Status, death anxiety and the primitive mind: why political tribes harden
Will Storr explains ideologies and the culture war as games for status inside a group, Sheldon Solomon describes experiments in which reminders of death change behavior and connects economic pain and identity to demagogues, Tim Urban, in two conversations, contrasts the higher mind with the primitive mind and idea labs with echo chambers, and Jonathan Haidt describes defend mode and group stupidity in his case against social media. Storr, Solomon and Urban each trace political hostility to ordinary human psychology, which means the same forces work on one's own side as well.
According to author Will Storr, what two things do people want from groups? Show answer
Connection into a group, and then status within it.
What does Will Storr mean by an active belief? Show answer
A belief people build their identity around and plug their status into, so that it must be acted out with their life. It differs from an ordinary belief such as how long a river is.
What are the three main ways people earn status, in Will Storr's account? Show answer
Dominance, virtue and success.
What story pattern does Will Storr call dangerous? Show answer
The story that a group has been unfairly deprived of status and that it is another group's fault.
What idea does Sheldon Solomon's Terror Management Theory test? Show answer
That humans' awareness that they will die, and their unwillingness to accept it, drives almost everything people do, whether they are aware of it or not.
How did reminders of death affect American voters in Sheldon Solomon's studies before the 2004 election? Show answer
In control conditions they preferred John Kerry, but after being reminded of death they liked George W. Bush a lot more.
What is the difference between the primitive mind and the higher mind in Tim Urban's model? Show answer
The primitive mind wants conviction and agreement with the tribe and treats a challenge to its ideas as a physical threat. The higher mind wants truth and treats ideas as experiments.
What does Tim Urban's Ladder measure? Show answer
How people think, not what they think: at the top the higher mind does the thinking, and at the bottom the primitive mind is in control.
What is an idea lab, in Tim Urban's terms? Show answer
A group where higher minds team up, criticism shoots down weak ideas and strong ones rise. People are respected and ideas are disrespected.
What are discover mode and defend mode, according to psychologist Jonathan Haidt? Show answer
Discover mode is the brain's approach system and defend mode is its threat system.
What does Jonathan Haidt say makes an institution such as a university stupid? Show answer
Punishing dissent. Institutions produce knowledge when people with different biases check each other.
On what do Will Storr and Sheldon Solomon differ about what lies beneath tribal behavior? Show answer
Storr treats status as a basic human need. Solomon treats self-esteem as a defense for managing the terror of death.