Why liberals and conservatives consider each other bonkers
One of the most sobering aspects of the extreme cultural divide that is being revealed worldwide is the recognition that for as long as humans have recorded history we have recorded the very same dilemma. Yet, if what the Dali Lama says is true - that we must develop a sense of universal responsibility for the earth and all humanity, that working together as one is the only way we’ll survive the climate crisis - then learning to close this gaping chasm is existential.
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at NYU, has been asking this question for his whole career. His research suggests that contrary to popular belief humans are not born as a blank slate. Instead, we are born with what he calls a "first draft" or moral knowledge, innate but still malleable sets of values "organized in advance of experience". He and his co-researchers found five primary categories that serve as our moral foundation. Both conservatives and liberals share two of these. But it is the three foundational values that we don't share that help explain why liberals and conservatives in America think that "the other side" is bonkers.
Article: Why Conservatives Can't Understand Liberals (and Vice Versa)