Procrustes Stretched
Dante's Manifesto
- Dec 1, 2008
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“Human brains are constantly scanning for threats to in-groups,” Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a September 2023 essay, “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says.”
“As people affectively polarize, they appear to blow out-group threats out of proportion, exaggerating the out-group’s dislike and disgust for their own group, and getting ready to defend their in-group, sometimes aggressively,” Kleinfeld argues.
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I see it. You all see it. But do people see it in themselves? I'd like to suggest they do, but run away into denial creating the cognitive dissonance we see daily.
“As people affectively polarize, they appear to blow out-group threats out of proportion, exaggerating the out-group’s dislike and disgust for their own group, and getting ready to defend their in-group, sometimes aggressively,” Kleinfeld argues.
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It is difficult, if not impossible, to attempt to counter polarization at a time when partisan sectarianism is intense and pervasive.
I see it. You all see it. But do people see it in themselves? I'd like to suggest they do, but run away into denial creating the cognitive dissonance we see daily.
