I guess most of this is pretty much what I would have guessed, except I would not have been surprised if engineers had a greater number of conservatives, and I don't really know why mathematicians lean more heavily conservative, too. (Also, astronomers don't do conservative politics, for some reason.)
Math isn't really empirical (though I suppose you could say the same about econs and sociology haha) so it's possible to be a top mathematician and very religious and religious people are more likely to be Republican, hence ...
ReplyDeleteof course you might argue why doesn't the effect work for engineers but I think there we're picking up on different kind of Republican, those who have been in business for themselves
Yes, I suppose so. Although, if asked to guess, I would have thought that the great majority of mathematicians are atheists these days...
ReplyDeleteI think the almost total exclusion of conservatives or "middle of the road" amongst astronomers and astrophysicists is perhaps the most unusual finding, though. Maybe it was a small sample size?
Astrophysics tends to be exploratory, without much practical application (yet), and requires a high level of curiosity and open-mindedness on account of the weird and often speculative subject matter, which correlates with the personality types that tend toward liberalism.
ReplyDeleteMathematicians are kooky. That's why. :)Mathematicians lean toward a platonic view of mathematics, which is kinda religious in a way. Perhaps they all secretly believe in the Mathematician.
ReplyDelete