Why You May Not Like Ted Cruz's Face, According To Science (qz.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Ted Cruz pitches himself as an overcomer, an underdog, an outsider who beats the odds. While the Republic candidate has won four states in this nomination race so far, a neurologist says he still faces a big obstacle with voters: his own face. In an interview with Quartz, George Washington University's Richard E. Cytowic said the unusual movements of Cruz's face may make him seem less sincere to the human brain than other candidates. "The normal way a face moves is what's called the Duchenne smile, named after the 19th century French neurologist. So the mouth goes up, the eyes narrow and the eyes crinkle at the outside, forming crows feet," said Cytowic, a professor of neurology. "Cruz doesn't give a Duchenne smile. His mouth goes in a tight line across or else it curves down in an anti-Duchenne smile. So he doesn't come across as sincere at all." Visceral reactions probably drive a lot more of politics than anyone likes to admit; seeming trustworthy isn't the same as being trustworthy, but it sure helps win people over.

Comments

"Appears" Insincere?

[Anonymous Coward]

He appears insincere because, guess fuckin' what, he *is.*

Cruz is a Dominionist. None of this means anything to him except insofar as he can grab the reins of power and usher in some dystopic nightmare fusion of 1984 and The Handmaiden's Tale. Dominionists have been a scary powerful group since the Nixon years and they went absolutely metastaticwhen Bush II was elected.

If he is not stopped, we're going to end up ruled by the Christian Taliban.

Re:"Appears" Insincere?

[MightyMartian]

How is voting for someone who denies what virtually every scientist has known to be a fact for over a century not voting for a religious zealot?

That is if Cruz is a creationist. I suspect he understands his supporters well and simply apres their ignorance and prejudices.

Re: "Appears" Insincere?

[Type44Q]

I very much suspect that Cruz's "insincere face" is a case of causation rather than correlation.

Sincerity

[Indigo]

The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made.
-- Jean Giraudoux

He looks like

[hduff]

Grandpa Munster
i.imgur.com/G8LGrnY.png

Never mind his face, I don't like him.

[Anonymous Coward]

Affordable health care has been an issue for most of my adult, working life. Republicans and Democrats alike have proposed solutions, but until six years ago no one delivered.

We had a vote. The majority, the fricken majority chose the winner, and the winner delivered on a campaign promise to deliver affordable health care to everyone.

The fricken majority.

And he and his ilk have spent six years since then trying to over turn what the fricken majority voted for.

Is it any wonder nobody likes him?

Re:Never mind his face, I don't like him.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just reversing the rule prohibiting buying prescription drugs from Canada would dramatically lower the costs for millions of Americans who, despite being forced to buy "affordable health care", are stuck with ridiculously high deductible policies that don't even provide co-pays for drugs until they meet their deductible, which they can't do because their premiums are ridiculously high.

It's not the face itself that turns me off

[Opportunist]

It's what comes out of it when he opens his mouth.

Re:Where are such analysis of Hillary!, anyway?

[hey!]

Well it doesn't take much of a study to show Hillary Clinton is not good at projecting warmth and sincerity on the stump. She's at her best in debates, where she she seems a lot more real. On the stump she seems really phony, and the big smile that doesn't reach to the eyes is a big part of that.

Now does that actually mean anything? Imagine you're a politician giving a campagin speech before a group. This may be the twentieth time you've given this exact speech before a similar group in the last week, but you've got to make it fresh for them, make your response to them seem spontaneous and authentic. It's well nigh impossible, but some people can do it. Bill Clinton can do it.

You know who else can do it? Donald Trump. If you think about what he's saying even a little bit he's clearly en epic bullshitter, but he makes a genuine-seeming emotional connection with crowds. And I think it seems genuine because on a certain level it is genuine. He's morbidly narcissistic and craves the admiration they're giving him.

Un... goto politifact. Cruz really lies a lot.

[Maxo-Texas]

I wrote this for another forum which was focused on trump. But basically only 21% of Ted Cruz's statements are true or mostly true. He lies twice as often as Clinton and Sanders and almost twice as often as Rubio. He's facile at lying. Lying is a tool in his tool box. It has little to do with his face.

From politifact, the Pulitzer prize winning political fact checking site.

http://www.politifact.com/pers...
51% of Clinton's statements are all true or mostly true. Another 21% are half true.

http://www.politifact.com/pers...
48% of Sander's statements are all true or mostly true. Another 21% are half true.

http://www.politifact.com/pers...
35% of Rubio's statements are all true or mostly true. Another 22% are half true.

http://www.politifact.com/pers...
21% of Ted Cruz's statements are all true or mostly true. Another 13% are half true.

http://www.politifact.com/pers...
8% of Trump's statements are all true or mostly true. Another 14% are half true.

yes.. 8% is yoooge.

Trump is saying mostly false statements to outright lies 78% of the time. When caught in a lie, he just lies again.

I was suprised to see Cruz had such a high lie rating given that he's christian and christians are against the lord of lies but his particular sect does approve of lying in the service of the lord so that may be playing a factor here.

Trump is almost a full order of magnitude more dishonest however.

Re:I see your source and raise you mine

[Anonymous Coward]

The actual statistics do not agree with Politico.com (you'd be on firmer ground citing Wikipedia, by far):
http://kff.org/health-reform/fact-sheet/analysis-of-2016-premium-changes-in-the-affordable-care-acts-health-insurance-marketplaces/

The sticker shock is higher - but not after the tax credit. If you make over 4x the federal, then yeah, you're not eligible for the tax credit and you're probably going to pay more. But that's the whole point. It's a progressive legislation, designed to subsidize health insurance for people with low incomes.

Also worth pointing out that overall health care costs are growing much more slowly than the decade prior to the ACA.

It's not his face I care about

[kimvette]

I don't care about politicians' faces. Really.

I don't dislike Cruz because of his smile; I dislike Cruz because he's an asshole.

Just wait

[Xabraxas]

While his face is eminently punchable wait till you see his policies. You'll want to kick him in the nuts.

Re:I see your source and raise you mine

[ChunderDownunder]

A question: Would health insurance premiums have risen over the past 8 years even if Barry O's healthcare policy hadn't been enacted? I suspect an angry middle-class will be disappointed if they expect premiums to stabilise or fall under President Trump.

Here in Australia, the government attempted to 'Americanize' health care by offering tax incentives to take out private health insurance. Yet premiums are expected to rise 5.6% this year and no one bats an eyelid.

I don't like his face because

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

He's a Theocratist Shit-Sack. Anyone that even HINTS that the Bible should win out over the Constitution can go get fucked sideways with a bandsaw. Keep your church out of my life you christian taliban motherfucker.