army1987 comments on Stranger Than History - Less Wrong

52 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 01 September 2007 06:57PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 06 April 2014 08:28:25AM 1 point [-]

If someone is against policies which prohibit job discrimination on the basis of religion, would you guess that such a person generally subscribes to progressive viewpoints or not?

Given the prevalence of what Scott Alexander calls object-level thinking, I'd guess people against banning discrimination on the basis of religion are less likely to be progressivist than the rest of population in regions where said discrimination is more commonly in favour of believers against atheists than vice versa, and more likely elsewhere.

Comment author: brazil84 06 April 2014 09:53:06AM 1 point [-]

Given the prevalence of what Scott Alexander calls object-level thinking, I'd guess people against banning discrimination on the basis of religion are less likely to be progressivist than the rest of population in regions where said discrimination is more commonly in favour of believers against atheists than vice versa, and more likely elsewhere.

That may be so, but my question is more of a practical one than a theoretical one. I'm asking about the West in the 20th century, with an emphasis on the United States.

Comment author: [deleted] 06 April 2014 10:06:13AM 1 point [-]

I don't think the West, or even the United States, is as homogeneous as you appear to imply.

Turns out that believers and atheists are discriminated against in the US, presumably by different people.

Comment author: brazil84 06 April 2014 10:45:58AM 0 points [-]

I don't think the West, or even the United States, is as homogeneous as you appear to imply.

I wasn't trying to imply such . . . I was just looking for a concrete answer to my question.

Turns out that believers and atheists are discriminated against in the US, presumably by different people

With that in mind, what's your answer to the question? If you are told that there is an American who opposes policies which prohibit job discrimination on the basis of religion, would it make you more likely or less likely (or the same) to believe that such person holds progressive political views?

Comment author: [deleted] 06 April 2014 09:39:03PM 0 points [-]

With that in mind, what's your answer to the question? If you are told that there is an American who opposes policies which prohibit job discrimination on the basis of religion, would it make you more likely or less likely (or the same) to believe that such person holds progressive political views?

I dunno -- averaged over all of the US, probably more likely, but I'm not sure.