My Political Quizzes' Results

http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=-6.00&soc=-6.26

http://www.gotoquiz.com/politics/political-spectrum-quiz.html

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz

Depending on the quiz, I am either a Social Libertarian or a Communist. From top to bottom, the quizzes decrease in complexity, which forces my answers to become more guarded and “Statist,” yet when given the freedom to fully express the complexity of my views, I score more heavily as a Social Libertarian. What is interesting about this observation is that the theadvocates.org (the lowest photo) is a Libertarian website.

According to this interview with social psychologist Chris Mooney, conservatives and liberals think differently. For the most part, conservatives tend to prefer simplicity so that they can make quick decisions, whereas liberals tend to prefer complexity so that they consider a broader range of factors. This sort of thing fascinates me. Existentially, am I liberal by design or by circumstance?

I think that the answer is both. My ADD-I forces me to consider circumstances more carefully—and I became increasingly more liberal over time, as I witnessed both positive and negative nuanced responses to almost everything—reinforcing my liberal viewpoint. The same must be true for the folks on the other side of the fence. I wonder if this is an insurmountable gulf?