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Red Brains vs. Blue Brains?
eLoco writes "From the NYTimes (reg. req.): The Political Brain -- "Why do Republicans and Democrats differ so emphatically? Perhaps it's all in the head." Researchers from UCLA have seem to have found that liberals have, on average, a more active amygdala than conservatives. According to the article, studies of stroke victims "have persuasively shown that the amygdala plays a key role in the creation of emotions like fear or empathy." So is this scientific "proof" that liberals tend to be more compassionate but also more cowardly? [DISCLAIMER: this is not a troll; I am a liberal]. Regardless, this seems to have implications for more than just politics. Favorite quote: "Perhaps we form political affiliations by semiconsciously detecting commonalities with other people, commonalities that ultimately reflect a shared pattern of brain function.""
It's always someone else's fault.
Right. I mean, check out the conservative line of reasoning:
Example: "I'm not going to go see Fahrehnheit 9/11 for the same reasons liberals won't watch Fox News."
Example: "Vote fraud? Man, the liberals do it to, you just know it. (So it's ok if conservaives do.)"
Example: "Only telling one side of the story is ok, because the liberals do it to."
Example: "It's ok that the President went AWOL during the Vietnam war, beeacuse Bill Clinton got a deferrment."
Example: "It's ok to lie, cheat, and steal because some Democrat somewhere at some point did it, too."
Surely I'm not the only one who realised that Republicans (Right Wing) are driven by Left Brain, logical, reason, objective.
True Liberals are touchy-feely, and led by the Right or Artistic brain. So Liberals tend to make decisions based on feeling, what feels right, or subjective; what seems to be good in thier eyes.
True Republicans are factual based, objective, and make decisions based on cause/effect and the facts presented to them.
There will always be people that are after fame/glory rather than standing for what they believe which is why they end up on the wrong team.
You bound to be attracted to those who share your opinions and views. Which is why hippies/new agers rarely have time for suits and politicians.
Bush is not a coward. Ghandi was. I preffer not to be associated with him.
__ Jesus Loves you! He died in your place so you would not have to die and go to Hell.
And maybe liberals are caused by inhaling too much pollution. :-)
:-P
No, it's that conservatives are caused by too much inbreeding.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
A similar study has shown that London taxicab drivers have a larger brain component that is associated with directions and pathfinding. Did people with this condition happen to become cab drivers? Or did their brains change as a result of their occupation?
So are liberals liberal because their amyglada is larger, is it larger because they are liberal?
I do undestand associating the two, however. Since American liberal versus American conservative/libertarian isn't a matter of different subjective view points but of evil / good, death / life, destructively stupid / prosperously intelligent, I can understand why a component of the brain associated with irrationalism is found to be larger among 'liberals.'
It's not just the amygdala. Stepford Republicans have less activity anywhere in their brains. No surprise that they resemble hordes of zombies, defying compassion, logic, and anything more complex than pulling a trigger or goosestepping.
--
make install -not war
Not insulting anyone: but most conservatives I know are sorta evil, but definitly uncompassionate. They seem to hate everyone but themselves...
Time makes more converts than reason
Hey dickhead, the war was already fought in someone's hometown (NYC). I usually try to limit my ad hominem attacks, but this was flagrant.
The War on Terror was fought in my hometown. I am from New York originally, and the terrorists struck that city and took down the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The war in Iraq is just a continuation of the war started in NYC and Washington DC on 9/11.
WE didn't start anything.
Unless you count defending Israel so that there isn't a Second Holocaust. Many of the people in the surrounding countries have stated they "want to push the Jews into the sea".
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Statistically, US Republican and Democrat policies differ by roughly 5% across the board. There is little or no difference in electing either pary.
If both parties are functionally the same, how can any differences in brain organization incline an individual to one or the other party?
Two major fallacies with this whole idea.
/case of the Mondays //shut up and leave me alone
First of all it assumes that the 'left' is 'empithetical'. Which is very subjective. For instance I don't believe the left is very empithetical to unborn children.
Secondly it assumes that all people fall into one side or the other. Not only untrue, but quite frankly media BS and stupid. Someone watches to much CNN. There are plenty of people who agree with some issues on both sides, personally anyone who agrees with everything spouted off by the 'left' or the 'right' without deciding on each issue for themselves is a blind sheep.
And finally as a bonus, it assumes the 'left' and the 'right' are different which they aren't except in the trollish social issues such as abortion and homosexuality where there are no clear answers and actually doing something either way is going to piss off half the population.
Government should be modded -1 flamebait
OH AND FOR AN OFFTOPIC RANT.. the stupid fricking lameness filter should be shot. CAN'T YOU CHECK IF I'M ONLY DOING ONE LINE SEPARATED OUT???? ITS PERL, ITS NOT THAT HARD
The Anti-Blog
Yea, I'm glad that you live in Canada too. Other "holes" that are usually looked down upon, ummm, using, here in the USA are those of 9 year old boys and girls. I guess you there in Canada are more enlightened.
I was pretty riled up about this whole presidential election thing too, but now I'm not even going to vote. I'm pretty well-informed (or so I think) on all sides of issues and looking forward to voting this November. Then I went to a John Kerry rally, and everything changed. This was my first political rally an I was blown away by the mindlessness of the crowd. People were getting way too excited and it was mob mentality. Nobody paid attention to a word he said, they all just cheerd and waved their signs after he'd pause his speech. I"m sure G W B rallies are exactly like this. I was so affected by this that I decided the only smart move is to not vote for either candidate.
I'm sick of all this get out the vote crap now too. I think it only legitimizes these smarmy campaigns and brainwashingly hypnotic rallies. So this November, don't vote for anyone except yourself. There's no difference and it's all just photo ops and Bruce Springsteen songs.
http://www.commaecho.com
Liberals make decisions on feelings. Conservatives make decisions on reason.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
Liberalism is a mental disease. It is the false confusion that emotion is intellect.
Score & Karma: SASA: Slashdot Approval Seekers Anonymous
Well, Ariel Sharon said so, hence it must be true.
And I think we'll be finding those weapons of mass destruction any day now.
Satan:
"...was a murderer from the beginning."
"...is a liar and the father of lies."
"...comes but to kill, steal and destroy."
What president does this fittingly describe?
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
Probably shouldn't point this but you are engaging in the very kind of thinking that causes the problem you are lamenting. Forgive me for putting words in your mouth but you seem to be saying Asian's are hard working and industrious so they are successful while blacks are not.
In an attempt to craft a sharp-edged argument to show the bigotry of racial profiling, you sir, have only succeeded in racially profiling Asians. By comparing one minority to another, by definition, you're stereotyping all Asians to be successful businessmen, and all Blacks to be poor and (presumably) criminals. While I belong to neither of these groups, I'm offended at your suggestions.
Take this mind set and put it in a prospective employer interviewing Asian and Black candidates. In the employers mind the Asian candidate doesn't have all the social baggage the black candidate does. As the stereotype goes the Asian is much more likely to work hard and be successful, maybe the black guy grew up in a slum, doing drugs and listening to rap music. He's going to hire the Asian candidate unless he is filling a quota.
There are several things that this scenario doesn't account for. First of all, is the hiring manager a Black or an Asian? Is the hiring manager a woman? Is he/she white? Human beings are naturally social animals, and social animals tend to form groups with similar social animals. If we assume that everything is exactly the same between both candidates, I'd say that a Black manager would hire the Black candidate, while a White or Asian manager would hire the Asian candidate.
However, the parent message was trying to demonstrate the shortcomings of stereotyping, and the failure of society to view people like Bill Cosby who genuinely want to improve society by pointing out the faults of one or two particular minorities. Therefore, I'm led to believe that you agree with the parent, even though you're trying to disagree with him.
It is a fact of life in America if you are black you are inherently at a disadvantage in life. You are going to be racially profiled by police and hassle more than any other ethnicity. You are going to be at a disadvantage in nearly every interview.
The parent also addressed this issue. In short, he said that life isn't fair, nobody ever said it was going to be, and it's futile to try to make it so. The only thing people can do is the best with what they have.
I might also point out that police racial profiling, from my studying of it, is not a direct result of a suspect's skin color. It seems to be the result of a larger percentage of crimes committed by a minority... so police naturally tend to be more suspicious of members of that particular ethnicity. Here's an example for you. If, over 2 months, 50 cars were stolen in a neighborhood with exactly a 50% white, and a 50% black population. If every eye-witness saw a black man stealing those cars, would you scream "racial profiling" if the police started questioning black men? A similar practice is being avoided in airports. The overwhelming majority of terrorist threats are from Arabic men from middle-east countries. However, contrary to common sense, airport security is deliberately ignoring Arabic men from middle-east countries in an effort to avoid racial profiling.
You may choose to forget it but America, especially the South, was practicing something resembling apartheid barely 40 years ago. The Republican party and many whites are still rascist, either overtly or with a thin veil. Its kind of naive to think blacks are going to jump from deeply oppressed, and in social tatters, to a level playing field in the space of a couple of generations.
I feel that a brief history lesson is in order. Perhaps you'd like to read up on Abraham Lincoln before we go any further. You'll notice that the first sentence says very clearly that Abraham Lincoln, who is commonly among the top 5 rated Presidents in the
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
Yup. I know you were trying to turn it around smartass, but that doesn't mean I won't be consistent. HETEROsexuality is also something you do.
What, did you expect me to backpedal?