Why Academia is Left-Leaning

BrianW said:
A long time ago!
Uni relatively recently as I went as a 'mature student' around 2000.

If things have changed I should not be surprised. The world moves on.
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Yeah, I was in college in the early 90s and went back for grad school in the early 2000s.

From what friends are telling me and from general reporting, around 2014-2015 the landscape changed drastically.

You can check out talks on this by Jonathan Haight and Greg Lukianoff. It's apparently a little different these days.
 
DiscoSteve said:
As people get older they get wiser - note the voting patterns over age groups
see https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politic...06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election

Youngsters (and the academics that pander to them) tend to start left wing.

But as evidenced in that link, people generally get smarter and more tuned to the real world as they get older and realise their mistake when they're young and drift rightwards. This is a truism and no amount of left wing arguments can deny it.
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Wiser or maybe just Jaded.

And from being idealistic just conform to a set of expected norms, and as such we stagnate as a society rather than improve the equilibrium.
 
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DiscoSteve said:
As people get older they get wiser - note the voting patterns over age groups
see https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politic...06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election

Youngsters (and the academics that pander to them) tend to start left wing.

But as evidenced in that link, people generally get smarter and more tuned to the real world as they get older and realise their mistake when they're young and drift rightwards. This is a truism and no amount of left wing arguments can deny it.
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Older people vote X more than younger people.

You conclude that older people - presumably because they vote the way you do - are "smarter," and are "more tuned [sic] to the real world."

Finally you conclude that your explanation of this voting pattern is a "truism" - obviously clear, and beyond reproach.

Whereas your conclusion is not at all a "truism." Many, many other factors could account for this pattern. And likely there's peer-reviewed research into this very topic. Perhaps a Bluemoon member can point to scientifically vetted research in this area. I'd be interested in reading such analysis.
 
DiscoSteve said:
As people get older they get wiser - note the voting patterns over age groups
see https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politic...06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election

Youngsters (and the academics that pander to them) tend to start left wing.

But as evidenced in that link, people generally get smarter and more tuned to the real world as they get older and realise their mistake when they're young and drift rightwards. This is a truism and no amount of left wing arguments can deny it.
Click to expand...

what’s that old saying

if you are not a socialist or left leaning in your youth then you haven’t got a heart .

if you are still a socialist post 50 then you haven’t got a brain.
 
BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Older people vote X more than younger people.

You conclude that older people - presumably because they vote the way you do - are "smarter," and are "more tuned [sic] to the real world."

Finally you conclude that your explanation of this voting pattern is a "truism" - obviously clear, and beyond reproach.

Whereas your conclusion is not at all a "truism." Many, many other factors could account for this pattern. And likely there's peer-reviewed research into this very topic. Perhaps a Bluemoon member can point to scientifically vetted research in this area. I'd be interested in reading such analysis.
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aha got one! - this is nothing to do with science, its absolutely to do with cold hard fact voting patterns and the other fact that people get wiser as they get older - unless of course you think they get stupider?
 
I would argue that older people (generally):

1. Are more set in their ways.
2. Are apt to look at the past with a certain nostalgia and wish for a return to 'how it was'.
3. Tend to be fearful of change. Even positive change.
4. Are more secure financially and therefore feel 'part of the system'. Even if they're not.
5. Tend to be more cynical.
6. Are, on average, less educated than younger people.
7. Often retain outdated social attitudes.
8. Crave security.

All these things tend to push people rightwards. I am an outlier, as I am probably more left now than I was at 25, and certainly more so than at 45. However, I confess to being cynical, and to thinking that nearly all politicians are cnuts. One reason why I would prefer the country to be run by technocrats and similar experts, not incompetent amateurs with a degree in Classics who talk enough shite to get elected.
 
DiscoSteve said:
aha got one! - this is nothing to do with science, its absolutely to do with cold hard fact voting patterns and the other fact that people get wiser as they get older - unless of course you think they get stupider?
Click to expand...

Dementia? Cognitive decline? Acquired brain injuries?

Wisdom comes through experience. But what if the world changes around you so much that your experience is so detached from the current state of play that it isn't worth much and you haven't done anything to compensate for that by continuing your learning.
 
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