongering side of conservatives. The authors start with the premise that humans "are evolutionarily designed to be paranoid, and they believe in God because they are paranoid" (as this study shows, both conservatives and liberals who consider themselves religious are driven by this premise). Then the authors suggest that God, or religion, is a defense mechanism designed to help us understand what we don't know. Over time, as science has unwrapped mysteries that once befuddled us liberals have learned to deal with a world that may not be driven by "original sin" or the constant threat of God's punishment.

For example, as we have learned more about tectonic plates and weather patterns it has become easier to abandon the notion that devastating earthquakes, or every catastrophic hurricane, are a product of "God's wrath". While this may be entirely too glib, simply put, liberals embrace the science, while conservatives struggle with it.

It really should come as no surprise then that Pat Robertson and other conservatives invoke their version of God (the Creation Museum in Kentucky is a must see) whenever they want to explain natural disasters, human folly, and other events.

Depending on your take, this study can go a long way in explaining the uni-color tone of the conservative Tea Party movement. The study suggests the group is only comfortable with people who live in a world only they know (seriously, they think they're the only ones who understand America). The study might also help us understand the fear- and hate-mongering that comes with the Republican Party's terror drenched, immigrant- and gay-bashing, approach to politics. There is an innate need for conservatives to fear "outsiders".

In all cases, both groups sense history is passing them by, and it scares the hell out of them. For them it's better to fight novelty and invoke God, rather than understand the complexity. Simply put, if they're not just emerging from the medieval castle walls, conservatives may be blinded by the light of intellectual enlightenment. Clinging to the good 'ol days helps conservatives cope with change.

This is an interesting study. I encourage you to check it out. I'll leave it at that for now.

- Mark