So, I think the best way to find out what your blind side is wait for a criticism from someone who you respect, while given as the opposite point of view in a discussion as objectively as you can. Sometimes its flat out wrong. If someone told me, "You put too much faith in science" I'd smile and laugh because I know how messed up science can be but the PROCESS of science has given us amazing reproducible results again and again.
Recently the criticism was leveled at me, "You tend to think in Us vs Them filters." (Paraphrased). My initial reaction was that this was not true, but in retrospect, I agree. It is. But its relative. See, I understand that this is my EMOTIONAL reaction to something. I also know I'm a human being and that I'm influenced by my emotions. I try to override my emotions with reason as much as possible but I know I'm not perfect at it.
This is the value and importance of introspection. If you don't do it, you vastly increase the odds are that you've got not just one blind side, but many (or many related, hard to say and probably varies by individual.) Even worse, some people might think they engage in introspection when they actually engage in reinforcement. Its a tricky game, to be sure, but the results usually play out over time.
But I digress.
So I posit that this comes from another topic that has been bouncing around my mind of late, biology in politics. I think anyone can overcome their political or cultural beliefs with reason and tempered habit, but I think the EMOTIONAL way they react to something is hardwired biologically. I think reason can overcome it, but I think that the more aware you are of it, the more control you have.
I think reason, evolutionarily speaking, is a very recent abnormality, a mutation that is not as strong or ingrained into our natures as our emotions are. We've had millions of years to have our emotions drilled into us through natural selection (a subject on which Darwin was right by the way), but only a few hundred thousand to tens of thousands to have true reason. Or specifically Metacognition. Reason as the philosophers thought of it.
I think in terms of politics, behavior came from two axioms. On the one hand, you had individualists vs collectivists. That is to say, those who went out on their own and those that worked together to survive. The thing is, I think there is an evolutionary bias for the middle. Too solo, and reproducing is hard as is receiving aid when you need it. Too collectivist, pre science, and you risk disease. Major disease, where death is a horrible selector. Now I have no theory for this, but I do think that if the medium of the two is such, then I posit that those who are Biologically conservative fit this axiom.
In other words, we often think of individuals, such as Libertarians, as 'in the middle' with Conservatives on the Right and Liberals on the Left, but I would argue that Conservatives CAN and DO work in groups, but they are an 'us' vs 'them' mentality, vs Libertarians who are mostly, "Me + people who think like me" vs "Everyone the hell else" just short on the spectrum short of anarchists, who are very rare populationally speaking. Thus I think there is an evolutionary advantage to being conservative (at least in a pre science society).
I also think that the second axiom is 'New' vs 'Old.' Those who are willing to try new things ('what's that mushroom taste like?' vs stay with the old, "hell no i'm not eating that mushroom!') I think this is the older biological axiom. And I think that the 'individual' vs 'collectivist' stemmed from it, such that those who said, "Hey lets try this farming thing' won out vs those who said, "hell no, I wants to catch mean!", which snowballed such that a certain level of collectivism became the dominant gene pool but it trended toward 'Conservative'.
Exactly how much of this is there I don't know, but the basic idea behind it is pretty solid for a couple of reasons. The first, is that if you look at the Revolutionary War, you'll see that 1/3rd of the population favored Revolt, 1/3rd were Roadkill, and 1/3rd were loyalists. Now, which of these were biologically conservative? That's probably relative. Honestly, I'd bet there were spreads of all types in all three camps. But the split fascinates me so because it mirrors what we have today.
The thing that makes me most convinced there's some legitimacy to my theory is that we have already discovered some genetic correlation to some behaviors. There is indeed a risk taking gene, for example. And if we know some social disorders don't allow any social development at all that isn't learned by rote, then there is probably a spectrum of socializers vs non socializers.
Now, taking the 'tree hugger' position on this, I'd postulate that a healthy biological environment features a strong diversity of conservatives and liberals in a society. You need people saying, "Let's try this new thing" vs "Hell no I'm not eating that mushroom."
But its more complicated than that. We are also products of our culture. And a culture (or cultural faction) can be conservative or liberal. In my case, I was raised very conservative. And I believe that my anscestors on at least one side of my family have been very conservative as far back as you can go. And culturally speaking that line has been as well.
Over the course of my life I've been betrayed either institutionally or emotionally by most of the philosophies and institutions I was raised with. I have a very low tolerance for betrayal and a very long emotional memory. Where there is no apology or acknowledgement of fault, I don't forgive, though I do let it go in terms of caring about it, sometimes.
But if I am biologically conservative without the associating culture, that definitely explains an 'us vs them' lens point. Instead of the "us" being Republicans vs Democrats, in my case it was "Democrats vs Republicans" until the Democrats failed to have a spine and fight for what they believe and it became, "People who Give a Damn vs People that Don't." And its true. I respect people with ideologies more than I respect people who don't. I respect compassion, and I respect reason, and I respect introspection. I DO view everything through an "us" vs "them" label as I think a significant portion of our population does.
Fortunately, I'm capable of reason, and can see that flaw in my thinking and override it. Many can't.
Update: 9/20/2011 - I've noticed this post is read a lot. So let me clarify....just because I have a natural tendency to put people into an 'us vs them' categorization doesn't mean that I'm always WRONG to do so. Moreover, I'm capable of looking for and finding my blind spot and altering my behavior when its pointed out to me. If I say that you ignore science and are siding with companies that have paid researchers to bamboozle you, and you think you're smarter than them still but don't change your opinion, its you who is messed up, not me.
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