liberal vs. conservative brains
 

Was watching CNN a minute ago, and a story from the caferty file came up. Apparantly there was study done showing that conservatives are more rigid in there brain activity, where liberals were more "bendable". He further explains that what they are trying to say is conservatives are less likely to think in a way other than how they normally think, where liberals are more likely to weigh pros and cons and bend there thinking based on it. And then of course he asks at the end for people to write in with there opinion on the matter.
So what's your opinion?

I think that if some are more apt to think in ways they don't normally think, then that *is* their new "normal". ...In which case, they are no more better at thinking "abnormally" --relative to their usual abnormal liberal thinking. ...as compared to normal thinking conservatives.

...I think.

Based on observation here on PPOT, that theory is not correct.

Anyone who really uses their brain knows those studies and surveys are just ridiculous. I mean, there are people out there who spend years and millions of grant dollars and then come up with something like marriage is the #1 cause of divorce. Or kids are fat now because they play video games more than their parents played outdoors when they were young. Was that really a mystery that anyone with a pulse didn't already know the answer to? Those studies exist only to keep people employed in academia and polling, who could never get a real job.

Rick is a conservative (I think, right Rick? Or are you describing yourself as an "independent"?) and I would be called liberal by him probably and I agree with him. These kinds of pronouncements are stupid.

Just because you don't agree with my opinion on....abortion....capital punishment....gun ownership....pick a topic, I (whomever "I" is) have the arrogance to assume you don't think "right"...uh...er...correctly? Gimme a break.

Anyone smart enough to think out an opinion on one of these issues for themselves has enough savvy to know that whatever position another may hold, if it doesn't agree with theirs it isn't out of lack of intellectual capacity.

On another note, as a "grown ass man" (as Bernie Mac would say) I NEVER think I will have just the "magic" combination of words, facial expressions, or hand gestures (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/pray.gif) that will cause someone who does not think like me to sit up and say, "Oh gee, YOU'RE RIGHT, now I feel exactly like you do". What a crock and yet a lot of people on both sides of an issues seem to expect the "other guy" to suddenly do so. Fools, I tell you!:D

Here's a well-worn quote from Winston Churchhill, who once wrote: "Any man who is under 30 and is not a liberal has no heart, and any man who is over 30 and not a conservative has no brains." Many others over the years have quotes of a similar nature, like Benjamin Disraeli, Woodrow Wilson or George Bernard Shaw. Maybe the liberal brain is more closely tied the impulse of charity and humanity(ie, heart), while the conservative sees things in a more ordered, logical way and needs strong convincing (like hard evidence) to change their thinking. Being conservative may also be a result of getting older and wiser, and seeing enough examples of liberal ideas and policies gone bad.

Maybe. But maybe it is a result of growing bitter and angry as you get older. You need to know what to be afraid of and who to blame for it!

See what I mean? This is a fool's errand. You do not have to ascribe positive, wise traits to the guy that thinks like you do nor negative character traits to the person that doesn't think as you do. Yet we all seem to have to do it.

Maybe he just thinks differently than you. Feels differently than you do? Why must it be character or intellectual superiority or inferiority?

Conservative - You're a bleeding heart liberal!
Liberal - At least I have a heart, you unfeeling monster.

This advances...................what? NOTHING.

In reality the way an issue plays out over time is that the liberal point of view serves as one curb in the road, and the conservative point of view serves as the other curb in the road. The ship of state (car? Porsche?) goes approximately down the middle of the road bouncing off the curbs, sometimes more to one side than the other but keeps traveling the road, albeit with some suspension damage!:D

I think that people have a particular political bent that can be influenced by how they think. How they think can be determined in part by genetic predisposition. The 'nurture' part of development definitely does have it's impact as well.

I'd take the 'study' with a grain of salt, because it can be interpreted in several ways... ones that make the 'liberal' mind seem better, and ones that make the 'conservative' mind seem better.

Best quote on politics I've ever heard:

"If a person is under 25 and not liberal, they have no heart. If a person is over 35 and not conservative, they have no brain."

Just because it is the "best you've ever heard" - because of course it supports your point of view; it doesn't make it remotely accurate. It's just another person's opinion validating (he thinks) his own point of view.

Besides, it helps in what way? It is essentially name calling. Advances the discussion/resolution of nothing.

Studies also show that humans only use 10% of their brain capacity.

But I don't believe it, because the people doing the study were only using 10% of their brains.

neo=conned are as brain dead as their brain dead leadership ie Ronnie RAYGUN
and BuSh2
the last conn with a brain was barry goldwater
most of the rest are sheep or evil like delay or the nute

Nota, that was a very intelligent post. You should rest assured you're one of the smart guys. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Really. Uh huh. Really.

Dan in Pasadena, I agree most of us drive our P-cars pretty close to the center line, and those hitting the right or left curbs make things very interesting at times! Myself, I think hearing a lot of ideas and getting some interaction with the curb crashers is a good way to form an opinion or a position. The problem with having an open mind is never knowing when to close it, which is how one gets to be known a fuzzy thinker.:D

Anyone ever listen to Rush Hemispheres? It's all about the battle of heart and mind, opposite sides of the brain and written against a backdrop of Greek mythology. Great lyrics.

I am endlessly amused by studies like this. How much of my(our) dough did they blow to tell me nothing? Wait, that isn't funny.

Some people are so open-minded their brain leaked out.

And then there are the really smart people with mixed brains. Winston was one of them.

After some thought, i'm wondering how many "evangelical bible thumping conservatives" scewed that "research"? I mean what i would call true conservatives, that believe in low taxes and low federal government intervention in your personal life, don't seem necessarily close minded, as opposed to the bible thumping extremists that are diluting the party.

Ooh ooh! La Villa Strangiato!

rjp