THE CASE FOR COMPASSION
...Only way to change course is in understanding ourselves, garnering empathy for those who think differently, and incisive political action
Nov 2, 202019 min read
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HI, I'M MATT.
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Welcome to my blog.
I am a pianist, Los Angeles studio musician, composer, college professor, and aspiring social disinfluencer.
I'm relatively confident that I've consumed more right-wing media than anyone other than Donald Trump himself. Let my loss be your gain.
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"Jack of all trades, master of some
Jack of one trade, connector of none"
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MISSION:
In 2014, I unwittingly scored the music for a tech company* that, through the sale and manipulation of social media user-data, helped facilitate Trump's electoral victory.
In addition to my unyielding obsession with political psychology and time spent living in the South, I'm hoping to use some of my pedagogical experience to rebalance that karma.
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The following pages are a curation of the most relevant neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and philosophy as they relate to"disinfluencing"the divisiveness of social media and the oligarchs that exploit it.
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*The music was produced for Cambridge Analytica's largest subsidiary and source of social media user data. Cambridge Analytica is now known as the criminal enterprise employed by the Trump Campaign in 2016, and a crucial component of it's success.
START HERE
a letter to the left
(ANTI)-SOCIAL MEDIA
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The Great Hack
The story of how Cambridge Analytica used social media to sway the results of Brexit and the Trump campaign. Democracy is now for sale.
Social Dilemma
Facebook is monetizing social discord by selling our information -- without consent -- to the highest bidder. Oh, and it's bad for your mental health.
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The Perception Gap: How False Impressions are Pulling Americans Apart
Perhaps the entire pretext of my website is to relieve liberals of the faulty premise, "What we need is to teach all those backwards rednecks how to think straight!"
It's just not how it works: "Education seems to increase, rather than mitigate, the Perception Gap (just as increased education has found to track with increased ideological prejudice). College education results in an especially distorted view of Republicans among liberals in particular."
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RIGHT-WING AUTHORITARIANISM
(TRUMPISM)
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Why do Trumps's Supporters Stand By Him, No Matter What?
The only relevant question of the thinking person. If you're looking for a clear explanation behind the Trump cult, this is where you start. Altemeyer is the preeminent sociologist on the topic. He brought RWA to the mainstream over 2 decades ago. He is constantly updating his website to reflect current events and forewarns of looming dangers on the horizon.
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Donald Trump and the Authoritarian Followers
Good science is nothing if not predictive and reliable. Written in 2016, Altemeyer accurately forewarns of what is to come.
New research explores authoritarian mindset of Trump supporters
Altemeyer's research on RWA (Lite Version from WAPO)
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The Authoritarian Personality- Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm, the German psychologist, humanist, and social theorist, coined the term, Authoritarian.
"What defines the essence of the authoritarian personality is an inability: the inability to rely on one’s self, to be independent, to put it in other words: to endure freedom".
The emotional feedback loop shared between Trump and his supporters does indeed seem to create a perfect breeding ground for political co-dependence.
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Right-wing Authoritarianism-
From Wikipedia. Why not? They do an incredible job of breaking it down including addressing the (somewhat forced) concept of Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA).
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POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 110
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The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
The Moral Roots of Liberal and Conservatives
Couldn't have said it better myself...
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Patheos
Deeper down the rabbit hole of moral foundations.
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Behind The Curve
Though slightly off-topic, the plight of the Flat-Earther is the perfect expose into the futility of reasoning with the unreasonable.
DRILLING DOWN - THE BRAIN CHEMISTRY OF POLITICS
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Neural correlates of maintaining one’s political beliefs in the face of counterevidence
FMRI Brain-scans confirm that the role of fear limits our ability to update beliefs. The illustrious, Sam Harris is in on this one.
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Closed-Minded Cognition:
Right-wing authoritarianism is negatively related to belief updating.
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Superheroes For Change
(WAPO coverage of same study)
Physical safety promotes socially (but not economically) progressive attitudes among conservatives
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OTHER DISINFLUENCERS
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David Brooks and Katie Couric
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Deprogramming Cult Behavior- Bill Maher
From the self-aggrandizing sex addict himself, on the power of "love", of all things.
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On the DNC- Bill Maher
Absolutely poignant, relevant, and incisive critique on the DNC and it's hypocritical cancel-culture tribal rhetoric.
"They're the party that disappears people and tries to make them apologize for ridiculous things."
A breath of fresh air from Bill and deceptively unifying.
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Nick Carmody
Analyzing Trump's support from many nuanced angles, including fMRI brain scans
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Matt Taibbi
Hate Inc., Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another
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Bridget Phetasy
The battlecry of the Politically Homeless (this says it all)
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Bridge Alliance
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Arlie Hochschild
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Beau of the Fifth Column
The discussions of a southern journalist who is tired of a lack of common sense.
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BRIDGE ALLIANCE
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heterodox
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Links
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disinfluencing 101
CURATED LINKS
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1. (ANTI)-SOCIAL MEDIA
2. AUTHORITARIANISM (trumpism)
3. POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY 110
4. NEUROSCIENCE
5. OTHER disinfluencers
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FOLLOW ME
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MY PICK
OF THE MONTH
The same thrust as my blog, but in eloquent prose. Arlie is courageous, thoughtful, careful, and her timing couldn't be better. The underlying emotional "story" of the American Right illuminates the need to break down walls of empathy.
"Compassion, not Capitulation", is my favorite line.
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