
People who care most about politics have least understanding of their opponents - werber
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/americas-most-educated-engaged-citizens-are-making-politics-worse/
======
jakelazaroff
Take this with a grain of salt: it's based on a study by a group called More
in Common [1], which exists explicitly to spread information that supports
this conclusion.

[1] [https://www.moreincommon.com](https://www.moreincommon.com)

------
zadkey
If they are really educated, that means knowing both sides of the story, not
just what the echo chamber feeds you.

~~~
zadkey
"In other words, the more you pay attention to political media, the less
likely you are to understand the true beliefs of your political opponents."

Paying attention to political media does not make you educated.

~~~
thyrsus
"First Things" [https://www.firstthings.com](https://www.firstthings.com)
provides an authentic and sympathetic view into conservative thought.
Regrettably, Fox News appears to have more influence, and in the handful of
hours I've spent with that it was an abyss of greed and hatred.

------
justin66
The report itself (skip National Review's explainer, since their writers and
editors are the worst people in the entire world) is here:
[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a70a7c3010027736a227...](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a70a7c3010027736a22740f/t/5d101028495118000181fad6/1561333806922/The+Perception+Gap.pdf)

At first blush the paper itself doesn't look very interesting. Everything in
the paper hinges on its use of the term "extreme views," which in their usage
is about perception and has nothing to do with the objective reality of what
constitutes an extreme view (pp. 56-67).

------
matthewbauer
This is a good rebuttal to the study:

[https://twitter.com/jbenton/status/1142891539598852102](https://twitter.com/jbenton/status/1142891539598852102)

------
Reedx
Not unlike sports or wrestling fans. Do they want to hear and consider strong
arguments for their villain? Not so much.

~~~
maxxxxx
That’s the problem. People are applying the template for being a sports fan to
politics. In sports it’s OK to be a blind believer or believe nonsense but in
politics this is very damaging . I have wished before that some people who are
into partisan politics would cheer for a sports team instead.

------
rogerkirkness
It seems time for a centrists rebellion. If someone is good at Twitter it's a
proxy for relatively extreme beliefs.

~~~
maxxxxx
Being extreme gives people a lot of energy so these activists put a lot of
effort into lobbying for their view. It’s hard to get centrists fired up to
fight for their beliefs with the same intensity.

