Control The Elephant

So, we’ve just had some elections – primaries in a few midwestern and southwestern states. In some ways, it is hard to see whether support from the Lyin’ King determined any of those contests. This is especially so in Missouri where he supported “Eric” in a race between two Erics. The man never fails to outdo his lunacy.

Anyway, there were some results in these elections that can be interpreted as showing just how much the rotten juice from Orange Julius continues to drip into our politics. A number of supporters of his Big Lie were winners. Another way to say that is that a number of his winners were big liars. 

Much has been said and written about why so many people continue to believe the crap that MAGA throws at us. One of the best of these is a 2018 book called, “Post-Truth,” published by MIT Press and written by a guy named, Lee McIntyre. It’s one of the best both because it is very incisive and because it’s only 172 pages of pretty big print.

McIntyre lays out a series of reasons why we are inclined toward certain beliefs. He claims, as do many other experts on this subject, that we are more controlled by what we feel than by what we think. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said the same thing in a different way. When asked how he resolves cases, he once answered, “First we decide, then we deduce.” The psychologist Jonathan Haight likens it to a rider on an elephant – the elephant is our emotional selves, the rider is our rational selves. 

This tendency is based on a couple of different hard-wired aspects of our character. First, there is “cognitive bias” – we want to avoid the psychic discomfort of feeling that we’re wrong. It feels so much better to think that we are smart. That’s why when we once arrive at an opinion, no matter how irrational, we are reluctant to change our minds. Secondly, there is “confirmation bias.” Irrational tendencies are reinforced when we are surrounded by others with the same belief and that, too, makes us feel better. Finally, there is “motivated reasoning.” When we emotionally want something to be true, we see the situation differently from those who don’t. It’s like a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan both seeing the same play at the plate. 

The general observations of McIntyre are not unique, but, by implication, these points are particularly relevant to our present dilemma. It points to some reasons why this emotional control over our opinions helps explain the MAGA MASHUGAS.

Cognitive bias is what makes it so difficult for anyone to convince MAGAs that they are wrong. Confirmation bias only makes that even harder. Trump rallies are a Lollapalooza of confirmation bias. And motivated reasoning is what drives MAGA’s to insist that their guy really won. 

And there are even physiological reasons. The amygdala portion of our brains is the part that controls our sense of fear. McIntyre cites studies showing that the amygdala portion of the brain tends to be larger in conservatives. Does this explain why the MAGAs believe the lies about the threats posed by immigrants and about the need for more police powers? Maybe. It’s interesting to think about.

And of course, there is the “garbage in-garbage out” part. The plethora of information with which we are now bombarded through technology has suffused our brains with all kinds of crap. This gives us a surfeit of alternative truths for our emotions to “feel”. Obviously, some of that crap is more worthwhile than others. MAGAs get theirs’ from Fox News and it ain’t one of the worthwhile ones. McIntyre cites another study, this one showing that Fox News viewers are less well informed than those who did not watch any news at all.

Why should this all be? Why should we who pride ourselves on our rationality have our opinions so influenced by our emotions? It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. No stone-age forager would have lasted very long and perpetuated the species without having a strong emotional side, especially a well-developed sense of fear. They would have had to have a finely tuned ability to perceive all of the dangers around them, both real and potential. Without that, they would have been gobbled up long before they’d had a chance to use their rational side to write the great Neanderthal novel.

In some unavoidable ways, then, we remain the creatures that our prehistoric ancestors genetically created us to be. This is not to say that Trump is the logical consequence of evolution. That better not be true. No, evolution is about the development of creatures better adapted to the world in which they find themselves. So, we had better get our adaptation skills into gear. We still have some control over the elephant we are riding on. We need to use it. Let’s all think.