The Authoritarian Test
- Thread starter Laura
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Deleted member 8431
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I got 45 on first try.
But the questions are too weird sometimes. I will agree with one part but then disagree with the rest. Here are two random examples;
"Homosexuals and feminists should be praised for being brave enough to defy traditional family values."
- Well, I am glad they do 'fight' for their liberty but I don't think anything or anybody should be "praised" per se...
"There are many radical, immoral people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their own godless purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action."
- What if our 'authorities' are radical, immoral people who ruin it for their own godless purposes (ie. psychopaths)? Can we ask them to put themselves out of action?
Many of the statements there seem to have a psychopathic tone to them...
I'll do it again and try to reflect a bit more on the questions.
But the questions are too weird sometimes. I will agree with one part but then disagree with the rest. Here are two random examples;
"Homosexuals and feminists should be praised for being brave enough to defy traditional family values."
- Well, I am glad they do 'fight' for their liberty but I don't think anything or anybody should be "praised" per se...
"There are many radical, immoral people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their own godless purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action."
- What if our 'authorities' are radical, immoral people who ruin it for their own godless purposes (ie. psychopaths)? Can we ask them to put themselves out of action?
Many of the statements there seem to have a psychopathic tone to them...
I'll do it again and try to reflect a bit more on the questions.
rymw
Jedi
Mine was 54. Never was a stickler for rules and 'power' although I admit I can be rather confused at times. I started questioning the bible from the context of 'the divine fallacy' as a teen but during a short spate during varsity I was actually contemplating joining the ministry due to some personal issues i had then!!
With the knowledge imparted by Laura and everyone at the chateau these days however, I think I am better grounded insofar as what I believe in is concerned but I seem to be losing concentration on a day to day basis of late, especially mundane things like chores and errands...
Any suggestions would be welcomed.
With the knowledge imparted by Laura and everyone at the chateau these days however, I think I am better grounded insofar as what I believe in is concerned but I seem to be losing concentration on a day to day basis of late, especially mundane things like chores and errands...
Any suggestions would be welcomed.
doublea1535
Jedi Council Member
I just took it and got 20. I was either -4 or +4 on every question. I took my time to read through every question, observing myself, and only paused on a few of them. Aside from those, if I answered +4 it was because I didn't see anything to disagree with about the statement. The author says to answer the question such that, if you agree with part of the statement but disagree with the rest, combine your responses to single number. Then +4 'very strongly agree' could also be seen as 'does not disagree at all', or in complete agreement with the statement. With the -4 answers, I couldn't find that I agreed with the statement at all.
This one in particular was very quickly marked as -4 :
[quote author=Q10]
Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs[/quote]
It's not a complete sentence until at least 'moral fiber' is said, but up until the word 'our' it could be a true statement. Then those two words I can't agree with at all, and since the statement is 'and' and not 'or' traditional beliefs the whole statement is false to me. If it said 'or' I would have to think about it a bit more, but still probably a -4 because traditional is undefined in my mind, varying from person to person. And I can't agree with someone else's sentiment about something without understanding what that is. Morality is judging behavior as acceptable so long as it falls on the right side of the line, as defined by some personal code of conduct. Some sort of rulebook that decides for them how they should live their lives. Not to mention, I'm not sure what 'fiber' is supposed to mean exactly, in this context.
The truth is always immutable yet subject to change, because truth spoken is an accurate fact, description, detail, or statement about objective reality. And reality is always changing. That's partly why total truth is elusive, like the C's said.
[quote author="C's transcript, 960504"]
Q: (TK) Is what I was saying close to the truth?
A: Yes. Total truth is elusive.[/quote]
I did notice a few of the words triggered a subjective association. With Q21 for example:
[quote author=Q21]Homosexuals and feminists should be praised for being brave enough to defy “traditional family values.[/quote]
I got hung-up on the word feminist, because I associate the word with anger and anti-femininity for some reason. I wanted to disagree with the statement based on that fact. Personal reasons must've caused me to receive slanted, radical imagery about that word readily. I was thinking only of so-called extreme examples, where radicals and pathologicals grab onto various social movements to slip in and further their own twisted agenda. Once I thought instead of feminism as the word is defined, which is basically an idea that is in support of women, it was easy to see that I was in complete agreement.
Still, I'm not sure what to think about the score. I think I was being completely honest when answering the questions, but maybe I wasn't? I was surprised that it ended up being 20. At first tally it was 28 which was still very surprising at first. Then I looked and realized I misread question 15 somehow and that was also an easy +4 which turned a 9 into a 1. I've always thought of myself as pretty anti-authoritarian, but also that I have an authoritarian streak as well. Does this mean I could be in fact, incredibly anti-authoritarian? Maybe, I think. Even if it was an accurate score as far as that test is concerned, this does not equate to proving that as a fact. But, it would certainly fit the data.
What do you all think, have I skewed the results somehow?
This one in particular was very quickly marked as -4 :
[quote author=Q10]
Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs[/quote]
It's not a complete sentence until at least 'moral fiber' is said, but up until the word 'our' it could be a true statement. Then those two words I can't agree with at all, and since the statement is 'and' and not 'or' traditional beliefs the whole statement is false to me. If it said 'or' I would have to think about it a bit more, but still probably a -4 because traditional is undefined in my mind, varying from person to person. And I can't agree with someone else's sentiment about something without understanding what that is. Morality is judging behavior as acceptable so long as it falls on the right side of the line, as defined by some personal code of conduct. Some sort of rulebook that decides for them how they should live their lives. Not to mention, I'm not sure what 'fiber' is supposed to mean exactly, in this context.
The truth is always immutable yet subject to change, because truth spoken is an accurate fact, description, detail, or statement about objective reality. And reality is always changing. That's partly why total truth is elusive, like the C's said.
[quote author="C's transcript, 960504"]
Q: (TK) Is what I was saying close to the truth?
A: Yes. Total truth is elusive.[/quote]
I did notice a few of the words triggered a subjective association. With Q21 for example:
[quote author=Q21]Homosexuals and feminists should be praised for being brave enough to defy “traditional family values.[/quote]
I got hung-up on the word feminist, because I associate the word with anger and anti-femininity for some reason. I wanted to disagree with the statement based on that fact. Personal reasons must've caused me to receive slanted, radical imagery about that word readily. I was thinking only of so-called extreme examples, where radicals and pathologicals grab onto various social movements to slip in and further their own twisted agenda. Once I thought instead of feminism as the word is defined, which is basically an idea that is in support of women, it was easy to see that I was in complete agreement.
Still, I'm not sure what to think about the score. I think I was being completely honest when answering the questions, but maybe I wasn't? I was surprised that it ended up being 20. At first tally it was 28 which was still very surprising at first. Then I looked and realized I misread question 15 somehow and that was also an easy +4 which turned a 9 into a 1. I've always thought of myself as pretty anti-authoritarian, but also that I have an authoritarian streak as well. Does this mean I could be in fact, incredibly anti-authoritarian? Maybe, I think. Even if it was an accurate score as far as that test is concerned, this does not equate to proving that as a fact. But, it would certainly fit the data.
What do you all think, have I skewed the results somehow?
Miss.K
Dagobah Resident
I got 24, but I think that it depends a lot on how one understands the questions, as others have mentioned,
so it might not tell that much.
-edit-
No no! I scored 50, hadn't noticed that another calculation had to be made after.
-anyways, it still depends how the questions are understood,
but I guess that the fact that I didn't notice the way to calculate the answers at first, shows about me, that I should pay more attention to what I'm doing
so it might not tell that much.
-edit-
No no! I scored 50, hadn't noticed that another calculation had to be made after.
-anyways, it still depends how the questions are understood,
but I guess that the fact that I didn't notice the way to calculate the answers at first, shows about me, that I should pay more attention to what I'm doing
Buddy
The Living Force
[quote author=name]
He uses lots of "must" and "should" in his questions. Why "must" or "should" anybody anything?[/quote]
Assuming you're expecting an answer, then maybe one reason is to eliminate an expectation of reason or to bypass an implied need to explain oneself? Perhaps also to trigger a person's felt sense or supposed personal belief related to what is being said?
Of course, other trigger words and phrases (positive and negative) were also used. Here is an example from question 10, where I assume most people would feel the red as positive and the bold as negative:
"Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs." (Feel any polarization or "sidedness" there?)
That way the listener will respond as emotionally programmed, or at least from an inner sense of felt obligation to some authoritative standard or code, OSIT. Of course, this is coming from someone who scored a 10, so you may want to take it with whatever amount of salt seems conducive to good health. :)
He uses lots of "must" and "should" in his questions. Why "must" or "should" anybody anything?[/quote]
Assuming you're expecting an answer, then maybe one reason is to eliminate an expectation of reason or to bypass an implied need to explain oneself? Perhaps also to trigger a person's felt sense or supposed personal belief related to what is being said?
Of course, other trigger words and phrases (positive and negative) were also used. Here is an example from question 10, where I assume most people would feel the red as positive and the bold as negative:
"Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs." (Feel any polarization or "sidedness" there?)
That way the listener will respond as emotionally programmed, or at least from an inner sense of felt obligation to some authoritative standard or code, OSIT. Of course, this is coming from someone who scored a 10, so you may want to take it with whatever amount of salt seems conducive to good health. :)
Miss.K
Dagobah Resident
Miss.K said:I got 24, but I think that it depends a lot on how one understands the questions, as others have mentioned,
so it might not tell that much.
-edit-
No no! I scored 50, hadn't noticed that another calculation had to be made after.
-anyways, it still depends how the questions are understood,
but I guess that the fact that I didn't notice the way to calculate the answers at first, shows about me, that I should pay more attention to what I'm doing
OK This is really embarrasing! I just realized that there was yet another calculation to be made, and now my score is 68
mcb
The Living Force
Miss.K said:
That might explain some of the recent questions here. The test will not really tell you much about yourself. If you read just one paragraph beyond the the end of the test instructions, on page 14, you will know why. The test is presented to help you understand what follows in the book.
doublea1535
Jedi Council Member
Buddy said:
How did you score a 10? The range of possible scores is 20 through 180.
Megan said:
I read it a few years ago, but didn't read it again before taking the test.
Megan said:
Incorrect. The test is an actual test, that has been retooled over decades to increase it's accuracy. Yes, he presents it that way to better explain to subject matter, but if you take it honestly, it will definitely show you something about yourself. I think what it shows is how irrational a person's thought patterns are, along the lines of RWA. The test is intentionally designed with loads of trigger words, to see how "triggerable" a person is to certain social ideas that strongly correlate to RWA. People that rank highly have lots of strong emotional associations with certain words and ideas, which prevent them from seeing reality clearly.
mcb
The Living Force
ignis.intimus said:
I did not say that it was not an actual test, or that it had not been retooled, so I am puzzled by your response. Did you read the paragraph in question?
In general, research results of this nature cannot be applied directly to individuals, but may be able to describe something about groups if the studies are well enough designed. I would be suspicious of the author if he stated otherwise.
