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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.""
Not insulting anyone: but most liberals I know are sorta cowardly, but definitly fearful. They seem to worry about everything...
__ Jesus Loves you! He died in your place so you would not have to die and go to Hell.
Often by pinning all of their "sin" on some made-up saviour.
Sounds to me that voting Democrat should be classified as a form of hysteria.
;-)
Perhaps some kind of medication could get that overactive amygdala to slow down again.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
I think this just said that Liberals have brain damage.
:: Conservatives : (Insert your own comment here).
I already knew that, but it is pretty funny.
Liberals : Stoke Victims
It's easy to stand out when the general level of competence is so low.
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."
Jesus died a long time ago, fuckwit. Get over it, and deal with your fucked up sig file, fucktard.
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.
So, your wife is the rapist? I was wondering who it was.
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
That's fantastic. You go burn all your heavily (or completely) subsidized education diplomas, stop eating subsidized food, and never drive again, and tell me how intelligent it is.
so uh, whats the rest of the sig supposed to be then? just wondering? also isn't christianity by default anti-semetic? i mean you christianity says that you have to believe in jesus to go to heaven so since jews don't believe in jesus as the savior then they are going to hell. the idea that a person is going to burn forever and ever after they die sounds pretty much like hate to me. if you are going to believe in religion, and that god is love wouldn't it make more sense to believe that god would let people into heaven based on they way the behave and treat people?
steal this sig
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!
> being staunchly conservative myself it isn't about being selfish... its about helping yourself
Thanks for clearing that one up.
Hey, here's a question for you. Why are blacks, on average, notably poorer than whites?
One can really approach this question from two angles: either they're somehow racially inferior (or have some sort of inferior culture), or it's due to the fact that they were brought here as slaves, and even after being freed kept as little more than slaves due to repressive legislation for another 100 years, and that has left them in an socially disadvantaged position that they still have to overcome.
If its the former, then you're racist; fine. If it's the latter, however, one could argue that, seing as it was this nation's fault for creating the situation, we should do something to fix it.
This applies not just to race. It applies to economic status. Yes, it is *possible* for a poor child to go to college and get a degree. But it is *far harder*, and consequently, most of the poor tend to stay poor. Of the people I've seen drop out of college, most at least in part dropped out because of financial issues. Sometimes it wasn't the only issue, but it was further added pressure.
If the parents weren't educated themselves, well, you have the same sort of problem - yet another disadvantage to the child. You conservatives argue "its possible", and yes, it does happen. And with 280 million people, there's quite a few cases. However, you ignore *statistics*. The question you should be asking is not "is it possible?", but "is it likely?".
I think you know that's the question you should be asking... but well, as you said, "its about helping yourself."
No matter how kind you are, German children are kinder.
you want to talk about playing on rhetoric? okay lets talk about playing on rhetoric. Conservatives are more guilty of that than any other political entity. So many marginal or politicaly apathetic citzens vote republican because of their domination of politics with "pro-american" rhetoric. By demonizing the term liberal as pinko, anti-american, weak they play on that inherent patriotism that many Americans feel comfortable with. They see Republicans as this big strong pro-american party. Why? because of the conservative rhetoric spun into the political spectrum. Look at Ann Coulter, Focus on the Family, Bill O'Reily, do you think anything they are saying isn't trumped up on rhetoric. You yourself are spinning this Horatio Alger "Ragged Dick" idealism which is complete shit. of all the immigrants how many became robber barons like Rockefeller? The idea of a virtue of selfishness is hogwash. When you let everyone do what they want and unregulate this type of capitalist system and let people do what they want the political and economic power will ultimately become consolidated and that's what leads to massive oppression, it's emperically proven. That's why you need progressives (ie liberals) to moderate and regulate. We're not giving people a crutch but merely a tool to break the socioeconomic bonds that supress them and make them subject to these robber barons that live this "ragged dick" life which doesn't exist. Conservatives dominate the political sphere by creating these linguistic constructs like the "free market" to dominate politics. Look to the analysis from the Rockridge institute. The "free market" doesn't exist. There is no such thing. All markets are constructed. Think of the stock exchange. It has rules. The WTO [World Trade Organization] has 900 pages of regulations. The bond market has all kinds of regulations and commissions to make sure those regulations carried out. Every market has rules. For example, corporations have a legal obligation to maximize shareholder profit. That's a construction of the market. Now, it doesn't have to be that way. You could make that rule, "Corporations must maximize stakeholder value." Stakeholders -- as opposed to shareholders, the institutions who own the largest portions of stock -- would include employees, local communities, and the environment. That changes the whole notion of what a "market" is. Suppose we were to change the accounting rules, so that we not only had open accounting, which we really need, but we also had full accounting. Full accounting would include things like ecological accounting. You could no longer dump your stuff in the river or the air and not pay a fee. No more free dumping. If you had full accounting, that constructs the market in a different way. It's still a market, and it's still "free" within the rules. But the rules are always there. It's important for progressives to get that idea out there, that all markets are constructed. We should be debating how they're constructed, how they should be constructed, and how are they stacked to serve particular interests.
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
Psychopaths don't feel fear and they don't feel remorse.
There is evidence which suggests a psychopaths brain is different from a normal brain.
http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n07/doencas/
"Completely lacking in conscience and feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."
Psychopaths are takers and thats the opposite of givers the liberals.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
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
statistics will show liberals are not only weak minded, but are also physically weaker. hence their appeal to whine and to lean on and create laws to protect them.
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?