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I always assume most people hold moderate viewpoints and the people with extreme viewpoints just tend to be the loudest. At least that seems to be the case with

I always assume most people hold moderate viewpoints and the people with extreme viewpoints just tend to be the loudest. At least that seems to be the case with most people I meet anyway.

asdfman123 7y ago
And people with extreme viewpoints usually feel that way because they have some very strong belief system, like the idea that human life should take precedence over private property, or the idea that taxation is theft. If you start with one of those assumptions, then it pushes you pretty strongly to one pole or another. Often times people like that do think for themselves. They just think differently than you do.
_bxg1 7y ago
But the social pressure from the vocal minorities - especially when amplified by social media - pushes other people towards those extremes out of fear of being ostracized.
SkyBelow 7y ago
I've generally found most people don't generally care at all until they or someone they care about is impacted, then their care is largely dictated by the nature of the impact with existing political views only being partially factored in. One reason why getting to know members of a minority group can stop a person from being inherently biased against that group.
dfxm12 7y ago
More important than how loud people are or what viewpoints they publicly claim to have is how they vote. Take a look at who has been getting elected to congress in the US recently: https://xkcd.com/1127/ https://xkcd.com/1127/ Now, more than ever in our lifetimes, a lower percentage of congress is moderate. Center-right Republicans (the conservative party) have almost vanished. This isn't about a lack of choice either, because we've seen a bunch of long time incumbent congressmen lose to to people further from the center, like when Republican Bob Bennett finished 3rd in a Utah primary election to 2 far right tea party candidates. If most people held moderate viewpoints, like you assume, then congress would be getting more moderate, no?

I always assume most people hold moderate viewpoints and the people with extreme viewpoints just tend to be the loudest. At least that seems to be the case with most people I meet anyway.

asdfman123 7y ago

And people with extreme viewpoints usually feel that way because they have some very strong belief system, like the idea that human life should take precedence over private property, or the idea that taxation is theft. If you start with one of those assumptions, then it pushes you pretty strongly to one pole or another. Often times people like that do think for themselves. They just think differently than you do.

_bxg1 7y ago

But the social pressure from the vocal minorities - especially when amplified by social media - pushes other people towards those extremes out of fear of being ostracized.

SkyBelow 7y ago

I've generally found most people don't generally care at all until they or someone they care about is impacted, then their care is largely dictated by the nature of the impact with existing political views only being partially factored in. One reason why getting to know members of a minority group can stop a person from being inherently biased against that group.

dfxm12 7y ago

More important than how loud people are or what viewpoints they publicly claim to have is how they vote. Take a look at who has been getting elected to congress in the US recently: https://xkcd.com/1127/ https://xkcd.com/1127/ Now, more than ever in our lifetimes, a lower percentage of congress is moderate. Center-right Republicans (the conservative party) have almost vanished. This isn't about a lack of choice either, because we've seen a bunch of long time incumbent congressmen lose to to people further from the center, like when Republican Bob Bennett finished 3rd in a Utah primary election to 2 far right tea party candidates. If most people held moderate viewpoints, like you assume, then congress would be getting more moderate, no?