Two Psychological Illusions are Fueling Our Differences On the evening of September 11, 2001, hours after the terrorist attacks that left nearly 3,000 people dead, Republican and Democratic senators stood on the steps of the Capitol to participate together in a moment of silence. When that moment of silence came to a close, the senators — who had engaged in plenty of partisan politics days before — spontaneously began to sing “God Bless America.” On…
Comments closedCategory: Politics
Judge Brent Kavanaugh’s nomination raised lots of questions about how to deal with uncertainty in the appointment approval process for the Supreme Court. Are you an “innocent until proven guilty or a “above reproach” type? Maybe somewhere in between? Here’s an interactive tool to help you inform your position based on how you feel about the relative value of the relevant outcomes. Feedback appreciated!
Comments closedWe will never know for sure whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. But there is a way that can help us all think a bit more rationally when it comes to deciding how to proceed, and to surface the sources of our disagreements. Let’s with a couple of things on which we’d probably all agree: if we knew for certain that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Ford (or anyone else), his appointment to…
Comments closedThe only thing standing between us and the end of this seemingly endless presidential campaign is a handful of presidential debates. Since the 1988 race, debates between presidential candidates have been organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The CPD was formed to ensure “that presidential debates between the leading candidates be made a permanent part of the electoral process.” The CPD employs two hurdles for participation: candidates must be on the ballots of…
Comments closedThe Pew Research Center put together a fascinating interactive chart showing how the US has become more polarized over time. A couple of points of interest to me… after the graphic. Here’s what I found especially interesting: Twenty years ago, there was enormous overlap between the two main parties in terms of political views. In 1994 23% of Republicans were more liberal than the median Democrat; 17% of Democrats were more conservative than the median Republican. That overlap has shrunk tremendously…
Comments closed