Jonathan Haidt on the Politics of Moral Psychology

Anybody who has been reading my blog for a period of time is probably aware that I am a big fan of the free videos made available of presentations at the TED conference.  The topics are great, the speakers are phenomenal and EVERY person who is required to speak in public should be required to watch the fantastic delivery.  If we could all be half as good as these presenters death by PowerPoint would be a thing of the past.

Just released in the TED podcast feed today was a presentation by Jonathan Haidt of the University of Virginia entitled “The Real Difference Between Liberals and Conservatives.”  The presentation is an examination of the human moral mind, and begins with the hypothesis that we are not born tabula rasa and rather have an innate sense of morality.  As Hiadt shows, liberals and conservatives prioritize five different moral factors  differently, and that these differences are largely common accross national and cultural boundaries.   Take a look and hopefully you’ll agree that, while remaining true to one’s convictions, building an echochamber for ourselves or demonizing the political opposition is not a road to progress.  Let me know what you think.