It's neither. It is wilful ignorance. All those studies sorting political affiliations by education, IQ and whatnot never show a difference that is nearly as large as these kind of comments suggest. There are small trends, but not more.

The average IQ of republicans isn't much lower. They just choose to squander their potential. Never underestimate the potential often human beings to lie to themselves. It is one of our most honed skills.

[–] Rubanski@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's also probably a factor, that when you pretend global warming isn't man made, that you can't do anything against it so you don't have to change your way of life

[–] Miqo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Exactly, I think some people use it almost as a self-defense mechanism to avoid feeling in any way responsible.