This is one of the fundamental problems with politics today. The quantization of opinions into discrete "groups" has been happening forever, but I really think we're at an all time high now.
The system seems to be the most divided it's ever been.
Presidential candidates are forced to align themselves with their respective groups.
It's a shame really. Were probably missing out on a lot of good ideas from candidates who are afraid to offend their base and think outside the box.
The human brain will be as mentally lazy as it can be. If the computer mouse hadn't hit the scene as it did, we'd all know all these cool keyboard shortcuts to get around everything and would be much more efficient. If you use VIM/emacs its because you needed it or actively pushed yourself to learn it. I feel the same dedication is needed to avoid subconscious lethargy.
Group think, stereotypes, reductionism, compartmentalization. All of this makes it easy to make decisions, tough ones, without thinking hard or stepping out of our comfort zone. Even better, we get social recognition and adoration if we use the mental training wheels, isolation if we publicly don't.
We need, as a society, to avoid mental laziness in order to fix this problem. Sadly, it's built-in, easy and everyone's doing it.
PS. Not strictly saying computer mouse use is the fast-food of ui navigation. Just a metaphor.
Our two-party system really doesn't help with the "in or out" mentality either... it's completely permeated our 24/7 media culture and encourages dangerously binary thinking. I wouldn't be surprised to see the system break apart in a couple more years of these increasingly vicious primaries.
If Donald Trump doesn't win at the contested convention (if there is one), I wouldn't be surprised if the entire party split.
The same goes for the Bernie Sanders supporters (if Hillary wins the dem. nomination, which she will), but to a lesser extent. There are many Bernie supporters who see Hillary as the same kind of person as Donald Trump, and would never vote for her.
This election is going to be interesting.
I bet the voter turn out will be similar, but I also bet that the actual people who are voting will be different. There are many people who simply won't vote, and there are also many people who are voting for the first time.
The system seems to be the most divided it's ever been.
Presidential candidates are forced to align themselves with their respective groups.
It's a shame really. Were probably missing out on a lot of good ideas from candidates who are afraid to offend their base and think outside the box.
You can't be a pro-choice republican, etc.