The Conservative Mind and The Human Condition

Reading Cory Bernardi’s book, The Conservative Revolution, recently so I could write a  review, http://nofibs.com.au/2014/01/15/cory-bernardis-ideology-stewarthase-book-review/, stirred me for a few reasons. The chief of these was that it provided some fascinating insights into the conservative mind. Being a psychologist I am interested in minds, and this one is worth exploring.

Let me state from the outset that I am a fan of the thesis that humans are largely hard wired with a tendency towards conservative or to liberalism. I’m also a Darwinist, and I like to think myself to be a scientist. It is my belief that we should be clear about our biases although I hope that my bias towards science has a moderating effect the others. Mostly, however, I’m a pragmatist.

There is some evidence for the view that there is a conservative brain and there is, as Bernardi would call it, a ‘leftie’ brain. However, it has to be said that in politics at least, there seems to be a greater tendency towards conservatism than liberalism in these so called leftie groups. So I am uneasy with distinguishing too sharply between the idea of left and right in politics. Everyday life is a different matter and the main concern here.

Like most human traits a person sits on a conservative-leftie continuum and can either be at the extremes on either end or anywhere in between. Those at the extremes will almost certainly not change their views, no matter what the issue. There will be some who will vacillate between a conservative view and a liberal view depending on the topic: these swingers are in the middle. Even some clear liberals will have a leaning towards being conservative on some issues. Genetic predisposition is modified by experience. And, as we have seen repeatedly, and especially during the last couple of years in Australia, it can be mediated by the opinions of others-the influential, the media and our politicians.

Conservative thinking has a habit of appealing to what I will call the human condition. That is, our predilections to behave in particular ways. The notion of simplistic solutions is a good example. As Daniel Kahneman points out in his book, ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, our natural tendency is to accept simple explanations and adopt simple solutions even for complex issues because it takes less effort. If we have to think deeply about issues we tire easily and experience stress. We are hard wired to seek simple solutions. You are probably shaking your head in disbelief but there is a ton of evidence to show that this is true. One result of this tendency is that we are easily manipulated by the media and politicians. For centuries, before mass communication we were manipulated by gossip, things we were told, particularly by those who have influence over us in some way: people we admire or those with power for example.

One example of simplistic thinking is the way in which refugees or asylum seekers were demonised by the Murdoch-Abbott consortium in recent times. Let me also add, for a balanced view, that the solutions offered by the Rudd and Gillard Governments were no better. The Australian people bought into the negative and wholly simplistic campaign. ‘Turn back the boats’ is a simplistic solution to a complex humanitarian problem that will have repercussions for Australia for years to come. It is also a racist position but more about that later. We like to think we are a fair-minded, liberal people, but this has been shown to be untrue. We have a conservative mind that is tied up with our human predilections.

Another example is that most people support the idea that throwing people in gaol is the cure for bad social behaviour, even though it has been shown repeatedly not to be a deterrent. Conservative minds are more likely to stir up public opinion in favour of harsher sentencing and are usually successful because it appeals to our need for simple solutions-even if they don’t work. The death penalty, even though most don’t support the idea, is another fine example of conservative thinking. The same can be said for the ‘war on drugs’. Most people support the idea and are easily stirred up to agree with the notion that drug takers should go to gaol. But the science shows that this approach is counterproductive. We know that drug taking, if treated as a health issue and decriminalised, becomes less of a social and criminal problem. But this is counter- intuitive to what we like to believe. There are many other examples of the way in which we are capable of irrational thinking. Kahneman provides a number of examples if you'd like to look further. We are a very irrational species despite what we like to think.

Stereotyping is perhaps the most common form of ‘thinking fast’ or short- circuiting opinion making. Humans are extremely good at this and, like fast thinking in general, stereotyping makes sense from a biological point of view. It saves time and energy that can be used for more important survival activities. Our propensity to stereotype enables us to be easily manipulated by others including the media and politicians. The media, in fact, deliberately use certain, often emotional, words and phrases in text and headlines to get us to think in a certain direction. Recipients of welfare, the poor and socially disadvantaged, refugees (read illegal immigrants in the right type of newspaper) and, of course, indigenous people are easily stereotyped in negative terms. Women are similarly treated, although mostly in more subtle ways.

Humans are naturally racist for, again, good biological reasons. It takes careful thought and effort for us to overcome this tendency, and many do. However, the marginalisation of indigenous people and immigrants in Australian society, is ongoing, despite the best efforts of the more enlightened. As I mentioned above, the refugee issue is largely a racist issue and racism, for the time being, has won.

The conservative mind taps into this human predilection and appeals to people to marginalise minority groups. The conservative mind believes in survival of the fittest, a white, patriarchal society based on a historical past, that what happens to us is the result of personal responsibility, laissez-faire economics, and the cult of the individual, beyond that of community. Couple this with a Christian moral code (although many conservative minds are not Christian) and the conservative mind wants faith to intersect with political policy and to guide societal behaviour in areas such as abortion, homosexuality, single parent families, same sex marriage, and surrogacy, for example.

The conservative mind, particularly that associated with the Christian church and the more so the Roman Catholic variety, are anti-science. The climate change issue is an excellent, but not sole, example. Humans do not like change and we don’t like fear: both make us very uncomfortable. So, we eagerly accept the conservative message that everything is all right, that we don’t need to worry, that the scientists have it all wrong. It means we can rest easily in our beds with no need to do some difficult things. No need to change our lifestyle and habits, pay for our profligacy, some uncertainty. Conservative minds don’t like change and neither do most people, so we are easily swayed despite the strong science, by single alternative and comforting views: it’s called cognitive dissonance, if you’d like to read more about it.

Humans are self-interested. Yes, we are community minded but only in as far as it protects our interests, our family, our off-spring. Belonging to a group is essential to survival. We are capable of acts of selflessness, although altruism is based on reciprocity and kinship. So, when we are asked to accept some changes to our lifestyle because we need to shift from fossil fuels, we baulk. Taxing the mining industry can easily be turned into a big ogre by simply talking about the threats to jobs, energy costs and the economy in general. Humans are easily spooked by change and by a risk to our standard of living, our self-interest. The conservative mind believes in a laissez-faire economy. One in which anything goes to promote big business. It is survival of the fittest. And the conservative mind knows how to manipulate the human need for self-interest.

It needs to be said that there is nothing wrong with these human predilections. They are based on reasonable biological drives and it has not been that long since we were running around in the swamp in small tribes trying desperately to survive in a harsh environment.

But a civil society exists because people can think through things like stereotyping, racism, issues of disadvantage. It can only exist when we stop taking the simple option and recognise that complex problems need complex solutions, that may not be easy to undertake: that there my be some pain. For us to have a civil society we need to go beyond the gossip, to seek out the facts and check sources, to eschew media that manipulates, to challenge what we hear and see, and to be prepared to change our point of view. It needs us to go beyond our natural tendencies, to not necessarily buy-in to the conservative mind.

Wisdom is the capacity to overcome our natural drives and instincts, to think carefully and compassionately, to challenge ourselves.