6 ms·

While this is true, the children of these families tend to move away from extremism (at least in the west) and the same rate as every one else.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
It depends how cultish and restrictive the parents are. I know of some cults that even handicap their kids' English skills and keep them mingling amongst their own so that they don't really have any outside resources. Once they're economically dependent on their tribe, it's much harder for them to break out.
dash2 6y ago
Yes, but those children that move away also move towards Western norms of sub-replacement fertility; while the children that don't, don't. I wouldn't say the best way to think about this is "these crazies are baby-making machines!" (Strawmanning your argument a little there.) There is some craziness in e.g. Quiverfull protestantism or Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, sure. Nevertheless, if culture X is set to survive into the future on current trends, and culture Y is not, then maybe culture X isn't completely stupid.
filoleg 6y ago
I cannot find the citation anymore, but I remember reading about an interesting phenomenon related to this. Since I cannot find the source now, please call me out if it is actually wrong, but it seems to make sense and rings true to my personal anecdotal experiences. Basically, the hypothesis is that immigrant families themselves indeed move away from extremism. But their children born in the new country tend to overcorrect and try to "discover the roots" by swinging harder in the opposite (extremism) direction. One generation down from the one that became less extremist, basically. I might be confusing some details given how long ago I had read it (it might be not the children of the immigrant family, but children of their children, for example), but that's the gist, and I saw it happening myself more than once.

lotsofpulp 6y ago

It depends how cultish and restrictive the parents are. I know of some cults that even handicap their kids' English skills and keep them mingling amongst their own so that they don't really have any outside resources. Once they're economically dependent on their tribe, it's much harder for them to break out.

dash2 6y ago

Yes, but those children that move away also move towards Western norms of sub-replacement fertility; while the children that don't, don't. I wouldn't say the best way to think about this is "these crazies are baby-making machines!" (Strawmanning your argument a little there.) There is some craziness in e.g. Quiverfull protestantism or Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, sure. Nevertheless, if culture X is set to survive into the future on current trends, and culture Y is not, then maybe culture X isn't completely stupid.

filoleg 6y ago

I cannot find the citation anymore, but I remember reading about an interesting phenomenon related to this. Since I cannot find the source now, please call me out if it is actually wrong, but it seems to make sense and rings true to my personal anecdotal experiences. Basically, the hypothesis is that immigrant families themselves indeed move away from extremism. But their children born in the new country tend to overcorrect and try to "discover the roots" by swinging harder in the opposite (extremism) direction. One generation down from the one that became less extremist, basically. I might be confusing some details given how long ago I had read it (it might be not the children of the immigrant family, but children of their children, for example), but that's the gist, and I saw it happening myself more than once.