Inhaltsangabe
America is in civic chaos, its politics rife with conspiracy theories and false information. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the rise, while scientists, universities, and news organizations are viewed with increasing mistrust. Its citizens reject scientific evidence on climate change and vaccinations while embracing myths of impending apocalypse. And then there is Donald Trump, a presidential candidate who won the support of millions of conservative Christians despite having no moral or political convictions. What is going on?
The answer, according to J. Eric Oliver and Thomas J. Wood, can be found in the most important force shaping American politics today: human intuition. Much of what seems to be irrational in American politics arises from the growing divide in how its citizens make sense of the world. On one side are rationalists. They use science and reason to understand reality. On the other side are intuitionists. They rely on gut feelings and instincts as their guide to the world. Intuitionists believe in ghosts and End Times prophecies. They embrace conspiracy theories, disbelieve experts, and distrust the media. They are stridently nationalistic and deeply authoritarian in their outlook. And they are the most enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump. The primary reason why Trump captured the presidency was that he spoke about politics in a way that resonated with how Intuitionists perceive the world. The Intuitionist divide has also become a threat to the American way of life. A generation ago, intuitionists were dispersed across the political spectrum, when most Americans believed in both God and science. Today, intuitionism is ideologically tilted toward the political right. Modern conservatism has become an Intuitionist movement, defined by conspiracy theories, strident nationalism, and hostility to basic civic norms.
Enchanted America is a clarion call to rationalists of all political persuasions to reach beyond the minority and speak to intuitionists in a way they understand. The values and principles that define American democracy are at stake.
The answer, according to J. Eric Oliver and Thomas J. Wood, can be found in the most important force shaping American politics today: human intuition. Much of what seems to be irrational in American politics arises from the growing divide in how its citizens make sense of the world. On one side are rationalists. They use science and reason to understand reality. On the other side are intuitionists. They rely on gut feelings and instincts as their guide to the world. Intuitionists believe in ghosts and End Times prophecies. They embrace conspiracy theories, disbelieve experts, and distrust the media. They are stridently nationalistic and deeply authoritarian in their outlook. And they are the most enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump. The primary reason why Trump captured the presidency was that he spoke about politics in a way that resonated with how Intuitionists perceive the world. The Intuitionist divide has also become a threat to the American way of life. A generation ago, intuitionists were dispersed across the political spectrum, when most Americans believed in both God and science. Today, intuitionism is ideologically tilted toward the political right. Modern conservatism has become an Intuitionist movement, defined by conspiracy theories, strident nationalism, and hostility to basic civic norms.
Enchanted America is a clarion call to rationalists of all political persuasions to reach beyond the minority and speak to intuitionists in a way they understand. The values and principles that define American democracy are at stake.
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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor
J. Eric Oliver is professor of political science at the University of Chicago. Thomas J. Wood is assistant professor of political science at Ohio State University.
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Enchanted America
How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics
By J. Eric Oliver, Thomas J. WoodThe University of Chicago Press
Copyright © 2018 The University of Chicago
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-226-57847-7All rights reserved.
Contents
List of Illustrations,
Preface,
Introduction: You Believe in Reason, and I Believe in the Bible,
CHAPTER 1 If There's No Monster in the Closet, Then Why Am I Afraid?,
CHAPTER 2 Taking Measure of Our Intuitions,
CHAPTER 3 Who Is an Intuitionist?,
CHAPTER 4 Intuitionists and Ideologues,
CHAPTER 5 Truthers and Trumpenvolk,
CHAPTER 6 Feeling White and Hating Foreigners,
CHAPTER 7 Scary Foods and Dangerous Medicine,
CHAPTER 8 A Nation Divided by Magic,
(with Calvin TerBeek),
Acknowledgments,
Notes,
Bibliography,
Index,
CHAPTER 1
If There's No Monster in the Closet, Then Why Am I Afraid?
How do we comprehend the world?
If you're reading this book, it's likely that your worldview is informed by empirical observations and logical deductions. You probably believe, for example, that the earth is round. This is not an idea that came naturally to you but is rather something you were taught. And this teaching, in turn, was based on earlier formulations and experiments from scientists and other thinkers. And you probably accept it because of how the roundness of the earth has been demonstrated, through either photos from satellites or other proofs. Many of our beliefs, however, are not based on such deductions. Instead, they come from a different source: our intuitions. Whether we call them gut feelings, instinct, or common sense, our judgments often arise from nondeliberative sources. These visceral notions often serve us well, but they don't always give us an accurate picture of the world. Our intuitions generally tell us that the earth is flat, that vaccines are dangerous, and that attractive people are smarter than the rest of us.
Intuitions also present us with a quandary — it's not clear how they work. Scientific thinking is easy to comprehend, because scientific beliefs are explicit in their logic and assumptions. When a scientist tells you the earth is round, she will point to observable facts and logical deductions to demonstrate this point. Intuitions, by contrast, arise from the opaque depths of the mind. And this murky origin raises a host of difficult questions: What exactly do we mean when we say "go with our gut"? Where does an intuition come from? Who or what defines common sense?
The answers can be found in a seemingly unlikely place: our magical beliefs. Such beliefs are excellent windows on the workings of our intuitive minds because they exist as alternatives to empirical facts. Recall that by our definition, a belief is magical precisely when it invokes an invisible force and contradicts an alternative, empirical explanation. When we believe that a drought is a sign of God's displeasure or that a lucky ring will help us win at blackjack, we are doing so despite scientific explanations based in meteorology or conditional probability. This is magical thinking. And why do we choose to adopt such beliefs? Because they coincide with our natural inferences, how we make sense of the world when we don't have a lot of information about it. Magical beliefs are appealing because they reflect our inborn ways of perceiving reality.
In this chapter, we examine a host of anthropological and psychological investigations into the sources of our magical beliefs. Together, this research reveals two important facets of the intuitive mind. First, intuitive thinking is emotional thinking. Our intuitions are motivated often by feelings of apprehension or anxiety. Moreover, these feelings typically serve as clues to the state of the world. If we feel scared, we look for threats; if we are elated, we look for sources of wonder. This emotional primacy of our intuitions is evident in magical beliefs. Myths, superstitions, and other magical notions are accepted not because they provide rational explanations but because of how they make us feel. In providing explanations for why we get sick or what happens when we die, magical beliefs give order to the universe and assuage our fears of the unknown. Our magical beliefs also reflect our feelings — because we feel afraid, we therefore assume that some evil force is out to get us. In short, intuitions both draw from and rationalize our emotional states.
Second, intuitions have a "grammar," a set of rules that constrain their forms. When we are trying to make sense of the unknown, we rely on a suite of innate mental shortcuts to guide our perceptions. Absent any other information, these heuristics help us understand the world. The ideas or notions that seem intuitive conform to these heuristics, while counterintuitive ones violate them. For example, our innate heuristics tell us that something that looks like a turd will be gross, even if in fact that gooey brown mass is a yummy piece of chocolate. This intuitive "grammar" pervades our magical beliefs. For example, nearly all religions will claim that holy people have special powers, that natural phenomena are caused by intentional gods, or that ancient prophesies are always about to come true. These commonalities occur because they all reflect the same innate heuristics, the inborn ways we make judgments when we are otherwise uncertain.
These same mechanisms (that is, emotions and heuristics) also shape our political thinking, especially among people who rely heavily on their intuitions. Such Intuitionists are more likely to base their political opinions on visceral reactions than abstract values. They will take their elations or anxieties as proof that something is right or wrong in the world. They will accept metaphors and symbols as literal embodiments of truth. They will employ gross stereotypes, blatant dichotomies, and crude generalizations. They will assume that a single intentional purpose is behind complex social phenomena. They are highly suspicious of outsiders or "unnatural" contaminants. In short, they view the political world through the same mental framework that animates their beliefs in angels and demons, healing crystals and secret prophecies. But before we get to this in further detail, it is helpful to first explain how our intuitions operate. And there is no better place to start than at a baseball game.
Finding Solace: The Emotional Roots of Magical Thinking
Baseball players and fans are famous for their superstitions. Wade Boggs, one of the greatest hitters of all time, ate fried chicken before each game. Pitcher Turk Wendell always made colossal leaps over foul lines and insisted that umpires roll him the ball when he was on the mound. The New York Yankees spent thousands of dollars to dig out a Red Sox jersey that a treacherous worker had buried under their new stadium. Many players wear twisted rope necklaces containing tiny flecks of titanium that supposedly "realign the body's energy field." Fans have innumerable rites and take all manner of lucky objects to the games help their team win.
Why does baseball, of all sports, attract so many superstitions? A good answer comes from one of the founders of modern anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski. According to Malinowski, magical thinking is a way we cope with the stress of uncertainty. While studying tribes in the Trobriand Islands, Malinowski observed that magical thinking was mostly prevalent in those instances where uncertainty was great and stakes were high. A good example was...
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Enchanted America: How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics
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University of Chicago Press, 2018
ISBN 10: 022657847X
ISBN 13: 9780226578477
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