Links to Consider, 4/18

Ruxandra Telso criticizes Rob Henderson on luxury beliefs; Musa al-Gharbi looks at leftism and unhappiness; Rob Henderson revisits Eric Hoffer; Chris Mims on batteries

Ruxandra Teslo writes,

Recognizing elites as imperfect, fallible individuals rather than malevolent, entirely self-serving creatures, and placing them within an accurate historical narrative is important. What we need is a shift towards a discourse that is more rational and centered on the factual essence of issues. Adopting yet a new instantiation of the old class struggle framework to interpret the world is unlikely to contribute positively towards that objective.

She is saying that Rob Henderson’s concept of “luxury beliefs” accentuates a class divide between elites and others. Teslo and Henderson would agree that the set of positions that Henderson calls luxury beliefs are mostly stupid and wrong-headed. But Teslo would say that we should focus on criticizing the beliefs themselves and leave class conflict out of it.

If I were Henderson, I would respond that the class divide exists regardless of whether we talk about it. And it is the behavior of the elites that is accentuating the class divide.

Last year, Musa al-Gharbi wrote,

It’s possible that genetics and biology could explain much of the observed relationship between liberal identification and mental illness. After all, there is robust evidence that individuals’ political, ideological, and moral dispositions are biology-based and heritable to a significant degree (here, here, here, here, here, here).

People often write as if the causality runs from ideology to mental states, as if being conservative makes you happier. I would instinctively think that the causality runs from mental disposition to ideology.

Al-Gharbi sees evidence for causality running in both directions.

are there compelling, empirically-based reasons to suspect that liberalism does not just correlate with adverse psychological states but might actually exacerbate depression, anxiety, or other problems among those who embrace it? The short answer is yes.

Ian Leslie discusses the phenomenon of leftwing unhappiness, and includes a pointer to al-Gharbi’s essay. Leslie, unlike me, emphasizes causality running from ideology to mental condition.

I do think that, in its more extreme form, the liberal mindset is unhealthy and self-harming. The last ten years have seen the emergence of a more performative and pathological strain of liberalism among some highly-educated young liberals, who unwittingly practice what Jonathan Haidt calls reverse CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). CBT teaches patients to recognise that their own worrying and catastrophising and knee-jerk pessimism are the causes of distress. In order to get happier, they need to break with those mental patterns. Modern liberalism teaches people the opposite - that such patterns are signs of moral virtue. Social media pushes liberals together with others who think in the same way, and throws reputation and status into the mix: the more you worry, and the more dramatic you are about it, the more admirable and attention-worthy you become. In this game, to be content is to lose - is to be nobody.

If I had to name a single cause of the well-being gap, I’d say it’s that liberals are more political than conservatives. They think more about politics, care more about it, spend more time reading about and discussing it. Not just party politics, but the politics of gender, race, sexuality and so on. And that can get you down.

A classic characterization of ideological fervor as an outward manifestation of inner turmoil is Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer. Rob Henderson offers an appreciation.

According to The True Believer, extreme mass movements depend not so much on a specific ideology, but on a shared hatred for the present and a yearning for a vaguely defined utopian future. This means that the strongest mass movements are inevitably going to be the ones that are the best at not delivering the goods. Any movement that actually advances the interests of its frustrated supporters will make them less frustrated. Hence, they’ll stop being members.

One way to think about this is that the ideological beliefs select their adherents. Sick beliefs select sick people.

On a cheerier note, for the WSJ Christopher Mims writes,

In the next five years, significant upgrades to the batteries in electric vehicles should finally hit the market. In the works for decades, these changes are likely to mean that by 2030, gas vehicles will cost more than their electric equivalents; some EVs will charge as quickly as filling up at a gas station; and super long-range EVs will make the phrase “range anxiety” seem quaint.

He points out that improvements seem to be coming incrementally, rather than with a revolutionary technology that completely replaces the lithium-ion battery.

substacks referenced above:

@

The Prophets: Eric Hoffer

@

Why Does Being Left-Wing Make You Unhappy?

@

Shut up about Luxury Beliefs