Yale academic Dan Kahan and his colleagues suggested in a study that the smarter we are, the more likely we would be blinded by our politics.
How did they reach this conclusion?
More than 1000 persons took part in the study, during which he had to answer a mathematics question that seemed simple at first glance but actually required some thinking to nail it.
Two versions of the question were asked both involving interpretation of the results of made-up scientific experiments.
The first asked harmlessly if a skin-cream was effective at treating rashes, and the second, morally-loaded, asked whether a gun ban was effective at reducing crime rates.
Surprisingly, while the essence of the mathematics problem remained the same, people’s ability to answer correctly varied, depending on whether they thought the experiment was about skin cream or gun control.
What’s more, the mathematics wizards, who predictably performed better on the morally-neutral skin cream variant were more likely to let their beliefs about gun control overwhelm their usually-meticulous calculations.
Wider divide
These findings echo what Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman wrote in his 2011 book, ‘Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow.’
”Thinking fast is intuitive, automatic and emotional, and thinking slow is more reflective, controlled and logical, a divide more commonly referred to as the heart and the mind.
Professor Jonathan Haidt (Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business) likens the relationship between heart and mind as one between an elephant and its rider.
Epic battle
Our heart is the elephant, powerful and strong; our mind the rider, desperately clinging on while trying to direct this most unwieldy of beasts.
Kahan’s study suggests that the rider matters, but only when the elephant already agrees.
Politics in New Zealand could be seen as an epic battle of invisible elephants. A majority of debates presume that the ‘other guys’ (those who stubbornly disagree with us) are misguided at best; malicious at worst, and that with enough information and evidence they will finally see the light.
But while we shout at the riders without any regard for their elephants, people’s deeply-held values and beliefs, we will continue to talk past one another, and continue to remain just where we are.
Technology amplifies this polarising process too, as we choose to consume media slanted towards what we already believe; that the left is more likely to raise the Standard, while the right more likely to dive into Whale Oil.
While the battle will continue as long as people hold different beliefs, all is not lost.
Moving forward
We need to do two things to sharpen and deepen our political debates: acknowledge the other elephants in the room, and train our own.
Let us assume that the other persons have good intentions at least and possibly something worth listening. Their values may differ, but instead of ignoring them, we need to engage at that level to move forward.
This requires us to examine our own values as well. Like learning a musical instrument, learning to live well with others in our homes and in our nation takes time and practice.
It’s worth it though; well-trained elephants can really get stuff done.
Kieran Madden is a Researcher at Maxim Institute based in Auckland.
Illustration source: Peachpit, Publishers of technology books, eBooks and videos for creative people based in San Francisco, US.
