A Recent Email Correspondence About Our Righteous Minds

Ed,
I just realized who I got Jonathan Chait confused with, another great thinker, Jonathan Haidt, the psychologist.
You just recently sent me something about him:

"1. People are not swayed by facts, but by appeals to their values and emotions (see
‘The Righteous Mind,’ by Jonathan Haidt - NYTimes.com "

Did you see that recent interview of him by Bill Moyers where he discussed that book? It was brilliant. I was very excited about this book because this is a topic that I have been thinking about deeply for decades.(the different ways, between conservatives and liberals, of thinking and seeing the world.)
I don't know if you remember, but when we had those MoveOn meetings years ago with Bill Rettig in Floral Park, I was always suggesting that we get together separately just to discuss politics. I said that that topic, the difference between the way cons and libs think, was something I'd like to talk about. Bill and I actually did get together a few times.

Anyway, over the years, I've been developing a hypothesis that I, tongue in cheek, call "The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of Human Nature". Every time someone like Haidt comes along in the media ( George Lakoff is another example) and presents evidence that supports my hypothesis, I become really excited because this mounting evidence is helping to build my hypothesis into a genuine theory. I jokingly fret that I had better publish my results before someone else beats me to it.

Haidt makes some fascinating observations, many of which, I am proud to say, that I have made myself, many years ago. He also does something great; he lists 6 moral concerns and then rates how strongly cons and libs feel about each one. This is a great way of defining and describing what and how cons and libs feel and think, and the differences and similarities between them.

What I love about my theory is that it goes beyond defining and desrcibing to explaining why cons and libs feel and think the way they do. It also explains emotions, what they are and why we have them. It explains our feelings of right and wrong and where that comes from. It explains extreme libertarianism and totalitarian communism and how these are the two extreme opposite ends of conservatism and liberalism. It also explains the paradoxes of this idea (why does libertarianism appear to be liberal on defense and social issues? why does totalitarian communism appear to be conservative in its authoritarianism and control). It explains why cons will take the "individual liberty" position on some issues yet the "government control" position on others and why libs will usually take the opposite positions on those issues.

I believe that my theory can be the foundation of a balanced moral philosophy, one that I have arrived at intuitively in my lifetime and to which I credit my upbringing, my environment and my personality.

So how does that grab you, Ed?

Joe Barton