1). Humans love to categorize: I haven't heard them, what genre of music are they? What kind of movie is it? Is she anything like my last girlfriend? The intricacies and subtle nuances of a new band, or upcoming movie, or human being are impossible to summarize in words, of course. But, oh, we try. Not necessarily because we like simplicity, but because we have already liked/disliked some things in the past. So we use these reference points to pre-screen incoming data, to point us towards pleasure or steer us from pain.
Political issues apparently work the same way. There are two major poles, and plenty of minor ones, so when someone political hears about a controversial new issue, they can formulate some ghost of an opinion before the facts start to pour in, and associate it with previously-accepted beliefs.
Is this a harmful practice? Probably.
2). Groups of people are stronger than divided individuals, and they know it.
This feeds into itself: Why is "the left" so vocal and strong? Because there are so many "leftist" thinkers. Why are there so many "leftist" thinkers? Because "the left" is so vocal and strong, so a lot of people find it and use it as a reference point.
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1). Humans love to categorize:
I haven't heard them, what genre of music are they? What kind of movie is it? Is she anything like my last girlfriend?
The intricacies and subtle nuances of a new band, or upcoming movie, or human being are impossible to summarize in words, of course. But, oh, we try. Not necessarily because we like simplicity, but because we have already liked/disliked some things in the past. So we use these reference points to pre-screen incoming data, to point us towards pleasure or steer us from pain.
Political issues apparently work the same way. There are two major poles, and plenty of minor ones, so when someone political hears about a controversial new issue, they can formulate some ghost of an opinion before the facts start to pour in, and associate it with previously-accepted beliefs.
Is this a harmful practice? Probably.
2). Groups of people are stronger than divided individuals, and they know it.
This feeds into itself:
Why is "the left" so vocal and strong? Because there are so many "leftist" thinkers.
Why are there so many "leftist" thinkers? Because "the left" is so vocal and strong, so a lot of people find it and use it as a reference point.