The Nap Ministry
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
2y ago
I learned to nap when I was a teenager. I was working at a lumber yard—my brothers and I all did that in the summers—and I remember walking a few blocks to lunch at home and then lying on the floor in the living room for a quick nap before going back to work. I remember sleeping soundly for fifteen minutes and waking refreshed and going back to work. As I look back, I am not quite sure how much of that actually happened but I remember it all clearly and my brothers, who sometimes keep an eye on this blog, will all have views. Fast forward to grad school at the University of Oregon. I began to ..read more
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Making Policy by Hurt Feelings
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
Randall Kennedy, a law professor at Harvard, puts it this way in an email to Thomas Edsall of the New York Times. “Authorities… need to become much more skeptical and tough-minded when encountering the language of hurt.” Why? Here’s how Professor Kennedy sees it. “‘Woke’ folk making wrongful demands march under the banner of “EQUALITY” which is a powerful and attractive emblem.” Yes it is. Yes they do. “At the same time,” Kennedy continued, “many of the people demanding the diminution of…essential freedoms have learned how to … deploy skillfully the language of “hurt” — as in ‘I don’t care wha ..read more
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Another Marshmallow Test
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
Many years ago, psychologist Walter Mischel devised a test of the ability to defer rewards. For experimental subjects, he used students at his daughter’s grade school. For rewards, he used whatever kind of treat a child might choose. Some years later, New York Times columnist David Brooks called it “the marshmallow test,:” and, like a lot of the names David Brooks thinks up, it became a widely used term. [1] The test was simplicity itself. You can have the chosen treat now or, if you are willing to wait for a little while, you can have several treats. I don’t know what Mischel’s initial expec ..read more
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Where totalitarianism comes from
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
The book I am reading now has three quotes at the beginning: one by Jean Casson, a Toulouse resistance leader and poet; one by Robert F. Kennedy; and one by Hannah Arendt.  The book is about the adventures of Virginia Hall, who set up local networks of resistance to the Nazis all over France.  It is called, A Woman of No Importance.  Here is the quote from Arendt.  It is from her book, The Origins of Totalitarianism. The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e ..read more
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Two Cheers for the Wheaton faculty!
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
The last time I looked, 284 faculty has signed a statement called  Statement from Wheaton College Faculty and Staff Concerning the January 6 Attack on the Capitol.  See the Appendix for the full statement. Other Wheaton friends of mine grumbled that this statement was not put on the college website or supported in any visible way by the trustees, but I think that is asking a lot.  The faculty are more liberal than any administration of an evangelical school can afford to be and more liberal than any collection of rich conservative trustees will want to be.  From the standpo ..read more
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Eggs and Omelettes
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
As I write this, it is getting dark in Washington D. C. There are still pro-Trump rioters inside the Capitol and darkness does odd things to riots.  On all the channels I have watched, the reporters and commentators are asking, “How did it come to this?”  I would like to reflect right now, before it gets dark in Washington, on how it came to this. I think that Trump [1] is very careful about some things and entirely cavalier about others. The maintenance of his image is what he is most careful about.  There is no telling what a man like this is, but it is clear that he cares abo ..read more
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The most lied about President
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
It was a professional conversation.  About long-term financial planning, mostly.  We had done all the work and the comments being made were “on the way out the door comments,”  In some way, the topic of President Trump came up and I said that he was clearly the most consistently lying president in our history.  “Yes,” agreed the professional, “and the most lied about.” I had one of those moments you see in the movies where I kept moving and everything else remained frozen in place.  I felt as if some kind of a spell had been cast. Say what?  The most lied about? T ..read more
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Trying to understand vigilantes. Failing.
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
Amber Elliott, currently director of the St. Francois County public health department in Missouri, resigns today, November 20.  She and her family are being harassed by angry citizens. Kelly Vollmar is director of the Jefferson County Health Department and has faced the same kinds of abuse. [1] I want to think about the case that is being made by the citizens who are doing the harassing and why they think this case justifies such actions. That’s the topic.  But I really can’t just go to that question; there is really no way to simply ignore what these neighbors have been doing.  ..read more
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Government by “Stand-up Guys.”
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
President Trump has referred to people who lie on his behalf and who are willing to be convicted for their service to him, as “stand-up guys.”  That could sound unobjectionable.  Who would not want to be served by people who are willing to do so even at a cost to themselves?’’ But what it obscures is that it is the personal relationship to the leader that is the basis for the assessment.  It is not the contribution to successful government.  Decisionmakers in the executive and legislative branches are supposed to be able to count on accurate information in making their deci ..read more
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Lasting Damage to the Republic
The Dilettante's Dilemma - Political Psychology
by hessd
3y ago
I want to write this post as a rebuke to myself.  I want to look back on the day I wrote this and say, “This helped me avoid making a really bad mistake.” Here is the mistake: “At last, the frightful Trump era is over and we can go back to normal.” OK, that’s three or four mistakes, but the one I wanted to pay most attention to is that the Trump era inflicted grievous losses on the Republic and we may never fully recover at all. This is a thought I have been getting ready to think for awhile.  Then, on November 11, Jonathan Gienapp offered this observation to Thomas Edsall: Trump’s ..read more
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