Lee de-Wit

I usually dislike books that use psychology research to explain away human behavior, as if humans are so easy to explain that simple research studies can give us pure insight into our minds and actions. However the increasing polarization of politics in the US is such an important topic that I really put effort into giving this a chance and not disregarding everything off the bat.

I think the author did a good job of pointing out the limitations of psychology research and the inability to determine causation with anything but an extremely rigorous double blind experiment. The author never definitely states “liberals vote democratic because” but says “people who vote democrat tend to” which is much more accurate.

I suppose at the end of the day, after having read this book, I’m still not quite sure what I can do to improve my own discourse with others in political conversation, but perhaps just being aware of my own biases and trying not to get defensive as soon as somebody talks politics with me or tries to point out my political views might enable me to be a more open person. That said, it’s not like anybody is going to get me to change my mind about my political leanings any time soon.… (mehr)