Opposing same sex marriage is based on disgust

[Blind groper]

There is an opinion piece in the 19 May issue of New Scientist magazine. The writers (both from California) compare conservative and liberal attitudes to a range of things, but mainly same sex marriage. I guess it will not surprise many to be told that opposition to such marriages is strong among conservatives, and not strong among liberals.

The thesis of the piece seems to be that opposition is based on the emotion of disgust, rather than any rational reason. The writers quote a number of studies showing that conservatives are very prone to this emotion, and are strongly influenced by it. While as a broad generalisation, liberals are less affected by it in decision making.

They showed that studies, in which a disgusting smell or sight is presented to test subjects before an evaluation, results in a much higher rejection of same sex marriage, but to a much lesser degree among liberals.

They also showed that there is a major difference in perception of social wrongs among the two groups. Comparing, for example, kicking a dog with urinating in public, conservatives tend to consider them both equally wrong, while liberals consider kicking a dog to be worse - because it involves a victim, which urinating in public does not.

This article really (in my mind) seems to support liberals and disdain conservatives as irrational, because they are more strongly influenced by a strong emotion, rather than reason.

Since this forum is focused on rational reasoning, does this mean we have more liberals?

[Robert_S]

A lot of conservative attitudes disgust me profoundly.

[Bella Fortuna]

A lot of conservative attitudes disgust me profoundly.

+1

[Audley Strange]

This is exactly the kind of "look we're smarter" smuggery that the liberals love. They'll be patting themselves on the back about it while the right wing steal their childrens pennies to buy sexual violence robots to oppress the Mexican or something. Still I know that kids without legs in Iraq can only go on knowing that at least the western liberals have achieved the moral victory by being rational.

Perhaps the smells acted as trauma memory signifiers in the conservatives and they'd be pre-disposed afterwards to have a more negative disposition towards same sex marriages or anything else, or perhaps liberals are less likely to smell shit even when it's right under their nose as long as someone tells them it's fair-trade.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The only way to be sure whether or not you're gay is to try it and see if you like it.

[Audley Strange]

"The only way to be sure whether or not you're gay is to try it and see if you like it." Mark 16:4

(imagine a big yellow fixed emote thingy.)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"The only way to be sure whether or not you're gay is to try it and see if you like it." Mark 16:4

(imagine a big yellow fixed emote thingy.)

Mark 6:14

New International Version (NIV)
John the Baptist Beheaded

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,[a] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.

[Audley Strange]

You'd need to be totally bloody minded to interpret that any other way than Jesus commands the faithful to be openly bi-curious.

[Blind groper]

perhaps liberals are less likely to smell shit even when it's right under their nose as long as someone tells them it's fair-trade.

The authors of the article seemed to think it was because liberals could divorce themselves from their emotions better, and make decisions based on cognitive, rather than emotive reasons.

Personally, I do not have an opinion on that, but I am interested to see if this matches with other people's experience.

[Tero]

For sure. Any sex with penises is disgusting. More lesbian porn.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

You'd need to be totally bloody minded to interpret that any other way than Jesus commands the faithful to be openly bi-curious.

Blatantly.

[Warren Dew]

The authors of the article seemed to think it was because liberals could divorce themselves from their emotions better, and make decisions based on cognitive, rather than emotive reasons.

Personally, I do not have an opinion on that, but I am interested to see if this matches with other people's experience.

In my experience, that is true of people who are "liberal" in the European sense, which is to say, libertarian.

Those called "liberal" in the U.S., which is to say, leftists, may be less likely to make decisions based on emotion, but they are also less likely to make decisions based on rationality. They tend to just go with their preconceptions.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Stereotyping or just lumping?

[Blind groper]

Yes.
I have seen no evidence that liberals are more prone to preconceptions.
Do you have any such evidence, Warren?

[Warren Dew]

Yes.
I have seen no evidence that liberals are more prone to preconceptions.
Do you have any such evidence, Warren?

Yes: my experiences with people I know, which is what's relevant to your question about our personal experiences.