The Independent Whig
Recommendations
Yeah, about that (purple) cake
I posted a couple comments recently to a blog post entitled Let Them Eat (purple) Cake at The Village Square. I love and support the ideals of The Village Square, which, if I understand them correctly, are to bring a more fact-based empirical reality and intellectual humility, and through these increased civility and friendship, to … Continue reading
This Explains – and Changes – Everything
Each year Edge.org asks a “big” question, gathers responses to it from some of today’s most important thinkers, and publishes the results in a book. In this post I propose one idea in response to three recent annual questions. The annual question for 2014 was What scientific idea is ready for retirement? The responses were published in … Continue reading
“Progressive Kristallnacht”
In a recent letter he wrote to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, Tom Perkins, co-founder of the silicon valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers caused quite a stir when he compared what he perceives to be “a rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent” to the Kristallnacht attacks … Continue reading
Chris Matthews is Morally Dumbfounded
According to this article, apparently Chris Matthews believes that Republicans: “Never Say Their Problem With Obama Is That He Is Black.” As Jonathan Haidt describes in The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, moral dumbfounding is when a person is “rendered speechless by their inability to explain verbally what they … Continue reading
How To Better Articulate Conservatism (and Liberalism too)
As he began his tenure as president of The Heritage Foundation Jim DeMint said that “Conservatives need to better articulate their message if they are to prevail in the war of ideas.” (1) In The Washington Post he wrote, “Conservative policies have proved their worth time and time again. If we’re not communicating in a … Continue reading
The Bottom Line
Despite what may sometimes seem to be harsh criticism of the work of Jonathan Haidt and his team on this blog and in a few other places sprinkled around the ‘net, The Independent Whig remains a steadfast and unabashed supporter. If the reader takes away only one message from the Whig it should be this: We can … Continue reading
The Conservative Conundrum, and a Possible Solution
Haidt’s work presents a conundrum for conservatives. On the one hand, in one context, everything he says is right. We should understand where both sides are coming from, realize that both sides offer valuable insights, give more benefit of the doubt, stop demonizing the other side, and build a door through the wall of the … Continue reading
“The Righteous Mind” is a Fun Read and a Valuable Tool for Conservatives
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt, is a fun read for conservatives because it pokes more holes in liberalism than it does in conservatism. In that sense, some parts of this book are quite delicious. But we conservatives are not without faults of our own, which … Continue reading
Recommendations
The real problem as I see it is that much of the squabbling between the left and the right over this or that policy or moral issue is based on a set of assumptions about what motivates us and how our minds work that is tilted decidedly to the left, and that we now know … Continue reading
Shrinking the Political Divide, Part 1: Education
The political divide can never be completely eliminated, nor should it be. It is good and healthy for us to have different ideas and strong debate. But if we believe the divide is so wide and so polarizing that it is unhealthy then we should think about taking some steps that might shrink it, and … Continue reading
I Support Viewpoint Diversity
A politically diverse group of social scientists, natural scientists, humanists, and other scholars who want to improve our academic disciplines and universities. We share a concern about a growing problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged.
Venn Diagram of Liberal and Conservative Traits and Moral Foundations and
The Independent Whig 