How can two intelligent people be on different sides of the political spectrum?

Question

I'm a member of Mensa and am conservative. I have some friends that are "otherwise intelligent" but are liberals.

By the way, I demonstrate empathy and help people many times. The difference is, I do it with my own money. In my conservative opinion, liberals make themselves feel better by spending someone else's money.

Answer 1

It's not a matter of intelligence but what values you hold to be most important.

For instance, some people believe freedom is an inalienable right, others that equality should be a fundamental goal for any society. The two are often contradictory.

It just depends on your outlook

Answer 2

It comes down to emotion that people hold high values toward. I really don't think political ideology has much to do with intelligence in most cases - of course some people will make it out to be the case. I've always thought that an intelligent person is one who looks at each issue individually and determines their own belief regardless of what their partisanship believes. A person that can do that, to me, is far more intelligent than simple labels like "conservative" or "liberal."

Answer 3

(I'm identified as being "far left". However...) I don't think there IS a spectrum. What was "liberal" a century ago is now "Conservative". History marches both forwards and "left"wards. Society's progression ought to be towards a higher standard of life & freedom for every living Human being. Just because there are regressive medievalists with simplistic ideologies and the unability to think without a target doesn't mean that there's a subjective "Spectrum".

Answer 4

They may be mislead as to the facts - a lot of people here in New England think that the way Adam Smith and David Ricardo described it makes sense but believe that that's not how it really works, because the Boston Globe tells them that's not how it really works. Don't worry - those people, once they do their own research and figure out that the Globe and the NY Times are FOS, become the most committed of conservatives / libertarians.

Answer 5

There's a reason why most, if not all, humanitarian/peace activists have liberal, left-wing views. (Not including religious missionaries, who obviously have a different agenda when it comes to "helping people".)

Conservatives may be intelligent in certain fields, but not when it comes to issues of international relations or politics. This is probably natural, since most conservatives don't give a rat's a** about other countries or world opinion, and revel in their own ignorance of other cultures & peoples - unless they have been determined as threats to national security, in which case our perceived "enemies" get reduced to simplistic categories of "Evil Communists" or "Muslim Islamofascists". When you travel enough around the world (or at least learn more about it) & care more about it, you will start to think of the entire world as your home - and not just your own country. Global politics & national politics are intertwined. As a result, those who expand their mental borders to include the world, will naturally become less conservative when it comes to their own particular country.

The path to peace is not through "conservatism," which usually leads to wars (good for the conservative military industrial complex), but through "liberalism".

Answer 6

I would label myself as a conservative as that would be the closest "label". But I think those who are truly intelligent don't choose to be on either extreme. On both sides there are valid arguements or at least points that warrent consideration or discussion.

It would seem that it seems that seemingly intelligent people label themselves as a liberal but seem to be more emotional about it.

Answer 7

This is a vexing problem,one that I have given long thought on.I have concluded that your point of view must come from a neutral zone inside of yourself.It's a place where you become every man,and their you can weigh just how certain points of view effect others.Then you must weigh that,against how it will effect everyone.You must never bow to power for the sake of gain.Nor can you be an elitist,making points for a favored few that excludes all others.It's tricky,having a balanced view,coming to the point where you can see all the points of views,compromise,and balance.

Answer 8

It isn't about being smart of dumb...it's about the way the a person sees the world and what their values are. I'm not a liberal because an equation told me to be...it's just the way I am. My world view says that you should take care of people, the planet and everything else. I'm as smart as you we just see the world different ways.

Answer 9

different life experiences, different educational backgrounds, and different families and cultures. It really is a simple question. I am surprised that as a member of Mensa, you can't figure this one out.

Answer 10

Easy. My girlfriend is a liberal and I am a conservative.
We agree to disagree.

P.S. Intelligence begins with knowing you do not know everything.