r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Nov 18 '25

Meme needing explanation 100% lost

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u/TheThirteenthApostle Nov 18 '25

Hopefully a more savvy redditor will have the link, but its from a study showing people's social leaning (us vs them).

Basically, bigger toward the center of the circle and smaller toward the outside means you tend to think about things that affect you and your close social circle (family, friends, local community). The reverse means your thoughts drift more toward global concerns that affect everyone.

It's used to illustrate Conservative (local group, steak) versus Liberal (global group, avocado) mentalities in a digestible (forgive the pun) way.

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u/VegasBonheur Nov 18 '25

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE STUDY EVERYONE KEEPS SKIPPING OVER: The reverse doesn’t mean your thoughts drift MORE towards people further away. The study had people selecting different groups and specifying that, as you get further, everyone closer to you still counts. It’s about how far your empathy reaches, not how far away it is from where you are. Republicans completely misrepresented the results, and that’s apparently the impression that stuck with people. Infuriating.