(2013)
also (Plos One)
Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
41–50 of 98 posts
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t understand why this comment is made as frequently as it is. Do you think the authors of the paper aren’t aware of this fact? Do you think they didn’t think of this when they did their research?
I imagine that the authors are so likely to be aware of this fact that you can take for granted that they are. Having said that, there is absolutely a valid question of did they incorrectly rationalize their approach, or rely on studies that did so, such that they in their own minds thought they addressed the issue when in reality they hadn't. My sense is that parent comment to which you replied probably didn't read…
What you say is true. I like the way you phrased things. What you write about the authors potentially having a bias that blinds them is nicely put. If someone has reason to think this I’d welcome reading their commentary.
I am tired with people just saying that correlation does not always imply causation. As if this is somehow insightful. Whenever I see this I think less of the person who writes it. It’s as if they don’t have enough common sense to assume that authors of a study that relies on statistical analysis don’t know this.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#43There has been some psychological research which hints at this relation of how diseases from outsiders bias decisions against those communities. The literature seems to suggest that it's an evolutionary response to protect the community and these biases are difficult to detect because they are so innate in how we assess risk and process threats to a group. I was just saying the other day that we're one Coronovirus-li…
I'm actually surprised that we haven't had a government try to access that kind of data. They've been generally going at it for all kinds of "small" stuff, burglary, riots, and they're not trying to get their hands on it to combat a pandemic?
It might happen eventually. Possible explanation for why it hasn't happened yet: it's influenced by how the government employee views their relationship to the individual.
I work with very detailed patient data in a state health department. It's been drilled into me that patient privacy is above everything. Everyone I work with is out to help these people. We would be ashamed if we looked at, let alone made decisions with, data beyond what was necessary.
Law enforcement is different. One of their major tasks is to gather data. Data on people suspected of a crime. Or data from innocent people that can lead to suspects.
Maybe convincing public health to push the boundaries of collecting personal data to combat this disease will be as hard as convincing law enforcement to be less gung-ho. It goes against long history of professional ethics.
I have no sources, so take it with a tub of salt.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s seems especially reasonable to assume if we look at the divide between North Korea and South Korea, a division that has only existed since 1950. South Korea has had increasingly better governance and increasingly less parasites, in contrast to North Korea.
South Korea really took off after General Park Chung-hee seized power, he built the economy and modernized the country. One of the great success stories is the praziquantel story. Korea had a schistosomiasis problem; they developed a process to synthesize praziquantel cheaply (the original Bayer process was more complicated) as part of the eradication campaign. That was in the late 60s. The Park dictatorship was over…
And even up until 1972 the command economy in the north and the (more) liberalized economy in the south hadn't really diverged. NK's growth slowed as they lost the support of the USSR and went negative during the collapse. Not really what you'd expect if authoritarianism was the cause of economic collapse, but exactly what you'd expect if during that time, a hostile state ascended from superiority to supremacy.
It's absurd to view the Koreas in isolation since they were both extremely obviously the subjects of a proxy war in which one side lost decisively. The two countries' economies were driven by export and the US and USSR were by far their largest partners. That wasn't an accident.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#45The elephant in the room is almost certainly that poverty causes both parasites and authoritarianism
Yeah, I have to be skeptical when a study is titled in such a way that your mind latches on to a seductively fascinating causation hypothesis ("parasites cause authoritarianism!") when in reality it's just a correlation, and that correlation has other much more banal explanations.
The title states that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism, not causes it. That's not a causation hypothesis.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#46The elephant in the room is almost certainly that poverty causes both parasites and authoritarianism
Or is it authoritarianism that causes poverty and parasites?
The article notes that famine also predicts authoritarianism, which is predominantly caused by things outside human control like weather and plant diseases. Even the Great Chinese Famine was started by much of the agricultural land getting no rain, though the authoritarian government's response was what led to most of the deaths.
This would say that the criseses that impact the poor are what lead to authoritarianism. You need the support of the poor to grab power for yourself, but it's hard to make supporting such a cause appealing unless death is the alternative.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#47A large exception would be Russia, and to a lesser extent, all of Eastern Europe. The extreme cold in Russia helps suppress parasites, yet it has historically been authoritarian. It’s also worth noting some of those countries that for awhile provided interesting exceptions, such as Liberia from 1860 to 1990, a famously free country though surrounded by authoritarian territories.
Even Russians know that there is Russia and there is Moscow. It's like two different countries. Moscow has 10% of Russia's population and 90% of wealth (probably even more). Moscow has moderate climate. This winter temperature was above 0C most of the time (though this winter was the warmest in centuries).
Though I don't believe in that parasite bullshit. The only "parasites" that cause authoritarianism are a parasitic thoughts and parasitic mindset of the population. This is a dead circle since creative people leave authoritarian countries all the time (or being killed if they try to counter the system).
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I have to be skeptical when a study is titled in such a way that your mind latches on to a seductively fascinating causation hypothesis ("parasites cause authoritarianism!") when in reality it's just a correlation, and that correlation has other much more banal explanations.
The title states that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism, not causes it. That's not a causation hypothesis.
My point is that the way it's phrased guides the mind to jump to a particular conclusion.
Re: Evidence that parasite prevalence predicts authoritarianism (2013)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been wondering if there's a correlation between authoritarianism and lead pollution. Like how leaded gasoline seems to correlate with violence and crime. Then that cohort (boomers, more or less) became the largest voting block and changed politics. In my grossly oversimplified worldview, authoritarianism is shorthand for heightened fear response and lowered empathy.
> shorthand for heightened fear response and lowered empathy Isn't it plausible that those are related? Fear takes the driver seat and pushes empathy into the backseat.
I wish I knew. It seems like a state of fear overrides other behaviors. But I have no idea what a population's "normal" level of empathy is.