One phenomenon that supports Kahneman’s concern is that popular fears are typically far worse than the reality, as I discussed previously. Losing your job when you already feel like everything in society is getting worse is a good formula for alienation. Kahneman and I agree that a lot of the polarization we see in politics today is the product of automation, both actual and anticipated, rather than coming from traditional political issues such as immigration.[160] If you have a high level of anxiety about your own economic stability, you’ll probably be hostile toward anything that appears as
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