Psychology, but unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to actually verify scientifically as previously thought, and many supposedly fundamental studies failing to be reproduced (although the reproduciblity crisis could be overblown).

I've said that being "anti-" something isn't such an accomplishment in life.

The philosopher René Girard thought that language emerged in humans when people needed a way to describe the "other", and that feelings of good and bad are fundamentally part of the positive vs. negative connotation in language. Identifying outsiders of the tribe with accessible language was essential, and once identified, they could be the scapegoat for whatever negative forces were facing the tribe at the time. The secondary utility of this dynamic is to unite the tribe together in a common effort for their collective good, externalizing the costs of this heuristic onto the scapegoat.

It makes a lot of sense that we've gone back to this tribal dynamic, since the prevalent medium of internet communication (text) has restricted our use of language in ways unfit for an advanced civilization (face-to-face communication is mostly gone, leaving out channels of empathy; anonymity is rampant, so almost everybody who doesn't virtue signal for your side is a potential other), as well as giving disproportionate voices to angry people, who get to use the medium to channel their feelings of inadequacy onto the scapegoat (René Girard had a concept of "mimetic desire"--where we see something external which we would like to mimic, and therefore need to compete to attain it, usually with disastrous consequences).

The funny thing is, Peter Thiel was supposed to be close friends with René Girard, but seems to have totally missed the connection with fascism when he aligned himself with Trump. From what I've gathered, the two things he's learned over the years are that competition (he advocates looking for a niche that will give you a monopoly when starting a company) and democracy are for losers.

I can't remember if Girard also has something to say about debt, and if that has something to do with the need for sacrifice in ancient religions, or if I'm just reading that back into my half-memories. Nietzsche in the Genealogy of Morals talks about debt that is owed to dead ancestors as one of the original inspirations of religion, so I might've fused that idea with my memories of Girard (he reminded me a lot of Nietzsche when I heard about him, probably a decade ago by now).

Heh, if human sacrifices are necessary to absolve the tribe of its sins and to create a feeling of solidarity and collective unity within the tribe, it kind of puts #metoo into perspective.

Of course the Nazi interpretation of the death of Christ sort of turns this on its head....

If I'm correctly inferring what you're talking about, it was also the Catholics' interpretation until the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

I don't see why anybody should be a fan of the Catholic Church.

No, Trump is going to lose 2020. Calling it now.

Sad. No collusion!

I'm just not sure what reason he would claim. As far as I'm aware Nature has always had a few fluff pieces like that. It's not just research papers.

Speaking of Canada. The other day, I did a cursory web search on your infant mortality rate. Guess where the high numbers are coming from....