Are Trump's supporters uninformed or just misinformed?

In general, politicians have little incentive to create an informed citizenry. They are incentivized to misinform people.

It is in Trump’s interest to allow misinformation — such as his statements about immigrants or Muslim Americans — to flourish. New work by Jennifer Hochschild of Harvard and Katherine Levine Einstein of Boston University found that there are incentives for politicians to keep citizens both misinformed and politically active. For most politicians, it doesn’t make sense to use precious resources to try to move or dissuade people from their incorrect positions — especially if this misinformation supports the political actor’s policy positions or legislative goals (as it does in Trump’s case). Instead, “the investment of resources goes much further in efforts to work around, accommodate, or even encourage the active misinformed,” the researchers write. Moreover, Hochschild and Einstein remind us that people find psychological comfort in having their opinions validated by others, especially by elites. So, there are many cases in which it makes more sense for politicians to encourage people to stay misinformed rather than try to provide them with accurate information.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-supporters-appear-to-be-misinformed-not-uninformed/

I think Nike should uniform them.

Giant Moose wrote:I think Nike should uniform them.

With hyper elite swastikas to replace the swoosh?

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Giant Moose wrote:I think Nike should uniform them.

With hyper elite swastikas to replace the swoosh?

Can they be fractal swastikas?

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I'd say some/a lot of both.

along with being paranoid, fearful, easily manipulated, racist and bigoted. Probably a steady combination of each of these unfortunate characteristics to varying degrees.

In the link...

Trump’s backers tend to be whiter, slightly older and less educated than the average Republican voter.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

With hyper elite swastikas to replace the swoosh?

Can they be fractal swastikas?

Fractal seems a bit complex for Trump supporters, Travis.

Trump supporters seem like an crowd Adidas.

Swap the blue and gold for red and blue. Replace the block M with a block T.

His supporters are mostly just angry old white folks. They're tea partiers who're disappointed in the field of candidates, so they support a guy who'll fix all of our problems with the snap of his fingers.

Honestly though, a part of me still believes this all a hoax to make Conservatives look foolish (which they do). And it wouldn't shock me if the Clintons put Trump up to this just to play spoiler.

The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

you're welcome to your opinion. That's the beauty of tSwill.

And I gave my opinion and analysis without calling anyone hateful and stupid. Wow.

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

You know it's entirely plausible that other people are just stupid. In fact, like a majority of people regardless of political beliefs are actually quite dumb. Probably not most of the people here on account of our educations from a wonderful university (go gronze) but by and large, most people are pretty stupid.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

You know it's entirely plausible that other people are just stupid. In fact, like a majority of people regardless of political beliefs are actually quite dumb. Probably not most of the people here on account of our educations from a wonderful university (go gronze) but by and large, most people are pretty stupid.

Agree. It's also a function of age. The older I get, the dumber those younger than me seem.

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

I don't think it takes a lot of intellect to see what Trump is doing. As bob has said many times before, he is thriving off insecurity, fear, and paranoia - whether it's re: Muslims or Mexicans.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

I don't think it takes a lot of intellect to see what Trump is doing. As bob has said many times before, he is thriving off insecurity, fear, and paranoia - whether it's re: Muslims or Mexicans.

It's insane to think a politician would consider doing this.

Jethro Bodeen wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:you're welcome to your opinion. That's the beauty of tSwill.

And I gave my opinion and analysis without calling anyone hateful and stupid. Wow.

You indirectly said "liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats" are hateful by claiming they are the only ones "that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others." Hell, by somehow lumping together liberals, progressives, Marxists and Democrats, you engaged in some kind of intellectual dishonestly. Nice try at covering your own hate and desire to call others stupid.

I think we need another 15-20 Trump threads.

xsanguine wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

I don't think it takes a lot of intellect to see what Trump is doing. As bob has said many times before, he is thriving off insecurity, fear, and paranoia - whether it's re: Muslims or Mexicans.

It's insane to think a politician would consider doing this.

I think it's insane, that in this day and age, they are still able to do this at the level that Trump is doing it at.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

xsanguine wrote:

It's insane to think a politician would consider doing this.

I think it's insane, that in this day and age, they are still able to do this at the level that Trump is doing it at.

...and can lead in the polls by doing so.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

xsanguine wrote:

It's insane to think a politician would consider doing this.

I think it's insane, that in this day and age, they are still able to do this at the level that Trump is doing it at.

We are humans. Well, most of us are human. Pretty sure Travis is some kind cyborg. To some extent, there might be a biological component to all of this Trump support.

Biology and politics have long been seen by many researchers as two very separate realms. Some argue that biology is irrelevant to political questions or that the links between the two are murky or oversimplified.

“Despite growing evidence from various fields, including genetics, cognitive neuroscience and psychology, many political scientists remain skeptical of research connecting biological factors with political ideology,” the study authors wrote.

But many of the subjects at issue in certain political ideologies — attitudes toward sex, family, education and personal autonomy, for example — have an emotional component as much as a logic-based one. And some research has indicated that political leanings can be inherited, much in the way that height can be inherited though modified by such factors as nutrition and environment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/conservative-and-liberal-brains-may-be-wired-differently/2014/11/03/3903c25e-6057-11e4-8b9e-2ccdac31a031_story.html

Vlad wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

I think it's insane, that in this day and age, they are still able to do this at the level that Trump is doing it at.

...and can lead in the polls by doing so.

Or even win the presidency!

Don't we already have a Trump thread?

The_Dude wrote:Don't we already have a Trump thread?

We don't have enough Trump threads.

Certainly, the issues are part of Trump's appeal, but if you think that a snarky elitist approach will work to take him down, you're sorely mistaken.

Trump's supporters see him as a fighter against political correctness. They view politicall correctness as an assault on the 1st amendment and they see establishment types constantly bowing to it and carefully choosing their words so as to try and avoid the barbs of snarky elitists. Since those very same politicians have lied to them before, none of the establishment types are trusted by Trump supporters.

Trump supporters also see him as someone who can't be bullied. As evidence of that, they can point to the companies that stopped doing business with Trump because of his political views. Trump can easily afford the loss of business and has parlayed that into proof that he's sticking to his principles even when it costs him business. The political points he scored with his supporters are far more valuable to him than the money he lost, because it demonstrates to them that he can't be bullied.

Most of his supporters are plain spoken people who feel like they have no voice in a society dominated by political correctness. Trump speaks plainly and is their champion. The more the snarky elitists try to hit him with their political correctness arsenal, the harder he fights back. His supporters love him for that and he knows it. Consequently he says more politically incorrect things just to goad the snarky elitists into attacking him, which they do with glee to their own detriment because it only provides Trump with the optics he needs to be seen as the champion of the fight against political correctness, causing even more disaffected people jump on the bandwagon.

Snarky elitists can't understand it because they have arrogant contempt for anyone they disagree with and a self righteous smugness that blinds them to anything other than their own world view. Of course, that's exactly what they accuse their opposition of doing and society becomes polarized as a result.

I'm not a fan of Trump, but I understand why his supporters are.

Trump is using some Larry "Lonesome" Rhoades demagoguery (A Face in the Crowd) and Howard Beale outrage (Network) to appeal to his core supporters. They all know him from his decades of self-promotion. There are other NYC based developers who are more successful and have more wealth but choose to be relatively anonomyous.
His supporters are largely made up of frightened folks who want things done in a hurry and someone who will just do something. For the most part few of them think past that to any repercussions. They revel in Trump insulting Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and any other opponents.
Now we see if outrage is enough to win a nomination.

Ill-informed.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

Code_Warrior wrote:Certainly, the issues are part of Trump's appeal, but if you think that a snarky elitist approach will work to take him down, you're sorely mistaken.

Trump's supporters see him as a fighter against political correctness. They view politicall correctness as an assault on the 1st amendment and they see establishment types constantly bowing to it and carefully choosing their words so as to try and avoid the barbs of snarky elitists. Since those very same politicians have lied to them before, none of the establishment types are trusted by Trump supporters.

Trump supporters also see him as someone who can't be bullied. As evidence of that, they can point to the companies that stopped doing business with Trump because of his political views. Trump can easily afford the loss of business and has parlayed that into proof that he's sticking to his principles even when it costs him business. The political points he scored with his supporters are far more valuable to him than the money he lost, because it demonstrates to them that he can't be bullied.

Most of his supporters are plain spoken people who feel like they have no voice in a society dominated by political correctness. Trump speaks plainly and is their champion. The more the snarky elitists try to hit him with their political correctness arsenal, the harder he fights back. His supporters love him for that and he knows it. Consequently he says more politically incorrect things just to goad the snarky elitists into attacking him, which they do with glee to their own detriment because it only provides Trump with the optics he needs to be seen as the champion of the fight against political correctness, causing even more disaffected people jump on the bandwagon.

Snarky elitists can't understand it because they have arrogant contempt for anyone they disagree with and a self righteous smugness that blinds them to anything other than their own world view. Of course, that's exactly what they accuse their opposition of doing and society becomes polarized as a result.

I'm not a fan of Trump, but I understand why his supporters are.

why would someone want to "take Trump down" - I'm all for him constantly promoting his racist, bigoted, misogynistic agenda..

Well, if you think that rhetoric works, by all means, keep it up. So far all that kind of rhetoric has done is make him stronger. But, like most snarky elitists, you can't possibly see the flaws in your methods, so you double down on them. Good for you!

Code_Warrior wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:why would someone want to "take Trump down" - I'm all for him constantly promoting his racist, bigoted, misogynistic agenda..

Well, if you think that rhetoric works, by all means, keep it up. So far all that kind of rhetoric has done is make him stronger. But, like most snarky elitists, you can't possibly see the flaws in your methods, so you double down on them. Good for you!

It seems like he's just going to help Clinton in the end.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:

Jethro Bodeen wrote:The people that speak constantly of the stupidity and ignorance of others and yet get angry, mocking and refuse to discuss or consider issues with intellectual honesty are known as liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Democrats.

When one is a Liberal(for short) , by labeling others as stupid and ignorant, you give yourself a pretext for refusing to engage the debate. Ideas and candidates are dismissed off hand and all inner conflict is avoided. Its much easier than using intellect and reason. And its safer. One can avoid accusation of racism, sexism, anti gay, anti lgbt. You simply call others stupid, say you are for everything except hate and drink micro-beer. Then in your mind, anyone with opposing political views is a hater, stupid, white, ignorant and worthy only of mocking and ignoring.

I don't think it takes a lot of intellect to see what Trump is doing. As bob has said many times before, he is thriving off insecurity, fear, and paranoia - whether it's re: Muslims or Mexicans.

You are wrong. Trump is thriving because he understands how to campaign. Use simple slogans, don't give specifics (Obama won on 'yes we can' and 'hope and change') and he talks plainly. That means unlike someone like Hilary he doesn't run every word he says by 12 advisers before he says something.

Oh...and Bob is funny saying that the GOP uses irrational fear. And the Dems don't? They've been running campaigns on fear and paranoia for years. Global warming going to doom us all...GOP want to put blacks back in chains...GOP want women to be second class citizens..and on and on.

Trump, unlike the GOP party as a whole, understands how to campaign and not be bullied/defined by the media and challengers.

Turtleneck wrote:In general, politicians have little incentive to create an informed citizenry. They are incentivized to misinform people.

It is in Trump’s interest to allow misinformation — such as his statements about immigrants or Muslim Americans — to flourish. New work by Jennifer Hochschild of Harvard and Katherine Levine Einstein of Boston University found that there are incentives for politicians to keep citizens both misinformed and politically active. For most politicians, it doesn’t make sense to use precious resources to try to move or dissuade people from their incorrect positions — especially if this misinformation supports the political actor’s policy positions or legislative goals (as it does in Trump’s case). Instead, “the investment of resources goes much further in efforts to work around, accommodate, or even encourage the active misinformed,” the researchers write. Moreover, Hochschild and Einstein remind us that people find psychological comfort in having their opinions validated by others, especially by elites. So, there are many cases in which it makes more sense for politicians to encourage people to stay misinformed rather than try to provide them with accurate information.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-supporters-appear-to-be-misinformed-not-uninformed/

Uneducated rednecks. Their candidate is an idiot.

DoogieHouser wrote:

Turtleneck wrote:In general, politicians have little incentive to create an informed citizenry. They are incentivized to misinform people.



http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-supporters-appear-to-be-misinformed-not-uninformed/

Uneducated rednecks. Their candidate is an idiot.

I am unclear as to how you feel.

DoogieHouser wrote:

Turtleneck wrote:In general, politicians have little incentive to create an informed citizenry. They are incentivized to misinform people.



http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-supporters-appear-to-be-misinformed-not-uninformed/

Uneducated rednecks. Their candidate is an idiot.

And the gullible sheep that believe chronic liar Hilary are better?

Ok...

The_Dude wrote:

DoogieHouser wrote:

Uneducated rednecks. Their candidate is an idiot.

And the gullible sheep that believe chronic liar Hilary are better?

Ok...

Why do Trump's supporters deflect any criticism by jumping right to Hillary Clinton? It makes no sense. Does he have any substance, or is his whole campaign simply defined in opposition to Hillary Clinton?