that self-proclaimed conservatives always have the minds of children? They blame everything on "leftists and liberals and then, when you show their assertions to be false, respond only by attacking the speaker. Do they not realize every single achievement they attribute to conservatives was won by liberals, while the conservatives of the day fought tooth and nail to keep slavery legal, prevent the passing of child labor laws, and keep women and blacks out of the polling box? Does the fact the values they like to praise, like equality under the law, are actually classical liberal principles simply escape their underdeveloped minds?
2a. Freudian Projection
The following is a collection of definitions of projection from orthodox psychology texts. In this system the distinct mechanism of projecting own unconscious or undesirable characteristics onto an opponent is called Freudian Projection.
* "A defense mechanism in which the individual attributes to other people impulses and traits that he himself has but cannot accept. It is especially likely to occur when the person lacks insight into his own impulses and traits."
* "The externalisation of internal unconscious wishes, desires or emotions on to other people. So, for example, someone who feels subconsciously that they have a powerful latent homosexual drive may not acknowledge this consciously, but it may show in their readiness to suspect others of being homosexual."
* "Attributing one's own undesirable traits to other people or agencies, e.g., an aggressive man accuses other people of being hostile."
* "The individual perceives in others the motive he denies having himself. Thus the cheat is sure that everyone else is dishonest. The would-be adulterer accuses his wife of infidelity."
* "People attribute their own undesirable traits onto others. An individual who unconsciously recognises his or her aggressive tendencies may then see other people acting in an excessively aggressive way."
* "Projection is the opposite defence mechanism to identification. We project our own unpleasant feelings onto someone else and blame them for having thoughts that we really have."
2b. (General) Projection
Here projection is assuming that others act or perceive similarly according to this definition it is not necessary for a projected trait to be undesirable or unconscious. Projection is probably inherent in social animals and the single most important psychological mechanism. The following are given as examples:
1. Individual A assumes that B sees the colour red as he does, until informed that B is colour-blind;
2. Someone who never lies is easy to deceive because he projects his truthfulness onto others, assuming that others are honest also;
3. It takes one to know one;
4. An inept con-man fears that others are trying to cheat him, signals his fear and alerts others;
5. (Freudian) An individual who possesses malicious characteristics, but who is unwilling to perceive himself as a protagonist, convinces himself that his opponent feels and would act the same way.
Each of these examples involves an assumption that others exhibit an own trait, but various "defence mechanisms" exist. Counter-strategies for Case 2 include (a) being conscious of a tendency to project and compensating with increased scepticism, testing scientifically, and (b) lying as much as everyone else. Case 3 could occur if an individual is honest about his own characteristics and inhibits his tendency to project, in which case he may accurately recognize his own traits in another without error. Case 4 is an interesting scenario left open for discussion.
In Case 5, offensive acts may occur when the projector (which may be an individual or a group), erroneously believing that their adversary is about to do likewise, pre-empts the opponent making the player of this so-called defence mechanism into an aggressive protagonist. This illustrates just one of several problems with the orthodox notion of projection. I hope to have demonstrated that the conventional definition of projection, here dubbed Freudian Projection, merely describes a specific instance of a more general, and important, human mechanism. Projection, combined with features such as denial of latent desires, accounts for a great deal of human behaviour and attitudes.
