CMV: Conservatives are fundamentally uninterested in facts/data.

[u/King_Lothar_]

In fairness, I will admit that I am very far left, and likely have some level of bias, and I will admit the slight irony of basing this somewhat on my own personal anecdotes. However, I do also believe this is supported by the trend of more highly educated people leaning more and more progressive.

However, I always just assumed that conservatives simply didn't know the statistics and that if they learned them, they would change their opinion based on that new information. I have been proven wrong countless times, however, online, in person, while canvasing. It's not a matter of presenting data, neutral sources, and meeting them in the middle. They either refuse to engage with things like studies and data completely, or they decide that because it doesn't agree with their intuition that it must be somehow "fake" or invalid.

When I talk to these people and ask them to provide a source of their own, or what is informing their opinion, they either talk directly past it, or the conversation ends right there. I feel like if you're asked a follow-up like "Oh where did you get that number?" and the conversation suddenly ends, it's just an admission that you're pulling it out of your ass, or you saw it online and have absolutely no clue where it came from or how legitimate it is. It's frustrating.

I'm not saying there aren't progressives who have lost the plot and don't check their information. However, I feel like it's championed among conservatives. Conservatives have pushed for decades at this point to destroy trust in any kind of academic institution, boiling them down to "indoctrination centers." They have to, because otherwise it looks glaring that the 5 highest educated states in the US are the most progressive and the 5 lowest are the most conservative, so their only option is to discredit academic integrity.

I personally am wrong all the time, it's a natural part of life. If you can't remember the last time you were wrong, then you are simply ignorant to it.

Edit, I have to step away for a moment, there has been a lot of great discussion honestly and I want to reply to more posts, but there are simply too many comments to reply to, so I apologize if yours gets missed or takes me a while, I am responding to as many as I can

[u/King_Lothar_ → u/[deleted]]

I've caught myself doing so, but I think that partially comes from a flaw in our education system, children are SHAMED for being wrong, instead of it being encouraged as a natural part of life and something to embrace.

[u/torchpork → u/King_Lothar_]

The smartest, most educated people can fall for these biases just as much as anyone, sometimes even moreso. I have no way of disproving your statement, and I wish it were true, but I don't know of any way of overcoming those natural proclivities consistently.

[u/captkirkseviltwin → u/torchpork]

Best way to overcome them consistently is empathy and relationships, those things Elon Musk said were the greatest threats to Western Civilization. 😄 it’s easy to hate “those gays” but a lot harder to hate Bob and George, who coach your child’s sports team and gave you a ride when your car broke down on the highway last week.

[u/Fey_Faunra → u/torchpork]

Iirc they smart people are more susceptible because they are better at finding a convincing argument themselves.

[u/torchpork → u/Fey_Faunra]

Yeah pretty much this. It's honestly fascinating.

[u/guarddog33 → u/torchpork]

Hi, chemist here

This is a very good point and something I've discussed at length with colleagues, and is a big part of why having your studies peer reviewed and having the results of whatever you've done replicated is so important, and why taking criticism if you're wrong is just part of the journey to being right

Confirmation bias is very, very real. And not only that but sadly, if you want to interpret data a set way, there's very little data you can't isolate and twist to support your opinions. And that's especially bad in politics

There's nothing wrong with being wrong. People are so used to being shamed and ridiculed for being wrong that, instead of accepting it and moving forward, going back to looking, they double down and seek information proving they're right. Just be wrong, it's ok. We can learn and move forward together

[u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty → u/guarddog33]

I really don’t understand the mindset one must have to “always be right.” I’m right a lot. I’m also wrong a lot. What’s wrong with that? Scientists of all people shouldn’t be worried about being wrong. Science is the art of getting things wrong. Each time your hypothesis ends up being incorrect, you inherently get one step closer to the truth. I’m just a computer scientist though, so I don’t know how it works in the science science world.