political psychology

Andy Masley ✓ @AndyMasley More seriously I think basically no one should ever be negatively polarized [Embedded text image, "Getting negatively polarized"]: It's become too common to hear people talk with pride about how they got negatively polarized into believing something. - "The left went crazy and drove me to the far right!" - "I used to be a normal liberal but other liberals were so annoying that I'm a communist now!" This is mental weakness. It's embarrassing to let people negatively polarize you. You're an adult. Stop it. Negative polarization means your brain got hacked by individual annoying strangers. That's ridiculous. When I hear someone say "I once met a very annoying person who believed X and now I hate X as a result" my only thought is that the world has 8 billion individuals in it, each one an infinite story we can just barely begin to understand in our brief time here. This person I'm talking to has let that precious truth slip from their field of vision. Getting negatively polarized is often a sign that the person enjoys having problems. They like the idea of having someone annoying who is causing them problems and turning them evil. It feels like they're deriving some sublimated joy from the people who annoyed them. The annoying person has given them an exciting narrative where they get to enjoy being the victim. It should be low-status to enjoy having problems like this. 9:35 AM · Dec 9, 2025 · 13.7K Views 3 replies, 16 reposts, 105 likes, 14 bookmarks Cody Fenwick ✓ @codytfenwick · 4h I think I can steelman negative polarization. It is often a major error, but if a particular group makes a bunch of correlated errors and has bad epistemic norms, it's reasonable to generally lower your credence on views that are distinctive to them. 3 replies, 9 likes, 380 views Andy Masley ✓ @AndyMasley · 4h Yup that makes sense, I should clarify [cut off]