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Please understand that so many high IQ tech and science people support this, they voted and decided.

SamoyedFurFluff 2mo ago
Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? I’m not asking out of anger I genuinely don’t get it. Culture war issues like, idk, people becoming more brown by default in America, or a trans teenager participating in a game, they’re… they don’t seem as important as ensuring well funded science??
- etc-hosts 2mo ago
  current administration is guided by the looniest of the loons Claremont Institute, who truly believe that any dollar not spent on border defense or offensive military capability is wasted.
- nemomarx 2mo ago
  Lots of voters didn't believe Trump would do the things he campaigned on. "I'll defund research" can be interpreted as "probably that other research, the stuff I don't like or think is useless" by some.
- spankibalt 2mo ago
  > Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? The list is long. First and foremost, it's never a good idea to forget that wherever there's intelligence there's always also stupidity. Then it's generally good advice not to confuse intelligence for wisdom. And between this and very long lists of cognitive biases, there's always the good old "Fuck ya, got mine!" Rule of Acquisition to remember. Et cetera.
  - virtue3 2mo ago
    good ole Rule of Acquisition #1 - Once you have their money, you never give it back.
- cute_boi 2mo ago
  There are many reasons. Many high IQ people don’t want to lose their jobs and favor stricter immigration policies. They would probably vote for Democrats if Democrats weren’t so lax on immigration. And, many of my friends who were doing PHD they used to follow dems, but are now supporting republicans after they got citizenship....
- plastic-enjoyer 2mo ago
  > Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? Because a high IQ and a science degree does not mean that those people make good political decisions. A lot of political decision making is driven by ideology and identity. A lot of high IQ people may have strong mathematical and problem solving skills, but are morons in absolutely every other aspect of life.
- emj 2mo ago
  They continue to support him, you have lots of republicans here they see him as at best a lesser evil. I am sure I just naive, I guess we can hope all the international bad will is going away with Trump.
fnordpiglet 2mo ago
Many is a misnomer for “some.” The current administration won by a plurality, 49%, not even a majority. This was 32% of possible voters. Of people with a PhD, approximately 30% voted for Trump. Of Trump voters 1% had a PhD. This is still many people, but only in that “many” is more than a “few.” It’s not the case that most people voted for Trump, or even most voters. Or even most phds who voted. 70% of phds who voted didn’t vote for Trump. This is why they are facing political retribution. He is creating suffering for revenge, the national interest be damned. Trump is more interested in the credulous, easily manipulated, low knowledge and easily conned masses. Many high IQ tech and science people are them, but not most. There are probably a few that aren’t easily manipulated and are instead just self serving sociopaths buying influence and contracts - but compared to the scale of the nation, this is indeed a few.
- gpm 2mo ago
  30% doesn't seem anywhere near as low as it should be though... I'd say that qualifies as "so many". That said I question both your and grandparents choice to look at only people who chose to vote. 68% of people who could have voted against this did not - either actively supporting it with a vote or deciding that they didn't give a fuck if it happened by not voting. Every potential voter either knew or ought to have known the result of this election result...
  - CamperBob2 2mo ago
    The truly sobering statistic is that after all we've seen, 39% of the electorate still approves of him.
    - fnordpiglet 2mo ago
      I’d wager 30% have a profound mental illness and could be convinced of literally anything. Not even a typical super majority vote requires that many people because 30% is the rough threshold of typical insanity prevalence.
analog31 2mo ago
I'm surrounded by scientists, in my family, at my day job, and in my community, as I live in the shadow of a major research university. Support for the current administration in recent elections has fallen somewhere between slim and none. In fact I can't think of another identifiable group of people who have been more unanimous in their opposition. On the other hand I can't defined "tech" people, but maybe someone else can. I don't lump "tech and science" together as a single group. Disclosure: Scientist.

Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? I’m not asking out of anger I genuinely don’t get it. Culture war issues like, idk, people becoming more brown by default in America, or a trans teenager participating in a game, they’re… they don’t seem as important as ensuring well funded science??

etc-hosts 2mo ago
current administration is guided by the looniest of the loons Claremont Institute, who truly believe that any dollar not spent on border defense or offensive military capability is wasted.
nemomarx 2mo ago
Lots of voters didn't believe Trump would do the things he campaigned on. "I'll defund research" can be interpreted as "probably that other research, the stuff I don't like or think is useless" by some.
spankibalt 2mo ago
> Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? The list is long. First and foremost, it's never a good idea to forget that wherever there's intelligence there's always also stupidity. Then it's generally good advice not to confuse intelligence for wisdom. And between this and very long lists of cognitive biases, there's always the good old "Fuck ya, got mine!" Rule of Acquisition to remember. Et cetera.
- virtue3 2mo ago
  good ole Rule of Acquisition #1 - Once you have their money, you never give it back.
cute_boi 2mo ago
There are many reasons. Many high IQ people don’t want to lose their jobs and favor stricter immigration policies. They would probably vote for Democrats if Democrats weren’t so lax on immigration. And, many of my friends who were doing PHD they used to follow dems, but are now supporting republicans after they got citizenship....
plastic-enjoyer 2mo ago
> Why did many high IQ tech and science people vote for their own defunding? Because a high IQ and a science degree does not mean that those people make good political decisions. A lot of political decision making is driven by ideology and identity. A lot of high IQ people may have strong mathematical and problem solving skills, but are morons in absolutely every other aspect of life.
emj 2mo ago
They continue to support him, you have lots of republicans here they see him as at best a lesser evil. I am sure I just naive, I guess we can hope all the international bad will is going away with Trump.

fnordpiglet 2mo ago

Many is a misnomer for “some.” The current administration won by a plurality, 49%, not even a majority. This was 32% of possible voters. Of people with a PhD, approximately 30% voted for Trump. Of Trump voters 1% had a PhD. This is still many people, but only in that “many” is more than a “few.” It’s not the case that most people voted for Trump, or even most voters. Or even most phds who voted. 70% of phds who voted didn’t vote for Trump. This is why they are facing political retribution. He is creating suffering for revenge, the national interest be damned. Trump is more interested in the credulous, easily manipulated, low knowledge and easily conned masses. Many high IQ tech and science people are them, but not most. There are probably a few that aren’t easily manipulated and are instead just self serving sociopaths buying influence and contracts - but compared to the scale of the nation, this is indeed a few.

gpm 2mo ago
30% doesn't seem anywhere near as low as it should be though... I'd say that qualifies as "so many". That said I question both your and grandparents choice to look at only people who chose to vote. 68% of people who could have voted against this did not - either actively supporting it with a vote or deciding that they didn't give a fuck if it happened by not voting. Every potential voter either knew or ought to have known the result of this election result...
- CamperBob2 2mo ago
  The truly sobering statistic is that after all we've seen, 39% of the electorate still approves of him.
  - fnordpiglet 2mo ago
    I’d wager 30% have a profound mental illness and could be convinced of literally anything. Not even a typical super majority vote requires that many people because 30% is the rough threshold of typical insanity prevalence.

analog31 2mo ago

I'm surrounded by scientists, in my family, at my day job, and in my community, as I live in the shadow of a major research university. Support for the current administration in recent elections has fallen somewhere between slim and none. In fact I can't think of another identifiable group of people who have been more unanimous in their opposition. On the other hand I can't defined "tech" people, but maybe someone else can. I don't lump "tech and science" together as a single group. Disclosure: Scientist.