Obama's Speech: Frontal Cortex Politics

[Reader Rabbit]

I got up early this morning—4:15 a.m. PDT—so that I could watch Barack Obama's speech in its entirety before work. I must say that it impressed the Hell out of me, but not for the reasons one might expect.

Yes, Senator Obama was refreshingly blunt and straightforward about the complexity of racial issues in America. Yes, he addressed said issues equitably, from multiple sides and through the lens of history. Yes, his pinning responsibility on the media, corporate greed, and lobbyists for their divisive tactics was vindicating. Yes, his message of unity, regardless of race, was emotionally uplifting. But none of these were the factor that grabbed me as an American citizen.

What lit up my brain—literally—was the fact that the man did not talk down to us, his fellow citizens. He spoke as if those listening were intelligent, rational creatures, capable of critical thought and complex problem solving. He spoke to us as partners in a participatory democracy—which is exactly what we are. This kind of speech is the reason Jefferson and the Founding Fathers thought universal pubic education was so important to a democratic republic. They expected every citizen to be able to understand the complex issues that faced our nation in order to make rational, informed decisions when voting.

In this day and age of sound bite media and the politics of fear and anger, the expectations of the Founding Fathers have been gradually degraded. The televised news media insults the intelligence of American citizens by appealing to their instincts and emotions, rather than their intellect. Far too many politicians go along with this emotional manipulation, aiding and abetting in the degradation of our participatory democracy. From a neurological perspective, these "ooga booga" tactics are designed to appeal to the amygdala, the brain's seat of instinct and emotional response. Very little in politics is designed to appeal to the frontal cortex, the brain region responsible for logic, rational thought, and problem solving.

Obama's speech was a welcome reversal of this destructive trend. I can only hope it is only the first of more such "frontal cortex" politicking.



In the interest of full disclosure, I support neither Obama nor Clinton at this time. My first two choices have dropped out, and I am currently debating writing in one or the other of them when Oregon finally has its primary in May.

[backscatter712]

1. Bingo. The reason why the MSM dumbs down the news...

isn't because the media thinks we're incapable of thinking things out for ourselves,

but because they don't want us thinking for ourselves.

If we all start thinking, like Obama encourages us to do, we'd eventually have our leaders, the corporate thieves and the Streichers and Goebbels' in the media up on meathooks like Mussolini.

They certainly have it coming...

[WVRevy]

2. Obama showed faith...

Faith in the American people, as a whole, to listen to more than a sound byte and process more than pandering and "10 word answers".

Unfortunately, as can be seen on this site and elsewhere, his faith was apparently misplaced in a significant portion of the electorate.

[Whisp]

3. excellent read. recommended. nt

[stray cat]

4. a media guy said he talked to the American people like they were adults.

[Skidmore]

5. Yes, he is calling for the nation to do critical thinking and make

ethical decisions--in the mode of a mature citizenry. He has been speaking this way all along and some people have just jumped up and down and screamed "We don't know what he stands for." Obama requires you to stand in one place and listen, then he asks you to move out and do your part.