I propose that the best way for leftists to get themselves in a rightist frame of mind is to imagine there is a zombie apocalypse tomorrow. [...] It seems broadly plausible that there could be [a neurological switch] for something like “social stability”. If the brain finds itself in a stable environment where everything is abundant, it sort of lowers the mental threat level and concludes that everything will always be okay and its job is to enjoy itself and win signaling games. If it finds itself in an environment of scarcity, it will raise the mental threat level and set its job to “survive at any cost”.
i always thought there was something broadly true in this view, though there is a lot of variation it doesn’t explain.
this post reminds me of scott alexander’s post on surviving versus thriving:
i always thought there was something broadly true in this view, though there is a lot of variation it doesn’t explain.