Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics (Part 3 of 3) - How Polarization Makes Us Mean and Stupid

In this set of videos I present a framework for thinking about how polarized political and cultural environments interact with our natural tribal psychology to create "pathological tribalism". I show how under pathological tribalism our ability to think critically and independently is compromised—this environment is hostile to critical thinking.
Notes and references on the topics discussed in these videos can be found here:
I'd like to thank all of my patrons on Patreon, without whose support I could not produce these videos! If you like what you see and want more, please consider becoming a Patron!
Subscribe to this YouTube channel:
Topics Covered in These Videos:
1. Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics (Part 1 of 3): We Can Value More Than One Kind of Thing
- the "two movies" phenomenon (Scott Adams)
the distinction between "psychological" value pluralism and "philosophical" value pluralism
- what is affect bias?
- what is cultural cognition?
- your "value channel profile"
2. Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics (Part 2 of 3): Attention, Focus and Exaggeration
- what is the focusing illusion?
- what is availability bias?
- what is the mere-exposure effect?
- how do these cognitive biases interact to create an exaggerated and distorted perception of reality?
3. Cognitive Biases, Tribalism and Politics (Part 3 of 3): How Polarization Makes Us Mean and Stupid
- a three-channel model of political values
- value channel profiles for the libertarian, the progressive liberal, and the conservative
- can I be a libertarian AND a progressive liberal AND a conservative?
- sources of "pathological tribalism"
- analogy: Black Mirror, "Men Against Fire"
- trading off critical thinking values and political values
These videos were created by Kevin deLaplante. You can learn more about who I am and what I do at
Note: Patrons get access to all of the video tutorial content over at the Critical Thinker Academy:
Subscribe to my podcast (the Argument Ninja Podcast):
Follow on Facebook:
Follow on Twitter: