[chess93]

My belief is that people believe whatever they want to believe. If you are liberal it is because you want to be liberal. Alternatively you might just not want to be conservative. Same for the other direction. Naturally formed beliefs are just an afterthought. It goes without saying that this might not apply to everyone or to every belief.

For the record, I recognize that perhaps I believe this belief strictly because I want to believe it. I also think many people don't want to believe it.

[undecisive]

I'm not sure it's that simple. As Mr Graham points out, we are shaped by our echo chambers, the chorus of voices that shout out against our fellow "heretics". As children, those chambers come from our families and religious / community institutions, as dictated by our elders. As we reach our rebellious phases, sure - we scrabble around and find beliefs we want to believe in - but the effort expended in doing so is difficult and the reward is little. From a social perspective, a little deviation acts as a differentiator - we are made interesting within our peer groups by our rebellions - but too much heresy makes us "other". As we get past that, self-realisation comes in waves; nestled between desires of belonging in a new group, we find moments where we are invited to re-evaluate some deeply held truth. Rarely is the re-evaluation self-driven, and almost never is that belief so different that a nearby echo chamber is not crouching nearby, waiting to nurture our newfound "chosen" belief in it's warm, corroborating belly.

For the record, I want to believe your belief. I recognise that this autonomous self-truthing could be the pinnicle of what we as humans could become. I also think the very concept of society becomes a meaningless nothing if it were possible.

[tlb]

How does that theory explain large scale social changes over time? Why do peoples attitudes change in sync?

[toasterlovin]

FWIW, I think that a huge amount of political alignment in the U.S. derives from aesthetic sensibilities.

The thing last year where Trump ordered McDonald's for the college football team that was visiting him because the White House cook staff was not working due to the government shutdown is basically the perfect example of this. The left though it was the most gauche, trashy thing that ever happened, as in, "I can't believe someone would server toxic trash food to a guest in their own home." And right wing people mostly though it was totally normal, as in, "Of course you would order McDonald's if something came up and you couldn't serve a home cooked meal to a guest."

[edflsafoiewq]

Feels like topsy-turvy land. The right, as the defenders of monarchy and aristocratic taste, should obviously be horrified that the King is eating fast food, and the left, as the voice of the people and universal equality, should be delighted that the Chairman is eating the food of the common folk.