Why are technical message boards overwhelmingly liberal?

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Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,373
1
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

The younger generations eventually become those in the seats of power which is partially why the current older generations seem to be the ones which are thinking on the same page as they are more often. At that time, he children of those who were once the younger generations will be the new generation of "liberals" and the previous liberals will then be labeled as being more conservative.

This is nothing new. What really changes is what defines a person to be "liberal" or "conservative"
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

Not supported by studies. Try again.
Facts have never dissuaded the opinions here. In fact, they usually just enrage.
 

CrazyHelloDeli

Platinum Member
Jun 24, 2001
2,854
0
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Why are internet forums mostly liberal? Because most of the conservatives are working and too busy to post.
 

Red Dawn

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2001
57,529
3
0
Originally posted by: CrazyHelloDeli
Why are internet forums mostly liberal? Because most of the conservatives are working and too busy to post.

Or taking their anti depressants.
 

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: astralvoid
It seems very odd to me that most technical forums tend to be overwhelmingly liberal biased.

I typically assume that most technical people are deep thinking, logical persons. Unfortunately, I've noticed that political threads seem to contradict this assumption.

So many threads dissolve into "You're wrong!...No, you're wrong!" type arguments that never truly discuss whatever the topic happens to be.

As a technical person myself, I try to gather as much information as possible before making a conclusion. Conversely, many others seem to base their conclusions on feelings of how they want things to be instead of basing them on the facts.

While I am not against anyone standing on their core beliefs, I find it disappointing that so many seem to toss all of their logical reasoning skills out the window when something political is mentioned.

Mathematically, I would expect to find and somewhat even mix of opinions, so given the imbalance, I can only assume that many of you choose not to make use of your generally better skills in reasoning.

Regardless, if anyone answers I hope this will stir you to try to think about what you are supporting and base those beliefs on fact instead of theory and speculation, just as you would do if you were discussion an new super-cool CPU from one of the chip makers. No matter which side of the fence you lean towards, if you base your conclusions on the given facts, it's probable you'll see viewpoints that may differ from your initial stand.

:)

WWYBYWB?

It's not Liberal Vs Conservative

It's Poor Vs The Rich and those that love their country and those such as the GOP, Rush, Hannity and all their supporters including Bush who said "it's hard work" to destroy it.
 

bobcpg

Senior member
Nov 14, 2001
951
0
0
Originally posted by: Atreus21
I think that people who spend alot of time on the internet in general are liberal-minded, probably because they have white-collar day jobs, like I do. White-collar jobs are more frequent in big cities, and big cities tend to be more liberal-minded, with a few exceptions. I would assume most citizens of the rural states that always vote red have neither the time nor inclination to post on online political forums.

Just to add, big cities usually have a lot more influence to the people around/in them. People who are highly susceptible to influence are generally more liberal, as it becomes trendy.

Not to mention its easier to be lazy in the cities, ie. beggers, food shelves, colleges...
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
Originally posted by: bobcpg
Originally posted by: CrazyHelloDeli
Why are internet forums mostly liberal? Because most of the conservatives are working and too busy to post.

So true.
Exactly. That corn doesn't harvest itself, y'know.
 

GroundedSailor

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2001
2,502
0
76
Here's something interesting on what makes a political conservative. See bolded parts in quote.

Note this is a peer reviewed research paper which was published in American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin. Yes it's a bit old but still relevant.

Linky

Researchers help define what makes a political conservative

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations | 22 July 2003 (revised 7/25/03)

BERKELEY ? Politically conservative agendas may range from supporting the Vietnam War to upholding traditional moral and religious values to opposing welfare. But are there consistent underlying motivations?

Four researchers who culled through 50 years of research literature about the psychology of conservatism report that at the core of political conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality, and that some of the common psychological factors linked to political conservatism include:

* Fear and aggression
* Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity
* Uncertainty avoidance
* Need for cognitive closure
* Terror management

"From our perspective, these psychological factors are capable of contributing to the adoption of conservative ideological contents, either independently or in combination," the researchers wrote in an article, "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition," recently published in the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin.

Assistant Professor Jack Glaser of the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy and Visiting Professor Frank Sulloway of UC Berkeley joined lead author, Associate Professor John Jost of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, and Professor Arie Kruglanski of the University of Maryland at College Park, to analyze the literature on conservatism.

The psychologists sought patterns among 88 samples, involving 22,818 participants, taken from journal articles, books and conference papers. The material originating from 12 countries included speeches and interviews given by politicians, opinions and verdicts rendered by judges, as well as experimental, field and survey studies.

Ten meta-analytic calculations performed on the material - which included various types of literature and approaches from different countries and groups - yielded consistent, common threads, Glaser said.

The avoidance of uncertainty, for example, as well as the striving for certainty, are particularly tied to one key dimension of conservative thought - the resistance to change or hanging onto the status quo, they said.

The terror management feature of conservatism can be seen in post-Sept. 11 America, where many people appear to shun and even punish outsiders and those who threaten the status of cherished world views, they wrote.

Concerns with fear and threat, likewise, can be linked to a second key dimension of conservatism - an endorsement of inequality, a view reflected in the Indian caste system, South African apartheid and the conservative, segregationist politics of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-South S.C.).

Disparate conservatives share a resistance to change and acceptance of inequality, the authors said. Hitler, Mussolini, and former President Ronald Reagan were individuals, but all were right-wing conservatives because they preached a return to an idealized past and condoned inequality in some form. Talk host Rush Limbaugh can be described the same way, the authors commented in a published reply to the article.

This research marks the first synthesis of a vast amount of information about conservatism, and the result is an "elegant and unifying explanation" for political conservatism under the rubric of motivated social cognition, said Sulloway. That entails the tendency of people's attitudinal preferences on policy matters to be explained by individual needs based on personality, social interests or existential needs.

The researchers' analytical methods allowed them to determine the effects for each class of factors and revealed "more pluralistic and nuanced understanding of the source of conservatism," Sulloway said.

While most people resist change, Glaser said, liberals appear to have a higher tolerance for change than conservatives do.

As for conservatives' penchant for accepting inequality, he said, one contemporary example is liberals' general endorsement of extending rights and liberties to disadvantaged minorities such as gays and lesbians, compared to conservatives' opposing position.

The researchers said that conservative ideologies, like virtually all belief systems, develop in part because they satisfy some psychological needs, but that "does not mean that conservatism is pathological or that conservative beliefs are necessarily false, irrational, or unprincipled."

They also stressed that their findings are not judgmental.

"In many cases, including mass politics, 'liberal' traits may be liabilities, and being intolerant of ambiguity, high on the need for closure, or low in cognitive complexity might be associated with such generally valued characteristics as personal commitment and unwavering loyalty," the researchers wrote.

This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes, the researchers advised.

The latest debate about the possibility that the Bush administration ignored intelligence information that discounted reports of Iraq buying nuclear material from Africa may be linked to the conservative intolerance for ambiguity and or need for closure, said Glaser.

"For a variety of psychological reasons, then, right-wing populism may have more consistent appeal than left-wing populism, especially in times of potential crisis and instability," he said.

Glaser acknowledged that the team's exclusive assessment of the psychological motivations of political conservatism might be viewed as a partisan exercise. However, he said, there is a host of information available about conservatism, but not about liberalism.

The researchers conceded cases of left-wing ideologues, such as Stalin, Khrushchev or Castro, who, once in power, steadfastly resisted change, allegedly in the name of egalitarianism.

Yet, they noted that some of these figures might be considered politically conservative in the context of the systems that they defended. The researchers noted that Stalin, for example, was concerned about defending and preserving the existing Soviet system.

Although they concluded that conservatives are less "integratively complex" than others are, Glaser said, "it doesn't mean that they're simple-minded."

Conservatives don't feel the need to jump through complex, intellectual hoops in order to understand or justify some of their positions, he said. "They are more comfortable seeing and stating things in black and white in ways that would make liberals squirm," Glaser said.

He pointed as an example to a 2001 trip to Italy, where President George W. Bush was asked to explain himself. The Republican president told assembled world leaders, "I know what I believe and I believe what I believe is right." And in 2002, Bush told a British reporter, "Look, my job isn't to nuance."


 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,373
1
0
Originally posted by: bobcpg

Just to add, big cities usually have a lot more influence to the people around/in them. People who are highly susceptible to influence are generally more liberal, as it becomes trendy.

Not to mention its easier to be lazy in the cities, ie. beggers, food shelves, colleges...

What do colleges have to do with being lazy?
 

ayabe

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2005
7,449
0
0
Originally posted by: bobcpg
Originally posted by: Atreus21
I think that people who spend alot of time on the internet in general are liberal-minded, probably because they have white-collar day jobs, like I do. White-collar jobs are more frequent in big cities, and big cities tend to be more liberal-minded, with a few exceptions. I would assume most citizens of the rural states that always vote red have neither the time nor inclination to post on online political forums.

Just to add, big cities usually have a lot more influence to the people around/in them. People who are highly susceptible to influence are generally more liberal, as it becomes trendy.

Not to mention its easier to be lazy in the cities, ie. beggers, food shelves, colleges...

Highly susceptible to influence like the listeners of talk radio or the people flocking to mega churches?

I don't see how you can paint ones susceptibility to outside influence or peer pressure in partisan terms.
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: bobcpg
Originally posted by: CrazyHelloDeli
Why are internet forums mostly liberal? Because most of the conservatives are working and too busy to post.

So true.
And yet here are a couple of purported conservatives posting. It must be the twilight zone.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
73,237
6,338
126
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

Not supported by studies. Try again.

The only data that I can see are those that support what I already want to believe.
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: astralvoid
It seems very odd to me that most technical forums tend to be overwhelmingly liberal biased.
...
How did you arrive at this conclusion? Has there been research on this? links?

You seem dismayed at this. Why? What is your definition of a liberal? Do conservatives believe in balanced budgets?

Are we ever going to hear from you again? Do you know what the definition of an internet troll is?
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,586
50,771
136
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

Not supported by studies. Try again.

The only data that I can see are those that support what I already want to believe.

Here's one.
 

SarcasticDwarf

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2001
9,574
1
76
I think the problem here is the ridiculous use of the terms liberal and conservative, both of which are always poorly defined. There are few people in the world who are fully liberal or conservative across all issues. Most people are some of both.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
59,208
13,801
136
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

What are us 30 year olds supposed to do?
Does this mean that in a couple months I'm going to start agreeing with Rush Limbaugh?
That seems doubtful.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
73,237
6,338
126
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

Not supported by studies. Try again.

The only data that I can see are those that support what I already want to believe.

Here's one.

I confess. I CAN see that, but only because I already wanted to believe it. It will be completely ridiculed and ignored by anybody who doesn't agree. The author will have been found to have a fly on his nose or some such important relevancy and that will take care of that. Common wisdom says that "I'll believe it when I see it, but that rare form of lunacy found in Moonbeam says "I'll see it when I believe it."
 

DealMonkey

Lifer
Nov 25, 2001
13,136
1
0
This little whine-fest by supposed conservatives is just a preview of what the next 8 years will be liked with the WH and Congress controlled by the Dems. Their fantasy of being the political "underdogs" will finally come true.

:laugh:
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
33,952
8,007
136
Originally posted by: astralvoid
Topic: Why are technical message boards overwhelmingly liberal?

Ever been to the south? I'm going to bet internet usage around here is only catching on among the college kids - and the general populace still has a long ways to go.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: Deeko
I've found that many conservatives are basically assholes about their views, they 'know' they are right, and you are clearly stupid and a lesser person than them for not agreeing with them. Not to say there aren't liberals like that too, but it seems a higher percentage of conservatives are.

Funny, because you ARE one of those liberals. You're right up there with Craig, Dave, techs, BOBDN, Harvey, Moonbeam and the myriad of "liberal" posters who think everyone who agrees with them is a genius and everyone who doesn't is a fool.
 

MikeyLSU

Platinum Member
Dec 21, 2005
2,747
0
71
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: spidey07
As already pointed out it's very simple. The overwhelming age of members is young. That means they're liberal. Most of them will change as they get older.

Under 30 think with your heart, over 30 think with your head.

Not supported by studies. Try again.

The only data that I can see are those that support what I already want to believe.

Here's one.

this doesn't really prove much. First off, I'd like to see the actual data rather than a report on it.

more importantly you have this "While the surveys did not provide data for the same individuals at different stages, they represented snapshots of the changing attitudes of respondents in different age cohorts over time."

So rather than comparing the individuals as they go through time, they are comparing the liberalism of the nation.

This seems to imply to me that it the nation as a whole has moved more towards liberalism rather than individuals changing as they get older. But it is hard to analize without seeing the actual numbers.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
Originally posted by: Genx87
I think if you look at most boards they break down the same way. Liberals tend to have a bigger mouth and are happy to use it. Rarely do you see conservatives out pissing and moaning about things like a liberal. We tend to piss and moan in private and damn the world!

No, you do it on public radio and cable news. ;)
 

Red Dawn

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2001
57,529
3
0
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: Deeko
I've found that many conservatives are basically assholes about their views, they 'know' they are right, and you are clearly stupid and a lesser person than them for not agreeing with them. Not to say there aren't liberals like that too, but it seems a higher percentage of conservatives are.

Funny, because you ARE one of those liberals. You're right up there with Craig, Dave, techs, BOBDN, Harvey, Moonbeam and the myriad of "liberal" posters who think everyone who agrees with them is a genius and everyone who doesn't is a fool.
Speaking of assholes. The difference is you go out of your way to be one:laugh: