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napkinz

(17,199 posts)
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 03:00 PM Mar 2014

Scientific Proof: Liberals Are Smarter Than Conservatives

March 20, 2014
Mindy Fischer

Several studies have found that Liberals have larger and more active anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC, than our Conservative counterparts. And while they are lacking in the ACC department, they actually have larger amygdala than we do.

Now What Do These Brain Parts Do??

First the Libs….

Basically, the more developed ACC allows the Liberal to be a better problem solver. It helps us to cipher through difficult information and make educated decisions. According to scientists, Liberal brain chemistry allows us to monitor conflict, detect errors, and we are more likely to

“respond to informational complexity, ambiguity, and novelty. Liberals, according to this model, would be likely to engage in more flexible thinking, working through alternate possibilities before committing to a choice. Even after committing, if alternate contradicting data comes along, they would be more likely to consider it. This is how science works, and why there might be so many correlations between scientific beliefs.”


Now the Cons…

The Conservatives on the other hand have a more developed center of emotion with the amygdala. It is said to be the center for fear, so with such an enlarged and heightened amygdala, much of what they do and how they react to most situations comes from basic fear response. Discover magazine also says,

Conservatives respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions.”

“So, when faced with an ambiguous situation, conservatives would tend to process the information initially with a strong emotional response. This would make them less likely to lean towards change, and more likely to prefer stability. Stability means more predictability, which means more expected outcomes, and less of a trigger for anxiety.”


So, basically what this all means is that they are just plain scared. And how can you relax and laugh and find humor in things that are genuinely funny when you are scared shitless all the time?? I mean, come on. We’d probably be a little grumpy too if we were born with Conservative brains, right?

Well, I hate to rub salt in an already irritable righty wound, but I have a feeling that I know something that will make you and I smile, but likely will only deepen the frowns to our right. Since that Obama-Galifinakis piece, web traffic to healthcare.gov has increased by 40 percent. And you know what else? Despite all of the lovely comparisons with Nazism and slavery, Obamacare is right on track to meet even the most optimistic enrollment estimations made one year ago.

Have a fabulous day lefties!!

entire article: http://samuel-warde.com/2014/03/scientific-proof-liberals-smarter/














29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Scientific Proof: Liberals Are Smarter Than Conservatives (Original Post) napkinz Mar 2014 OP
This may actually work against us at the polls....and elsewhere LongTomH Mar 2014 #1
+1 jsr Mar 2014 #2
Conservatives lack a sense of humor because they are stupid Gothmog Mar 2014 #3
They also lack a sense of appreciating what is beautiful. Mira Mar 2014 #25
That's ok, conservative don't believe in science mindwalker_i Mar 2014 #4
Sorry, but I'm going to take issue with this. NuclearDem Mar 2014 #5
It has been a proven fact for quite some time that you can tell a Liberal from a Conservative with a RC Mar 2014 #6
I don't doubt the studies or the results anymore than I would any other study. NuclearDem Mar 2014 #7
While I can agree with the negative connotations as a problem, the "scientific proof" part is fact. RC Mar 2014 #9
Yes, the research has been done, but that doesn't mean anything's been proven. NuclearDem Mar 2014 #11
Semantics. RC Mar 2014 #13
The Teapublican Brain ... napkinz Mar 2014 #14
i tend to agree. nt La Lioness Priyanka Mar 2014 #10
This study isn't about intelligence, but about temperament eridani Mar 2014 #8
Informational complexity never seems to upset me. idendoit Mar 2014 #12
conservative media versus liberal media napkinz Mar 2014 #15
people with low IQs ... napkinz Mar 2014 #16
I love this-our friends on another board are very upset with this thread Gothmog Mar 2014 #17
How are they dealing with Cosmos? napkinz Mar 2014 #20
Our friends on a conservative board do not understand the appeal of Cosmos Gothmog Mar 2014 #22
Our conservative friends really believe that Cosmos is a rating failure and will be pulled Gothmog Mar 2014 #28
I didn't see anything about this on freerepublic grasswire Mar 2014 #26
It was another site Gothmog Mar 2014 #27
But the GOP more than make up for it .. ananda Mar 2014 #18
they are driven by hate napkinz Mar 2014 #21
You mean the "author" of the piece... whistler162 Mar 2014 #24
Only 6% of scientists are republicans Gothmog Mar 2014 #19
Well than the author is obviously a Conservative! whistler162 Mar 2014 #23
Misrepresenting studies, Science 101 fail, and using science to beat down on other human beings. NuclearDem Mar 2014 #29

LongTomH

(8,636 posts)
1. This may actually work against us at the polls....and elsewhere
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 04:19 PM
Mar 2014

Thanx to N2Doc for the link to the toon:



From Yeats' The Second Coming:

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.


The fact that conservatives are motivated by emotion makes them more likely to get out and vote, and be activists in opposing liberal policies, even those that ultimately benefit them.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
3. Conservatives lack a sense of humor because they are stupid
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 04:52 PM
Mar 2014

I have always believed that the lack of a sense humor by conservatives showed their lack of intelligence

Mira

(22,378 posts)
25. They also lack a sense of appreciating what is beautiful.
Mon Mar 24, 2014, 08:47 PM
Mar 2014

I have observed their visual taste to be tacky - that is if they even notice anything. In my experience they walk around with blinders to what's worth looking at.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
5. Sorry, but I'm going to take issue with this.
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 05:16 PM
Mar 2014

Setting aside that there is no such thing as "scientific proof" (the concept of proof only exists in math, law, and philosophy), using science to beat down on other human beings is one of the worst perversions of science in human history.

There are studies that show different brain functions in different people. Attaching negative connotations to that ("stupid", "inferior&quot is not what science is about.

 

RC

(25,592 posts)
6. It has been a proven fact for quite some time that you can tell a Liberal from a Conservative with a
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 05:58 PM
Mar 2014

brain scan. The OP is basically true.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
7. I don't doubt the studies or the results anymore than I would any other study.
Reply to RC (Reply #6)
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 06:06 PM
Mar 2014

My issue is with using those studies to attach negative connotations to other human beings.

That, and the use of the term "scientific proof."

 

RC

(25,592 posts)
9. While I can agree with the negative connotations as a problem, the "scientific proof" part is fact.
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 06:11 PM
Mar 2014

The research has been done.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
11. Yes, the research has been done, but that doesn't mean anything's been proven.
Reply to RC (Reply #9)
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 06:33 PM
Mar 2014

Because you can't "prove" anything scientifically.

 

RC

(25,592 posts)
13. Semantics.
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 06:41 PM
Mar 2014

But the fact remains, you really can tell a Liberal from a Conservative with a brain scan.

eridani

(51,907 posts)
8. This study isn't about intelligence, but about temperament
Fri Mar 21, 2014, 06:10 PM
Mar 2014

There are plenty of smart people with zero sense of humor.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
17. I love this-our friends on another board are very upset with this thread
Mon Mar 24, 2014, 05:14 PM
Mar 2014

Conservatives with low IQs do not like the fact that people know that they have low IQs.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
22. Our friends on a conservative board do not understand the appeal of Cosmos
Mon Mar 24, 2014, 08:09 PM
Mar 2014

These conservatives are simply too stupid to understand any of the big words used by NDT and so they do not understand why the show is so appealing.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
28. Our conservative friends really believe that Cosmos is a rating failure and will be pulled
Tue Mar 25, 2014, 04:38 PM
Mar 2014

These idiots are too stupid to understand the concepts being discussed and want to claim that the ratings for Cosmos are so bad that it will be pulled. As is normal, our conservative friends are wrong. Cosmos is getting some great/amazing reviews http://www.metacritic.com/tv/cosmos-a-space-time-odyssey In addition, the conservatives are ignoring the fact that Cosmos is being showed on several different channels at different times. When you aggregate the total ratings, Cosmos is doing great for a pure science show http://www.science20.com/science_20/blog/cosmos_ratings_are_not_disaster_fox-131870

The Drudge Report is saying that "Cosmos" ratings are a disaster and, I as I discussed in Is "Cosmos" Suffering From Unrealistic Expectations? the overnights showed numbers down from the premiere, but that is hardly a disaster.

1) It's a science show. That a science show was on a prime time broadcast network - and took third place in its premiere - I would say is bordering on miraculous.

2) The overnights for "Cosmos" showed more viewers watched it than watched either "Family Guy" or "The Simpsons". "Family Guy" is, of course, "Cosmos" producer Seth MacFarlane's keystone program. Ordinarily it would be the lead-in and anything following would show some drop. Instead, "Cosmos" had more viewers than those longtime fan favorites.....

Plus, those numbers might go up. Once DVR views were factored in, the adult 18-49 rating for "Cosmos" last week jumped 33%, from a 2.1 to a 2.8. If a similar DVR bump happens this week, then suddenly "Cosmos" is number two in its time slot for the demographic advertisers prize most.

And "Cosmos" is more of an international product than other shows it is competing with - it could get 3-6X its total viewers when international numbers come in, and that all brings revenue too.

ananda

(28,781 posts)
18. But the GOP more than make up for it ..
Mon Mar 24, 2014, 05:15 PM
Mar 2014

.. in heartless, mean fanatic determination to win at all costs.

Gothmog

(143,998 posts)
19. Only 6% of scientists are republicans
Mon Mar 24, 2014, 06:47 PM
Mar 2014

I love this research from Pew http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/10/only-six-percent-of-scien_n_229382.html

A new study by the Pew Research Center finds that the GOP is alienating scientists to a startling degree.

Only six percent of America's scientists identify themselves as Republicans; fifty-five percent call themselves Democrats. By comparison, 23 percent of the overall public considers itself Republican, while 35 percent say they're Democrats.

The ideological discrepancies were similar. Nine percent of scientists said they were "conservative" while 52 percent described themselves as "liberal," and 14 percent "very liberal." The corresponding figures for the general public were 37, 20 and 5 percent.

Among the general public, moderates and independents ranked higher than any party or ideology. But among scientists, there were considerably more Democrats (55%) than independents (32%) and Republicans (6%) put together. There were also more liberals (52%) than moderates (35%) and conservatives (9%) combined.

"These results were not a complete surprise," said Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research at Pew, in an interview with the Huffington Post. He said they can be mostly attributed to "the difference between Democratic and Republican parties with respect to issues."
 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
29. Misrepresenting studies, Science 101 fail, and using science to beat down on other human beings.
Tue Mar 25, 2014, 04:52 PM
Mar 2014

Yep, pretty much.

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