Many of my posts focus on personal and group psychology, highlighting how irrational thinking, cognitive biases, herd behavior, and groupthink can affect everyone and all groups. As detailed in the below old post, zealotry, illiberalism and bigotry exist in both sides of the political spectrum, especially among the extremes.
I live in the politically far-left city of Seattle, so most of my friends and acquaintances are politically and socially left. This gives me a firsthand perspective on how traits some folks within the left attribute exclusively to the right also exist within the left. I observe normally sensible and learned people revert to emotional, kneejerk partisan thinking and hyperbole when it comes to politics.
People on the left often mock the extreme right for being conspiratorial, but conspiracy theories also emerge from the left. Following Biden’s poor debate performance and the assassination attempt on Trump, online conspiracy theories surfaced from the left.
Newsweek reported that one in three Biden supporters thought the Trump shooting might have been staged. The Washington Post reported that social media users supporting Biden falsely claimed he had been secretly drugged before the debate. Some floated conspiracy theories involving actor George Clooney and claimed without evidence that ABC News doctored Biden's audio during an interview with George Stephanopoulos.
One in Three Biden Supporters Think Trump Shooting Might Have Been Staged - Newsweek
‘BlueAnon’ conspiracy theories flood social media after Trump rally shooting - The Washington Post
Cognitive biases lead us to falsely believe our political and ideological opponents are less intelligent and informed, and more ill-intentioned, corrupt, and biased. One reason it is important to listen to one’s political and ideological opponents is that they are often in a better position to see the hypocrisy and irrational thinking in our tribe that our tribe tends to ignore or not see.
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