political culture encourages us to think that generalized anxiety is equivalent to civic duty.
This is a wonderful way to put it!
As I see it, the “generalized anxiety” is essentially costly signaling. By being anxious, you signal “my reactions to the latest political thing are important for the fate of the world”, i.e. that you are important.
But if this was the entire story, you would be able to notice it and feel ashamed that you felt for such simple trick. Reframing it as a civil duty keeps you in the trap, because it provides a high-status answer to why you are doing it, distracting you from realizing what you are doing.
(Metaphorically: “The proper way to signal high status is to keep pushing this button all the time.” “I keep pushing the button and I feel great about it, but also my finger is starting to hurt a lot.” “Don’t worry; the fact that your finger hurts proves that you are a good and wise person.” “Wow, now I keep pushing the button and my finger hurts like hell, and I feel great about it!”)
This is a wonderful way to put it!
As I see it, the “generalized anxiety” is essentially costly signaling. By being anxious, you signal “my reactions to the latest political thing are important for the fate of the world”, i.e. that you are important.
But if this was the entire story, you would be able to notice it and feel ashamed that you felt for such simple trick. Reframing it as a civil duty keeps you in the trap, because it provides a high-status answer to why you are doing it, distracting you from realizing what you are doing.
(Metaphorically: “The proper way to signal high status is to keep pushing this button all the time.” “I keep pushing the button and I feel great about it, but also my finger is starting to hurt a lot.” “Don’t worry; the fact that your finger hurts proves that you are a good and wise person.” “Wow, now I keep pushing the button and my finger hurts like hell, and I feel great about it!”)