Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
    • TokenBoomer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1510·
      11 months ago

      I always found it odd that Trump sounds so different on audio recordings than when he is giving a speech. Cadence is the reason. I just want to know if someone taught him or he learned it on the fly. Knowing he had Hitler speeches in his nightstand makes me think he actually watched his speeches. That’s horrifying if true.

  • cerberus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    11 months ago

    This was a great read, and if your mind is open to evidence, lays out a lot of facts as to why those who follow Trump are susceptible to hate speech rhetoric.

    • TokenBoomer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      311·
      11 months ago

      Deep down, they want to hate, we all do. It’s the easiest emotion. Those of us who take a breath and think, we don’t fall for the emotional appeal. Those people give in to the hate. You can say they’re “deplorable.”

      • surewhynotlem@lemmy.worldEnglish
        61·
        11 months ago

        We don’t all want to hate. I sure don’t. It’s too much effort.

        Call me lazy, but I don’t waste the effort to hate people. Would I be ambivalent if certain people died? Sure. Am I going to be happy about it, or angry if it doesn’t happen? No. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

      • kescusay@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        11 months ago

        Maybe, but I don’t think that’s the underlying motivator. I think down at the bottom, conservatives are driven by fear.

        • Fear of the other.
        • Fear of progress.
        • Fear of being left behind by that progress.
        • Fear of new ideas.
        • Fear of looking weak.

        It’s all fear. Right now, I’m leaning towards fear of looking weak as the biggest one. It motivates all the virtue signaling on the right, and causes them to treat safety precautions in multiple situations as signs of weakness, from refusing to wear helmets on bikes to refusing to vaccinate against deadly diseases. They have to prove they’re “stronger” than anything that could hurt them.

        It also explains why they’re resistant to accepting expert advice, but easily fall for “strongmen.” If some effete scientist manages to get them to do what he asks, why, that’s just showing that they’re weak. But if a strongman does it, then falling in line isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of how gloriously strong the strongman is.

  • yesman@lemmy.worldEnglish
    46·
    11 months ago

    It’s kinda ironic that this professor warns us against speech that dehumanizes our opponents, then categorizes people into groups led by ancient and spooky brain malfunctions and those who have “critical thinking”, and thusly immune. I guess they were self aware enough to at least not use the term “lizard brain”.

    Maybe MAGAs have deplorable brains because they’re deplorable people? I’m pretty sure that if the professor checked, their bones are deplorable; their spleens are deplorable; and their big toenail is deplorable too.

    • mo_ztt ✅@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      11 months ago

      Can you really not see the difference between:

      • “I assert that this group of people suffers from a specific cognitive mishap which I am citing detailed research for the existence of,” and
      • “I assert that this group of people are a parasitic class of anti-white vermin” or “a cabal of satanic, cannibalistic abusers of children” or etc?