Politics is the Mind-Killer

[StSapphire]

Politics is the Mind-Killer - Less Wrong

People go funny in the head when talking about politics. The evolutionary reasons for this are so obvious as to be worth belaboring: In the ancestral environment, politics was a matter of life and death. And sex, and wealth, and allies, and reputation... When, today, you get into an argument about whether "we" ought to raise the minimum wage, you're executing adaptations for an ancestral environment where being on the wrong side of the argument could get you killed. Being on the right side of the argument could let you kill your hated rival!

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This article refers to concepts set up in this one: A Fable of Science and Politics - Less Wrong

This is not a news article (or even "new" at all - they're from 2007), and it could reasonably be argued that the opinions presented on that blog are not even close to neutral.

However, I've been reading through a significant amount of their material and think back to these two articles specifically many of the times when I see people who I agree with supporting flat-out bad arguments simply because someone on the "other side" argued its opposite, and what I would presume is the inverse as well.

Just thought I'd share as well as seeing if anyone has any thoughts.

 

[jillio]

I see it happening day in and day out. It is called partisanship. It is all some people know.