Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Authoritarian has Never “merged files”

I'm reading a great book by Bob Altemeyer called The Authoritarians. you can download and read it for free. His work was frequently referenced by John Dean in his book Conservatives Without Conscience. His book is funny, he has Star Trek references and he's from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg Canada so what's not to love?

I dropped him a note to be prepared to comment to the press to help them explain the anger that they saw at the tea bag parties. Anger that really isn't based on their own tax situation (unless the parties were attended by the top 1 percent in America, a statistical improbability) but was whipped up by the right wing leaders.

As I've been reading more I've found, as did John Dean, so many answers to the question that my friend PTCruiser posed about some of these talk radio hosts. 'What is wrong with these people?"

Dr. Bob, as his student's call him, explains how the hosts can say one thing one second and then a contrary thing the next. He describes it

2. Highly Compartmentalized Minds
As I said earlier, authoritarians’ ideas are poorly integrated with one another. It’s as if each idea is stored in a file that can be called up and used when the authoritarian wishes, even though another of his ideas--stored in a different file--basically contradicts it. We all have some inconsistencies in our thinking, but authoritarians can stupify you with the inconsistency of their ideas. Thus they may say they are proud to live in a country that guarantees freedom of speech, but another file holds, “My country, love it or leave it.” The ideas were copied from trusted sources, often as sayings, but the authoritarian has never “merged files” to see how well they all fit together.
I like that metaphor a lot. And if you point this lack of merged files out to them? "But Clinton!!!!" (Which will soon become, "Your buddy Obama said..."). They do not see their own inconsistent logic as a problem. He also explains later how fundamentalists (Christian and others) are also fine with a lack of consistency. I'm not to the last chapter (What's to be done?) But I'm looking forward to it.

2 Comments:

Blogger Jim said...

I'm not sure I get the example, as "love it or leave it" and being proud of a country that has freedom of speech are not contradictory. I am just starting to read the book although the premise (at least so far) seems to be deeply flawed

11:20 AM  
Blogger spocko said...

Jim. Keep reading. That might not have been a good example that works for you. At the end of the book he discusses his doubts that the premise is flawed and what the data shows.

Also, in this book he is trying to to do everything in numbers (so as not to scare away people who hate that stuff, but he foot notes studies if you are interested.)
His retelling of the Milgram studies is especially interesting.

9:20 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home