You know what I’m talking about. The ones who yell “Fuck your feelings” while having the emotional regulation of a toddler. The ones who bemoan “Cancel Culture” but do the same to companies for ads they disagree with. Or accuse “The Left” of civil disorder while literally storming the seat of government. Is there not a single millisecond of introspection going through their heads?
I’ve seen some equally crazy left wing folks on Facebook.
I don’t doubt it. It just seems like online discourse recently is inundated by the types I describe who never seem to take a break.
There are crazies in every demographic, but they seem to dominate the American right at the moment. The left-wing ones are the fringe; the right-wing ones are the base.
And in answer to the OP, a disturbing number of them appear to operate on the basis of “That which I wish to be true is true, and that which I wish to be untrue is untrue”. That seems to be the full extent of any introspection or critical consideration for those.
It would be interesting to see if IQ level correlates with being able to conduct a reasonable discussion.
If you’re unable to see yourself as fallible then reasonable discussion is just impossible.
Eh. IQ isn’t really a meaningful metric of anything other than the ability to take IQ tests.
One of the turning points for me was realizing that I couldn’t recall a single instance of conservatives sacrificing something they wanted, or acknowledging they were wrong.
Sure, it’s rare for liberals to do that - it runs contrary to human nature. But I could name at least a few liberals who, when confronted with facts, would own up to having been wrong. The Covid pandemic was when I truly realized conservatives couldn’t admit to being wrong about anything, or sacrificing anything they liked.
To be fair, I have seen quite a few formerly self-identified conservatives on these boards talking about how they gave up on the Republican Party post-, or prior to, Trump, and how they still wish they had a sane conservative party to support in order to promote aspects of conservative ideology that they like, but failing that, they’re willing to hold their noses and keep voting Democratic for the duration. I think that counts as the sort of admission of fallibility and willingness to sacrifice that you’re talking about.
Or maybe it just indicates that those individuals are No True Conservatives™? IIRC at least some of them don’t identify as conservative anymore. I dunno.
I’ve also seen the opposite happening where the thought process is “Sure Trump is bad BUT the Democrats would be much worse”.
I was tempted to say something similar. See this thread, for instance:
Since part of the essence of conservativism (small-c conservativisim, stripped of the political baggage and the particular people and issues it has become associated with of late) is resistance to change, I wonder if conservatives are inherently more resistant to changing their minds and their perspectives.
Which is why I think wild theories like the Comet Pizza one gain traction. Some of these folk look at how bad the current GOP is and build a Liberal Strawman that is even worse, and the worse the GOP get, the scarier the strawman becomes.
Could it be the fact that conservatism seems to be a defensive ideology “Things are just fine the way they are/were” compared to a progressive ideology of “Things need to change”. It would seem that conservatives would feel constantly on the back foot and under attack.
One very anecdotal observation from my life: the more conservative (specifically, the more MAGA conservative), the less likely the person is to ask questions – any questions about anything.
Their metaphorical keyboard simply doesn’t have a “?” key.
Not the case – even remotely – among my more liberal friends and family.
And when you first have it pointed out to you, it becomes shockingly obvious in those conversations.
ETA: I love the term “aggressively incurious.”
Anybody else notice that ?
Well there’s yer problem.
I don’t wade into the news cycle recreational outrage and talking head punditry circus very often, I find it exhausting.
But I do have a few friends that often make subtle references to liberals being too easily offended. It would be nice if I could rattle off a handful of recent times later than the Kaepernick dustup that conservatives got their panties in a bunch and wanted something canceled.
Mr. Potato Head
Dr. Seuss
Keurig boycott
Also, please try to wean yourself off of using the word “conservatives” to describe people whose behavior is radical and reactionary. Just as a favor to me, because I find it Orwellian.
TIA 
HALLELUJAH! and AMEN!
This has been bothering me for some time now, I’ve seen a slight shift in my family towards this, dropping “conservative” in favor of “radical reactionary” and I keep encouraging it as it is more reflective of reality.
No cite to hand, but there have been some studies that suggest conservatives tend to be more authoritarian in personality than “liberals,” and that personality trait extends to their politics. All conservative ideologies have some notion of hierarchy at their base; many leftwing, though not “liberal” ideologies, do not have some notion of hierarchy at their base.
Let me know when they get the full support of the DNC.