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As a radical leftist with crippling anxiety, the political part of this article was rather unexpected

by etiene 10y ago

throwanem 10y ago
I would be curious to see a similar study oriented along a radical/moderate axis, rather than left-wing/right-wing. Of course, to be of real value, it'd need not to be n=20 psych undergrads, but I may as well wish for a pony while I'm at it.
- nitrogen 10y ago
  Wouldn't that be the same as normalizing a left-to-right scale to [-1,1] and taking the absolute value? Or is it possible for there to be "radical centrism"?
  - throwanem 10y ago
    Perhaps. I'm not sure the metric used in the study would support such analysis, though, and if they published their raw data alongside their methodology and conclusions, I wasn't able to find it.
jpetso 10y ago
Intuitively, I would bet that radicals of all stripes are more prone to anxiety than the so-called moderates. In order to push for invasive solutions that are widely frowned upon by the rest of the populace (therefore treating your social standing and credibility), it helps if one experiences anxiousness about the status quo to the point where it ceases being an acceptable option. This might be a good thing if your analysis and conclusions are right, or a very harmful thing if one gets any significant part wrong. Unfortunately, due to bell curves and human fallibility, some radicals will leave an outsized positive impact on society while the majority is either ineffective or counter-productive, occasionally causing harm in the process. As often happens with humanity, people always think that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Anxiety and bias increase the chance that you're wrong. Radical approaches increase the chance that you will make a bigger impact. Be very careful when combining the two.
gaius 10y ago
Go far enough left and you end up on the right (and vice versa). That would explain your experience.
- taurath 10y ago
  Easy enough to have crippling anxiety about the people on the other side of the fence.

As a radical leftist with crippling anxiety, the political part of this article was rather unexpected

by etiene 10y ago

As a radical leftist with crippling anxiety, the political part of this article was rather unexpected

I would be curious to see a similar study oriented along a radical/moderate axis, rather than left-wing/right-wing. Of course, to be of real value, it'd need not to be n=20 psych undergrads, but I may as well wish for a pony while I'm at it.

nitrogen 10y ago
Wouldn't that be the same as normalizing a left-to-right scale to [-1,1] and taking the absolute value? Or is it possible for there to be "radical centrism"?
- throwanem 10y ago
  Perhaps. I'm not sure the metric used in the study would support such analysis, though, and if they published their raw data alongside their methodology and conclusions, I wasn't able to find it.

jpetso 10y ago

Intuitively, I would bet that radicals of all stripes are more prone to anxiety than the so-called moderates. In order to push for invasive solutions that are widely frowned upon by the rest of the populace (therefore treating your social standing and credibility), it helps if one experiences anxiousness about the status quo to the point where it ceases being an acceptable option. This might be a good thing if your analysis and conclusions are right, or a very harmful thing if one gets any significant part wrong. Unfortunately, due to bell curves and human fallibility, some radicals will leave an outsized positive impact on society while the majority is either ineffective or counter-productive, occasionally causing harm in the process. As often happens with humanity, people always think that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Anxiety and bias increase the chance that you're wrong. Radical approaches increase the chance that you will make a bigger impact. Be very careful when combining the two.

gaius 10y ago

Go far enough left and you end up on the right (and vice versa). That would explain your experience.

taurath 10y ago
Easy enough to have crippling anxiety about the people on the other side of the fence.