https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22583594
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Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
31–40 of 72 posts
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#32I find it curious that in our current political climate / party system, liberals seem to be more okay with mandatory lockdown procedures, whereas conservatives are pushing back. The latter may be partially due to prior ideological commitments [0], but it's also somewhat counter-intuitive considering the known correlation between authoritarianism and germaphobia. It may be that our two-party dynamic, being focused pri…
I agree with your post, and I've marveled at various perceived hypocrisies on both sides. I acknowledge that in some cases there is no actual hypocrisy, just nuanced views that don't fit a simple mold.
But I also believe that partisanship for the sake of partisanship is more important to many people on both sides than any kind of deeper ideological consistency or integrity.
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're lower on the hierarchy of needs. If you're afraid you're going to get killed or starve you don't care about abstract things like freedom of artistic expression.
Whole history of the Soviet Union is a living proof that theory of hierarchy of needs is bs.
Can you explain what you mean a little more?
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#34I find it curious that in our current political climate / party system, liberals seem to be more okay with mandatory lockdown procedures, whereas conservatives are pushing back. The latter may be partially due to prior ideological commitments [0], but it's also somewhat counter-intuitive considering the known correlation between authoritarianism and germaphobia. It may be that our two-party dynamic, being focused pri…
Merely exercising state powers is not authoritarianism. There are other necessary aspects that must exist. If a popularly-elected government orders a curfew that is not necessarily authoritarianism.
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#35I find it curious that in our current political climate / party system, liberals seem to be more okay with mandatory lockdown procedures, whereas conservatives are pushing back. The latter may be partially due to prior ideological commitments [0], but it's also somewhat counter-intuitive considering the known correlation between authoritarianism and germaphobia. It may be that our two-party dynamic, being focused pri…
restating a prior sentiment: such dichotomies--left/right, authoritarian/libertarian--and their cross-products are cognitive traps. they inhibit understanding and obscure solution pathways.
so don't worry about the axis affiliations and critique the ideas themselves (as you imply you already do by not judging a priori).
fear-driven decision environments (as with the current pandemic) are ripe for power seizures (even if just incrementally). we should remain vigilant against that.
afaict, most US residents are following governmental requests (like physical distancing, washing hands, and self-quarantining when sick) because it's a reasonable and prudent response to a virus that's still relatively unknown but has the potential to be bad, not because we're coerced by said government. those admonitions provide (sometimes sparse) evidence, information, and rationale for doing so, rather than mainly relying on force.
that force is held back by governmental units because of the threat of backlash by residents. this keeps their power in check. don't give that up.
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a good thing there is no history before the coronavirus. Not to mention, the most authoritarian large country, China, is responsible for this whole thing.
"It's a good thing there is no history before the coronavirus." There's plenty of history and plenty of examples. "China is responsible for this whole thing" This is actually pretty racist. More importantly, China's 'authoritarianism' has nothing to do with the origin of the outbreak.
>"China is responsible for this whole thing"
This is actually pretty racist
China is in fact responsible for the global pandemic. How is this racist?
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a good thing there is no history before the coronavirus. Not to mention, the most authoritarian large country, China, is responsible for this whole thing.
"It's a good thing there is no history before the coronavirus." There's plenty of history and plenty of examples. "China is responsible for this whole thing" This is actually pretty racist. More importantly, China's 'authoritarianism' has nothing to do with the origin of the outbreak.
>China's 'authoritarianism' has nothing to do with the origin of the outbreak.
China's authoritarianism has normalized silencing of dissent, independent thought, open communication with murder or threat of murder. This cost the world valuable time.
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's beyond reasonable dispute that freedom and democracy work better than authoritarianism on pretty much every dimension. If there's one thing that both right and left agree on, it's this.
Wow - not only is this completely false, but it's also definitely not an idea that has popular consensus. It's easily proven: Singapore, South Korea - considerably 'more authoritarian' have successfully contained Coronavirus. America, UK, France - being devastated by Coronavirus. The intellectual arrogance is staggering. Literally, right in front of your eyes, you can see the central leadership of these places on ful…
South Korea is an extremely democratic country. They have one of the highest voting rates of any country and have a very strong culture of protesting against injustice. The reason they are doing OK is because they rose up to remove their former president, who was the daughter of the former dictator and who was abusing her power, and replaced her with a much less corrupt leader. The entire country is working together from the bottom up instead of being forced to do things from the top down. Koreans feel allegiance to their country, rather than their leader (although their president is fairly popular among most people), so when they are asked to wear masks and such they do so willingly. I guess I don't see how caring about your neighbors is authoritarian.
The US actually has a problem because our government is a bit too centralized. The state governors are often afraid to take initiative because Trump may withhold resources if they don't go along with his narrative. We also put too much faith in the CDC and FDA to develop tests quickly.
Strong leadership is different from authoritarianism. Non-authoritarian leaders produce results by inspiring their communities to help willingly. Authoritarian leaders have to micro-manage everything, which can sometimes work, but fails miserably if they are not competent. We are paying the price for electing an authoritarian who values obedience and loyalty over everything else.
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#39I find it curious that in our current political climate / party system, liberals seem to be more okay with mandatory lockdown procedures, whereas conservatives are pushing back. The latter may be partially due to prior ideological commitments [0], but it's also somewhat counter-intuitive considering the known correlation between authoritarianism and germaphobia. It may be that our two-party dynamic, being focused pri…
restating a prior sentiment: such dichotomies--left/right, authoritarian/libertarian--and their cross-products are cognitive traps. they inhibit understanding and obscure solution pathways. so don't worry about the axis affiliations and critique the ideas themselves (as you imply you already do by not judging a priori ). fear-driven decision environments (as with the current pandemic) are ripe for power seizures (eve…
>that force is held back by governmental units because of the threat of backlash by residents. this keeps their power in check. don't give that up.
You seem to be implying that, absent such a threat, the government would be employing force against citizens regardless of their compliance, simply because they could get away with it. If so, is it not more likely that restraint is due to the purpose of the state's monopoly on force being to coerce compliance, and as such is simply not necessary when the public is already compliant?
In other words, that the government is holding itself in check far more than the public is?
Re: Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
"a strongman willing to swoop in and take decisive action does sound appealing" Or maybe a group of people facing existential calamity actually do need fairly strong leadership? Taiwan and especially Singapore might be characterized as much less 'liberal democratic' than the US, and they have already tamed coronavirus while the US flails and a lot of people are dying. Maybe that's not a perfect example, but it surely…
That's true. I'm normally very anti-authoritarian but these days I applaud when police come by and shut down public gatherings due to COVID-19. I think everyone is more comfortable with authoritarianism during this crisis. To be fair, there is a place for decisive action during emergency, as long as those emergency powers don't last forever. However, long term, authoritarian leadership makes things worse due to lack…
I'm not sure that police shutting down parties is always authoritarianism. In the present case we have public health authorities issuing very sound and science based banning on large gatherings, done under temporary emergency authority during a declared emergency, all in compliance with established law and long known medical knowledge of epidemic management. These orders are then enforced by police. Is this really then an authoritarian government that operates this way?
It seems to me the authoritarian way would be that the strong man issues an edict which may or may not be legally allowed or based on reason, and then his stooges, which may be the police or military, enforce it in a draconian manner, without regard to what the written law may permit.