Conservatism: Role of mental models, a quick look

By: Shahab Sabahi, Policy analyst in Energy Security and Policy Research Group

Conservatism is an ideology which values the status quo and accepts change only reluctantly and at a very slow pace [Adana, J.]. It is based upon the premise that human institutions are the product of a gradual process of experience or intrinsically existed, and that they have endured because they have proven to be effective over a long period of time. It follows that it would be most irresponsible to change these institutions and practices in any fundamental way [West, N.]. From conservatism’s view, it is not realistic to expect that workable new institutions and practices can be introduced to replace existing ones except through a long gradual process of experimentation. To do otherwise is to invite chaos. Where does this idea come from?

To answer the question above, I attempt to examine conservatism based on the human mental idea creation mechanism. People in all human societies create mental models of reality. The mental models attribute causality to factors; sometimes invisible ones; which make the world affairs more predictable and easy to understand. In earlier societies, these invisible forces were spirits and nature; today they are abstraction like scientific theories, socio-economic hypothesis. All world views and beliefs constitute a metal model of reality, in which observable events are attributed to either nonvisible or visible forces. Shared mental models are critical in facilitating large scale collective actions by setting common goals. Shared mental models are bases for social rules and shaping institutions, since the models often suggest clear rules for societies to follow. Oftentimes rules and institutions are enforced in the form of beliefs. They contain with considerable emotional elements and therefore are believed for intrinsic reasons and not simply because they are context related and accurate for just specific times. Intrinsic values are unchallengeable and thus become foundations for other sub-rules and institutions. Rules and institutions with intrinsic values are heritable, so they should be saved generation through generation by right people who understand the intrinsic values. They are always interpreted as effective rules as they continuously set parallel common goals, failure to one give a success for other one.    

All of this reinforces the fundamental conservatism, because with presence of beliefs and emotion, mental models of reality once adopted are hard to change in the light of new evidence that prove they are not working.