Our political culture is broken, with increasingly dire impact socially. Here’s proof, in a headline published July 14:
“People who social distance may be more intelligent, study says.”
Social distancing may be the safer approach these days (as I believe). And I may quietly curse a rude fellow citizen who penetrates my safety bubble.
But accusing those we disagree with of being less intelligent? It’s never helpful except to exhibit our own smugness.
The headline appeared on the website of Fast Company magazine. It highlighted a survey at the University of California-Riverside for which 850 people answered questions about social distancing.
The study itself was more careful than the Fast Company headline, judging from a university news release. Its headline: “Couldn’t socially distance? Blame your working memory.”
People whose working memories can hold less information find it harder to change habits, the news release says. Much later, it notes that working memory “is predictive of many mental abilities such as intelligence, comprehension, and learning.”
That’s more nuanced than declaring those who social distance smarter.
Name calling never wins an argument.
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