Culture: Progress or Tradition?

Where the library sits on this axis

The 112 written profiles are each stored with one value for this axis, written by hand. These are the ones furthest toward either end, and the ones closest to the middle.

These are editorial readings of the positions, not measurements of any party, movement or voter, and every vector is open to disagreement. Every profile, all three sets →

The statements that measure this axis

The question bank holds 10 statements for culture: 5 coded so that agreement counts toward Tradition, and 5 coded the other way, toward Progress. The Short version draws 3 of them, Standard 5 and Deep 10.

• “Old institutions survive because they encode lessons we would otherwise have to relearn.” agreeing counts toward Tradition
• “A society that stops questioning its traditions stops improving.” agreeing counts toward Progress
• “Family, faith and local custom are the foundation of a decent society.” agreeing counts toward Tradition
• “Art and literature should challenge the values of their audience.” agreeing counts toward Progress
• “Rapid social change leaves more people behind than it lifts.” agreeing counts toward Tradition
• “Restrictions on language and lifestyle have no place in a modern country.” agreeing counts toward Progress
• “Patriotism and a shared national story hold a country together.” agreeing counts toward Tradition
• “History classes should teach the uncomfortable parts of a national past.” agreeing counts toward Progress
• “Public ceremonies and monuments should present the nation at its best.” agreeing counts toward Tradition
• “Inherited hierarchies deserve to be challenged rather than preserved.” agreeing counts toward Progress

How this axis is scored

Each statement is answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. On this axis, 5 statements count agreement toward Tradition and 5 count it toward Progress, so a run where you agree with everything does not drift to one end.

The two directions are averaged separately and then weighted equally, and the result is reported between −100 and +100: negative toward Progress, positive toward Tradition. A statement you skip is not counted on this axis at all, so skipping never moves the score. Anything inside ±12 is recorded as centred rather than as a lean.

The same twelve values are what your result is matched against. How scoring works, in full →