A game of checkers

In a recent article in The Economist, it describes how America's political landscape is shifting to an increasingly bipolar picture. In other words, if you're liberal, you want to live near other liberals. The same can be said for conservatives.

This article rings particularly true to me after having just read chapter six in Tim Harford's The Logic of Life (and yeah, I'm probably gonna mention this book a lot in the coming weeks, so get used to it). In this chapter, entitled "In the Neighborhood," Harford explains Thomas Schelling's model of self-segregation. Schelling's model demonstrates that a small preference for one's neighbors to be similar (in his original model, he used race) could lead to total segregation.

Schelling's model is also useful in telling the story of the current geopolitical shift in America. If Americans are displaying a preference for their neighbors' political views, then we would expect them (over time) to begin segregating themselves: liberals move to more liberal neighborhoods and conservatives move to more conservative neighborhoods. As you can see, all else equal, the movement is self-sustaining. If you have a preference for not being a minority in a liberal neighborhood (as a conservative), then rationally you would move to a conservative neighborhood where more people share your political views. This has two effects: 1) the neighborhood you left becomes more liberal, causing more conservatives to leave, and 2) the neighborhood you moved to becomes more conservative, pushing out liberals that don't want to be the minority.

I find it interesting that the original article did not even mention Schelling's model, especially considering he won the Nobel Prize in Economics only three short years ago. What the article does mention, however, is that this pattern of behavior leads to extremism. By separating ourselves from those who disagree with us, we reinforce only our own beliefs. I have to say that this is a very familiar story. College is a great example of this.

If a student could go choose any college of their liking (assume tuition, friends, etc. are not a factor), they will often choose a school where they feel like they are most likely to fit in. In doing this, they are separating themselves into like-minded schools and reducing the variety of students at any given school. Schools will be "segregated." I know that this personally happened to me. I attended a small liberal arts college where many of the other students shared many of my own beliefs.

Too often we join communities where people are similar to us, only to hear our own thoughts repeated back to us, increasing our certainty that we are right. Of course, there is nothing wrong with finding others like us. After all, these are the people we are most likely to get along with. But we must be careful not to insulate ourselves from thoughts and ideas that differ from our own. It is in these situations, where our beliefs are challenged, that we learn and grow. Either we can open up and consider that maybe the issue is not as simple as we thought, or we strengthen our resolve by hearing the opposing side's best arguments and exposing their weaknesses. Either way, it is best that we do not always surround ourselves with those who simply chorus, "Here! Here!"