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    Political Compass for Science 2.0 Writers
    By Enrico Uva | May 24th 2012 03:33 PM | 32 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
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    About Enrico

    After majoring in chemistry at Concordia University I worked briefly at Fisheries and Oceans' Arctic Biological Station and in the food industry...

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    Any test is just a snapshot, and attempting to pinpoint someone as a set of x-y coordinates on a political compass is not any different. Nevertheless, since many of us here at the site occasionally sway from discussing hard science and make our subjective views known on a variety of social issues, I thought it would be interesting if our writers could take the test  and then publish their graph in the comments section below this blog entry.

    If you believe this is a bad idea--- one of my occasional off-the-wall blogs---feel free to tell me why. Another reason I've appreciated Science 2.0 is that it's made my skin a little thicker!

    So here is mine, a result that surprised me a little. I thought I'd be a little closer to the origin.



    Comments

    Hank
    I'm also less authoritarian socially but also less authoritarian fiscally, so basically about the same spot on the Y but probably on the X for the right where you are on the left.  Since the early 1970s that quadrant approach has roughly translated to labels of progressive and conservative on the social authoritarian side, and liberal and libertarian on the economic axis.  What confuses the issue (in the US) is that progressives have taken to calling themselves liberals (and vice versa) interchangeably but libertarians and conservatives don't do that.

    ***

    Okay, after taking the test I am 


    So slightly less libertarian than I thought I would be but certainly in line with my claim that I am about as middle as it gets overall (the weird "NAZI!" shrieking of hard-left progressives in science media who regard the middle as the right, especially if their confirmation bias about social science woo is punctured, aside)
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/24/12 | 15:55 PM
    vongehr
    weird "NAZI!" shrieking of hard-left progressives in science media who regard the middle as the right
    This though is "weird hard-left" shrieking of somebody who is far right not relative to some unimportant writers but relative to the middle as it is located by the developed first world in regards to social/political issues and science, namely northern Europe (and why would one want to compare anything to, say, Africa - after all, if it comes to issues like military power, we compare to the US and not Africa or the opinion of some small sub-population of writers in some specific niche like, say, the music industry).
    Sascha Vongehr | 05/24/12 | 22:07 PM
    Hank
    I am not sure what you mean.  Are you contending American science media is not on the left, that I am on the far right or that African musicians are...somewhere? If it is the first two of those three, you are as wrong as imaginable, even in your multiverse.
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/24/12 | 22:13 PM
    vongehr
    Sorry, I am unable to be clearer in my clarification of of the origins [meaning who] (and their relevance) of the position of the coordinate system's origin [meaning the (0,0) point] relative to the statistical ensemble of the data points.

    I assume that the misunderstanding (if not tainted by assumed personal positions relative to the here discussed 2D-space and perhaps associated, temporary emotional suppression of reading comprehension) may be partially due to an inability/unwillingness to admit the relativity of any as absolute held scale; an inability/unwillingness that I have reason to believe becomes more prominent toward the right in the here discussed space, but I may be wrong with this and it could certainly be argued that such an inability should, if at all, rather grow toward the top along the vertical dimension, the zero point of which is by the way much more arbitrary yet.
    Sascha Vongehr | 05/24/12 | 23:13 PM
    Gerhard Adam
    OK ... here's mine.

    The Political Compass

    Economic Left/Right: -3.62
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.92



    Gerhard Adam | 05/24/12 | 16:30 PM
    Steve Davis
    I did this or a similar one a few years back and I'm a bit worried - I'm moving to the right!

    Economic Left/Right: -6.38
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.90


    _
    Steve Davis | 05/24/12 | 16:50 PM
    Hank
    Why? It means you have gotten smarter.
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/24/12 | 16:56 PM
    Steve Davis
    Fair enough!!
    Steve Davis | 05/24/12 | 17:02 PM
    Thor Russell
    This is mine
    Economic Left/Right: -4.50
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.92

    I expected to be more top right than this however. I think sometimes people are better off not being given the choice to make stupid decisions which is progressive sounding?


    Also 

    "Our civil liberties are being excessively curbed in the name of counter-terrorism." depends on where you live. The answer I give would depend on the country I lived in.

    —
    Thor Russell
    Thor Russell | 05/24/12 | 17:47 PM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat
    I did the test and found it annoying that there were no middle ground options where we could neither agree or disagree, as some of the statements were pretty nonsensical. My result was:-


    An interesting result after looking at the results above and the international chart that they showed below as I'm proud to be in good company with Gerhard, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, in fact I might even be on the same spot as the Dalai Lama and Gerhard? 
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 05/24/12 | 18:14 PM
    Gerhard Adam
    I think if you publish your numbers you'll find your a bit more left and libertarian ...
    Gerhard Adam | 05/24/12 | 18:16 PM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat

    I think if you publish your numbers you'll find your a bit more left and libertarian ... 
     Economic Left/Right: -4.25 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.15  
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 05/24/12 | 23:00 PM
    UvaE

    Notice how, in the above graphic, no political leaders are right wing and libertarian, which means that if Hank ever runs for office, he can advertize himself as the "unique fourth quadrant candidate"! :)

    Enrico Uva | 05/25/12 | 09:39 AM
    Hank
    That's also why I could never win!
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/25/12 | 12:23 PM
    Gerhard Adam
    I think the fourth quadrant is also called "cognitive dissonance".  :)
    Gerhard Adam | 05/30/12 | 18:02 PM
    Hank
    I am just hard to pin down.  That is why I get called a Nazi Oil Baron as often as a Commie Fag Junkie.
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/30/12 | 18:51 PM
    Gerhard Adam
    Why junkie?
    Gerhard Adam | 05/31/12 | 19:17 PM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat
    Maybe because he has taken up smoking a pipe?
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 05/31/12 | 19:34 PM
    Hank
    Dunno why, I guess they think that and fag go with commie?
    —
    Want more no-nonsense, independent science? Buy Science Left Behind
    Hank Campbell | 05/31/12 | 19:51 PM
    Gerhard Adam
    True enough ... who ever heard of a Oil Baron Junkie ...

    OK ... thanks for clearing that up.
    Gerhard Adam | 05/31/12 | 19:55 PM
    vongehr
    Right wing groups in the US, like those paramilitary ones, have quite libertarian views. For example, while German neo-Nazis refuse smoking dope and want an Adolf substitute, surprisingly many gun lovers in the US honestly think that it is your freedom to smoke marihuana (that they may thump the bible and beat their kids to pulp in case they actually do smoke marihuana is another issue, no different from left wing inconsistencies).
    Thus, Hank is not unique, however, he is quite correct: He simply would have no chance in that money rigged two-party system pseudo democracy.
    Sascha Vongehr | 05/25/12 | 22:42 PM
    Dang! This result is almost exactly diametrically opposed to where I thought I would be classed.

    Economic Left/Right: -3.88
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.92

    Frank (not verified) | 05/26/12 | 18:24 PM
    That chart is different than what I was taught in Poly Sci (like 13 years ago). Libertarians are north axis and the opposite of them are communists (south axis). I recommend this quiz: http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz

    via:Google Image Result for http://politisite.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/PoliticalSpace.jpg

    Ash (not verified) | 05/29/12 | 09:32 AM
    [-6.12 -3.18]
    derek_potter (not verified) | 05/30/12 | 17:48 PM
    Steve Davis
    DEREK !! I KNEW IT !!! We're soul-buddies!
    Steve Davis | 05/31/12 | 01:03 AM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat
    Isn't that the same spot as Nelson Mandela?
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 05/31/12 | 01:06 AM
    Also Steve. So much for the survey. 
    derek_potter (not verified) | 05/31/12 | 01:21 AM
    Steve Davis
    And the Dalai Lama! It just keeps getting better and better!
    Me and Derek! Who woulda thunk it!
    Steve Davis | 05/31/12 | 01:23 AM
    Bonny Bonobo alias Brat
    Sorry Steve, you and Derek are next to Nelson Mandela not the Dalai Lama. I am the only one on the Dalai Lama spot, though Enrico and Gerhard are nearby! Actually I might be just a fraction more liberal than the Dalai Lama, if that's possible? But then Compassion is my middle name........
    —
    Make love not war
    Helen Barratt | 05/31/12 | 18:58 PM
    UvaE
    Poor conclusions to draw from my experiment:

    (1) Science 2.0 bloggers are mostly on the left and libertarian
    (2) It only says something about my readers.

    Fairest assessment:
    (3) It only says something about the fraction of my readers who decided to respond.
    Enrico Uva | 05/31/12 | 05:04 AM
    Tony Fleming
    ??Thought I was right wing liberal??

    Sorry I was a bit late Enrico, that was fun.
    —
    Tony Fleming Biophotonics Research Institute tfleming@unifiedphysics.com
    Tony Fleming | 06/12/12 | 03:16 AM
    UvaE
    No such thing as late, for these matters, Tony! Thanks for participating.
    Enrico Uva | 06/12/12 | 05:55 AM