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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScientific 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. Wed 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/
LongTomH
(8,636 posts)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)I have always believed that the lack of a sense humor by conservatives showed their lack of intelligence
Mira
(22,378 posts)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.
mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)They have faith that they just know the right stuff.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)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" is not what science is about.
RC
(25,592 posts)brain scan. The OP is basically true.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)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)The research has been done.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Because you can't "prove" anything scientifically.
RC
(25,592 posts)But the fact remains, you really can tell a Liberal from a Conservative with a brain scan.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)There are plenty of smart people with zero sense of humor.
idendoit
(505 posts)napkinz
(17,199 posts)napkinz
(17,199 posts)Gothmog
(143,998 posts)Conservatives with low IQs do not like the fact that people know that they have low IQs.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)They must be freeping out.
Gothmog
(143,998 posts)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)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.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)Must be that *lower* IQ board.
Gothmog
(143,998 posts)ananda
(28,781 posts).. in heartless, mean fanatic determination to win at all costs.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)most likely!
Gothmog
(143,998 posts)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."
whistler162
(11,155 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Yep, pretty much.