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'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

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Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#21

Post by jakeva »

2trill2spill wrote: post #9
falcolas wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lives in this "Intermountain West", I've never heard of the "Intermountain West" term before your post. It seems like a term that someone came up with, but it's never caught on. I've typically heard of us referred to as the Western US (as opposed to the West Coast).

I hadn't heard of the term either until moving to Utah, I noticed quite a few orgs/business with the term intermountain in it, like intermountain healthcare. But when I was living in the midwest we just referred to the mountain region as "out west".

I'm from Utah, my parents ran a business with the word 'intermountain' in it but I remember thinking it was a strange word. And (aside from intermountain healthcare, which I doubt I would have remembered without your comment) I don't think it's a word I've heard or seen used otherwise.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#22

Post by [deleted] »

falcolas wrote: post #6
2trill2spill wrote: post #2

> Now, well into the 21st century, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have detected remnants of the pioneer personality in US populations of once inhospitable mountainous territory, particularly in the Midwest. As a person who was born and raised in the Midwest[1], just where are these mountainous regions they speak of in the Midwest? There's the black hills[2] and that's pretty much it. I wonder what def…

As someone who lives in this "Intermountain West", I've never heard of the "Intermountain West" term before your post. It seems like a term that someone came up with, but it's never caught on. I've typically heard of us referred to as the Western US (as opposed to the West Coast).

[deleted]

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#23

Post by crocodiletears »

2trill2spill wrote: post #2

> Now, well into the 21st century, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have detected remnants of the pioneer personality in US populations of once inhospitable mountainous territory, particularly in the Midwest. As a person who was born and raised in the Midwest[1], just where are these mountainous regions they speak of in the Midwest? There's the black hills[2] and that's pretty much it. I wonder what def…

Pretty sure 'midwest' has taken over as a more polite version of 'flyover country' in the minds of many in our more uhh elite institutions.

I'm sure we're not worth distinguishing. Outside of the cities, we're all just barbarian backwaters.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#24

Post by chrisco255 »

baddox wrote: post #20
2trill2spill wrote: post #2

> Now, well into the 21st century, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have detected remnants of the pioneer personality in US populations of once inhospitable mountainous territory, particularly in the Midwest. As a person who was born and raised in the Midwest[1], just where are these mountainous regions they speak of in the Midwest? There's the black hills[2] and that's pretty much it. I wonder what def…

How about the Ozarks? They may not be the most visually impressive mountains, but I would at least consider the St. Francois Mountains in southern Missouri to be part of the Midwest.

The Ozarks extend into Arkansas, and I would say that's sort of where the south meets the Midwest. The people from the Ozarks, from my touring of the area in Arkansas, with the strong folk music tradition and the diet, remind me more of Appalachia than out West.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#25

Post by TulliusCicero »

chmod600 wrote: post #5

This reads like the scientific version of a stereotype. Maybe kind of interesting, but extremely prone to misinterpetation, over-generalization, and potentially prejudice.

Most non-spiteful stereotypes have some truth to them.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#26

Post by chmod600 »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #14
chmod600 wrote: post #5

This reads like the scientific version of a stereotype. Maybe kind of interesting, but extremely prone to misinterpetation, over-generalization, and potentially prejudice.

Certainly prone to those kinds of things, but I think there are interesting questions that can only be answered by this kind of analysis. (For example, it seems plausibly related to why American gun culture is so much stronger and more popular than in other countries, even those with comparably permissive gun ownership laws.)

I'm skepical of putting a scientific veneer over such analysis. If that's the point you'd like to make, go ahead and make it, but leave science out of it.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#27

Post by supernova87a »

Well, to whatever extent this is true, I'd like to know --

1) Whether this is something very special to the US, versus happens in every country, and is a fact of life in remote / non-city areas, and

2) Does this call for a certain approach to how to effectively govern or design public policy if there is a east/west or city/suburban vs. rural social divide?

Attitudes in themselves are not a problem. Inability to have people agree on almost anything to move forward with government and economic life because there is a permanent divide in social/political climate is.

If a married couple cannot agree on finances, friends, raising kids, etc. ever, it's not pleasant for anyone.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#28

Post by briga »

winphone1974 wrote: post #17
briga wrote: post #8

The early settlers of North American were in some sense selected by personality. It must have taken a certain sort of risk-taking personality to give up everything and climb aboard a crowded rickety passenger ship for a month-long journey to a vast and mostly uninhabited land. The people who arrived in America and decided to take it one step further by moving away from the crowded cities of the east into the vast and…

So I moved to Calgary, AB, Canada around 2000 along with a huge number of other Canadians and people from around the world primarily as economic migrants. The city has changed dramatically since then but I noticed that it attracted a lot of people with a similar pioneer style attitude; you had to be willing to move far away from your family mostly for your job, and the companies here had a very western "DIY" approach…

Moving across the country ain't what it used to be--now pretty much anyone with money for an airplane ticket can do it with little to no risk. Calgary is a very cosmopolitan and modern city today, but I imagine it was pretty wild pre-1900. Alberta is still in its early stages of development, so you can definitely still find pockets of the Western mentality left

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#29

Post by RobRivera »

crocodiletears wrote: post #23
2trill2spill wrote: post #2

> Now, well into the 21st century, researchers led by the University of Cambridge have detected remnants of the pioneer personality in US populations of once inhospitable mountainous territory, particularly in the Midwest. As a person who was born and raised in the Midwest[1], just where are these mountainous regions they speak of in the Midwest? There's the black hills[2] and that's pretty much it. I wonder what def…

Pretty sure 'midwest' has taken over as a more polite version of 'flyover country' in the minds of many in our more uhh elite institutions. I'm sure we're not worth distinguishing. Outside of the cities, we're all just barbarian backwaters.

Its more fun rolling as a barb anyways.

Re: 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

#30

Post by ColanR »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #25
chmod600 wrote: post #5

This reads like the scientific version of a stereotype. Maybe kind of interesting, but extremely prone to misinterpetation, over-generalization, and potentially prejudice.

Most non-spiteful stereotypes have some truth to them.

I think the caveat may not even be needed. [Many] stereotypes have some truth to them.
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