What does education do to us?!?

Joshua has made some very astute proposals for why college-educated people might be further ensconced in their own "parties" beliefs.  They probably do self-select as to what and who they read and they also self-select the groups they hang out with - which might also harden their positions on political topics.  I have known there is a positive correlation between higher education and atheism.  This discussion makes me want to examine that further and see if it hold true for more highly educated Republicans as well as Democrats.

It would be nice to think that education makes us more circumspect.  Perhaps it has that initial impact, but then we use new skills to increase our confidence in what we believe - and this might drive us further from positions that we do not like.