[uqx]

To please Helene, here's another datapoint :-)

Economic Left/Right: -6.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.95

[onoway]

and another, -6.12 econ -5.44 social

[NickRW]

Well, if you're still collecting data, my wife took the test (she isn't really a bridge player - if that is relevant to you). Her answers were quite a bit different to mine - but the end result was almost identical to me never the less - sorry I don't remember the exact numbers - but extraordinarily close to mine anyway.

Nick

[kenberg]

Economic: -2.88
Social: -4.51

I was disappointed to find there was no question asking for agreement/disagreement with "Tests such as this one are a crock of *****". Probably that would have moved my social score a bit to the left. But then I have not until now been placed in the moral proximity of Gandhi so maybe I should not complain.

[helene_t]

Charts have been updated.

[han]

I also took the test. I remember that my score was significantly different from any score I had seen at that point, and was closer to Ghandy than to Hitler. As a further clue, it was Thursday and it rained.

[Al_U_Card]

han, on Nov 25 2008, 03:32 PM, said:

I also took the test. I remember that my score was significantly different from any score I had seen at that point, and was closer to Ghandy than to Hitler. As a further clue, it was Thursday and it rained.

Next you'll be sporting a Palin '12 button???

[DrTodd13]

kenberg, on Nov 24 2008, 12:02 PM, said:

Economic: -2.88
Social: -4.51

I was disappointed to find there was no question asking for agreement/disagreement with "Tests such as this one are a crock of *****". Probably that would have moved my social score a bit to the left. But then I have not until now been placed in the moral proximity of Gandhi so maybe I should not complain.

Written by someone with some blinders on for sure. I would have taken the test but it is impossible to complete when there are multiple choice questions where I don't agree with any of the possible answers.

[cherdano]

Btw, it would be curious to see a plot with a different color for US citizens...

[helene_t]

DrTodd13, on Nov 26 2008, 02:06 AM, said:

it is impossible to complete when there are multiple choice questions where I don't agree with any of the possible answers.

OK, then I can plot you on the compass. If you "disagree strongly" with everything you get exactly 0 for economics and something like -3.9 for lib/aut.

[helene_t]

cherdano, on Nov 26 2008, 07:15 AM, said:

Btw, it would be curious to see a plot with a different color for US citizens...

Red=US
Blue=Europe (yes, including Britain, sorry if someone feel offended )
Green=Others

I did t-test and F-test for US versus Europe. The only trend that is significant is that w.r.t. economics left/right, variance is higher among US'ians than among Europeans. p=0.01888

[cherdano]

helene_t, on Nov 26 2008, 05:30 AM, said:

I did t-test and F-test for US versus Europe. The only trend that is significant is that w.r.t. economics left/right, variance is higher among US'ians than among Europeans. p=0.01888

Americans are extremists!
(There are sooo many ways in which this catch-phrase makes sense...)

[Al_U_Card]

If you connect the dots in just the right way, you can make some very rude pictures!!!

[DrTodd13]

helene_t, on Nov 26 2008, 02:37 AM, said:

DrTodd13, on Nov 26 2008, 02:06 AM, said:

it is impossible to complete when there are multiple choice questions where I don't agree with any of the possible answers.

OK, then I can plot you on the compass. If you "disagree strongly" with everything you get exactly 0 for economics and something like -3.9 for lib/aut.

How does a pacifist anarchist answer the question about military actions outside international law? If you say no then you seem to support international law and if you say yes then you imply that some war is justifiable. The question also fails to differentiate offensive from defensive actions but I assume they mean offensive because I'm not aware of any "international law" that forbids you from defending yourself.

Also, there are some questions that have nothing to do with economics or the use of the force of law. How can such questions affect economic and authoritarian scores? Does simply believing that something like sex outside marriage is immoral make one an authoritarian? To me, you can hold any view you wish but if you try to force it upon others you are the authoritarian. I also don't think of that question as a left/right issue.

Anyway, I would prefer not to have a data for me in the graph guessing at how I would have answered. All I do know is that I am about as anti-authoritarian as you can get so I should be the minimum on that axis.

[helene_t]

DrTodd13, on Nov 26 2008, 06:45 PM, said:

How does a pacifist anarchist answer the question about military actions outside international law? If you say no then you seem to support international law and if you say yes then you imply that some war is justifiable.

Yes, agree. That was one I found difficult myself also.

Quote

Anyway, I would prefer not to have a data for me in the graph guessing at how I would have answered.  All I do know is that I am about as anti-authoritarian as you can get so I should be the minimum on that axis.

Of course, I was just joking

[kenberg]

I regard it as self-evident that this sort of test should not be taken seriously at all. The first question reads:

"If economic globalisation is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of trans-national corporations."

To start with, "should" means what? "I prefer"?

I usually think in more concrete terms. A few years back I toured a plant across the Rio Grande from El Paso. They assemble radiators there. Employees are paid much less than in the US. On the other hand, people migrate northward in heavy numbers to work in this and similar plants because the situation is much better there than in southern Mexico. Further, the employees can live freely instead of dodging INS and paying off predatory coyotes to smuggle them into the US. So: Would I like the employees to be paid better? Yes. And if that means paying more for my radiator, I'm fine with that. Do I think the company should be shut down? No. So how do I answer question 1?

Pretty much the same applies to all the other questions. Of course I would not (Q2) always support my country right or wrong. For example, if my country wanted to send me off to Gitmo and torture me, I would definitely be opposed to that. If they want to torture my neighbor, I'll think about it. Which neighbor do they have in mind? The one with the loud radio?

I took the test since everyone else was, and it's fine for whatever fun it provides, but as a serious measure of anything, they gotta be kidding.

Added: When I started at the University of Minnesota in 1956 we were all required to take the MMPI (Minnesota Multi-Phasic Inventory, I think). The rumor was that the scores on a coed's exam were good indicators of her receptiveness to sexual suggestions. This was a big issue for guys in 1956. Possibly it still is.

[NickRW]

helene_t, on Nov 26 2008, 11:30 AM, said:

Blue=Europe (yes, including Britain, sorry if someone feel offended )

Why would we be offended? Like quite a lot of other Brits (from all political tendencies as far as I can see) I am rather sceptical that the 'European Agenda' is in either Britains' or, indeed, Europes' best interests. However, personally speaking, I am certainly not offended at being considered to be European.

Brits tend to have some inappropriate stereotypical views of other nationalities - but we're not the only ones by a long way!

Nick

[han]

Al_U_Card, on Nov 25 2008, 04:19 PM, said:

han, on Nov 25 2008, 03:32 PM, said:

I also took the test. I remember that my score was significantly different from any score I had seen at that point, and was closer to Ghandy than to Hitler. As a further clue, it was Thursday and it rained.

Next you'll be sporting a Palin '12 button???

Oh I hope that she will run again, yes.

[Winstonm]

Quote

Next you'll be sporting a Palin '12 button??? 


Oh I hope that she will run again, yes.

You only want to watch her ideologies bounce....

[helene_t]

Hey Winston, good to see you! Where have you been?