These young people seem to have what psychologists call a very strong “need for cognitive closure,” a disposition that leads to an overwhelming desire for certainty, order, and structure in one’s life to relieve the sensation of gnawing—often existential—doubt and uncertainty. This need is something everyone can experience from time to time.  We all feel that way in moments, in particular situations, but  some of us feel that way more strongly, or maybe even all the time. And if you go through the world needing closure, it predisposes you to seek out the ideologies and belief systems that most provide it. It’s highly attractive to young people who lack a clear sense of self-identity, and are craving a sense of larger significance. Hello Andrew Bolt 20 years ago.

Fundamentalist religions are among the leading candidates. Followers of militant Islam “know exactly what is right and what is wrong, how to behave in every situation,”  “It’s very normative and constraining, and a person who is a bit uncertain, has the need for closure, would be very attracted to an ideology of that kind.” For an outsider coming into Islam and drawn to that sense of certainty that it imparts, you then want to prove yourself. To show your total devotion and commitment to the cause. Hello Andrew Bolt opinionator.

Psychologist Peter Suedfeld of the University of British Columbia, for instance, has investigated a trait called “integrative complexity,” which is clearly related to the need for cognitive closure and can be analysed by examining an individual’s public speeches or writing. It is literally a measure of the complexity of thought, and one of its key aspects is whether one accepts that there are a variety of legitimate views about an issue, rather than thinking there is only one right way. People become more suspicious of outsiders and much more supportive of strong security measures that could curtail individual liberties. And they tend to rally around what is perceived to be a strong leader. QED Andrew Bolt.

Analysing the speeches of Osama bin Laden, that the terrorist leader’s integrative complexity plummeted markedly in the run up to two major attacks: the twin embassy bombings in 1998 in Tanzania and Kenya, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Bin Laden “was very purist in his ideology,” a trait suggesting his need for closure. Hello Andrew Bolt was dumb struck when found guilty of racism unable today to resolve it.

Andrew Bolt admits that 20 years ago he was a confused young man trying to find himself. People who worked with him back then have said he wasn’t the neocon jihadi he is today. We are talking 20 years ago. Bolt over time developed and was drawn to his Tea Party Party ideology as a need for  “cognitive closure” He needed simple black and white answers  as we see today which he feeds his audience. It’s why he’s an Abbott arse wipe. It’s why  you will find simple books about conservative thought  the equivalent of Islam for Dummies in his library. It’s why his favourite music is Wagner and tulip growing his past time. He is not a complex man an it shows on the Bolt Report where he reveals himself each week.

He is a technological Luddite who denies science. He is an aging man with little practical work life experience, obscure views and deep-seated in neoconservative principles. He is typical of Conservative men who can speak at will about what they oppose but have difficulty articulating what it is they believe in, or when they do it is clouded in the hue of feral, often hysterical, extremist privileged morality that provides them  however with “cognitive closure”.

 QED  Andrew Bolt has more in common with young Australian Islamic radicals than any Aussie.