Political Confidence

[nc-1701]

I have been trying to view this election season as a spectator sport rather than jumping in and publicly supporting a candidate. I have to say it makes politics a lot more fun, at least for me...

While watching this have formulated a slightly different version of the political compass chart which I feel tells me a lot about a political position. I have started thinking about my own politics this way and it has cleared my head a lot and illuminated why certain things make me feel the way they do.

The idea is simple, for each issue there are 3 factors that are m,ost important to measuring your politics on this issue.

Your Left/Right position:
This is what you believe on the issue from a regular political compass perspective.

Your passion level:
This is how much you care about that particular issue.

Your confidence level:
This is how sure you are that you are correct about this issue.


I have found that the people who's politics make me the maddest aren't the people who differ from me in position so much as the people who differ from me in confidence. Generally someone who holds a position relatively close to mine with a much higher confidence level is more likely to tick me off than someone who holds a position much further away but with a lower confidence level.

I have found thinking about things in this way has moderated a lot of my positions without significantly watering them down.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

Thats perhaps quite an original way at looking at politics but I find that I dont really care for the right-left discrimination. What I simply prefere is to have the necessary job done with just about the right ammount of passion and with maximum confidence. What you describe seems like you have taken some steps back/ detached yourself and you prefer to enjoy and observe the game instead rather being involved in it. That surely can clear your head and would seem like a necessity for any pragmatic political thinking person.

Edit: I am not sure what troubles you about others being more confident on certain issues. I think that while some may be more convinced about their truth and views it doesnt makes them automaticaly right. Rather the contrary as the passion can quite often claud ones perception.

 

[Bootstoots]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of overconfidence, especially ideologically-driven overconfidence. My views are pretty much all subject to change as new information comes in, but most other people don't do this anywhere near often enough. Admitting being wrong causes a brief shock to the ego, and dismantling an ideology completely can be very hard because it shapes the way people find meaning and order in the world. But the plus side is that this is the way learning actually happens, so if you're the sort of person who likes to learn, getting rid of the overconfidence is critical.

 

[Ryika]

Real confidence I admire, it's the defining trait of people who have a conviction and can actually argue for their position, not just declare it to be true, the people who actually change minds. A lot of people however run on what I would not call "confidence" but rather "zealousness". People who insist that their world view must be correct and who are willing to double down on any issue, but are rarely willing to actually defend their point. They just insist on it being right.

I dislike these people, no matter on which side they are - they hinder dialog between opposing views and cause people to drift further apart. I'm not sure if I dislike those who are closer to my position more, but it certainly doesn't give them bonus-points.

 

[Lohrenswald]

I'm a zealot like Ryika describes and don't care much either way how confident people who disagree with me are. They're wrong and I'm right damnit

 

[Borachio]

I'm pretty sure that being confident you know what the future holds, and what's the best course of action for the rest of us, isn't a sign of confidence at all.

Which would make nearly all politicians extremely delusional by any sane psychiatric measure.

But I'm probably wrong. I nearly always am.