Brain structure differs in liberals, conservatives: study

reply to post by maybereal11

maybereal

People on the far left and the far right are different in many ways...and believe it or not I think we need eachother...hard core pragmatism reigning in imaginative "progress". My issue with the current state of politics is the lack of conversation between the opposing views, which leads to gridlock rather than optimal outcome.

I was heartened the other day , well, heartened may be a little to optimistic, to see Paul and Kucinich speaking together. I have an inkling also that the issues that hold apart the right and the left cannot be as easily ascertained, and therefor dealt with effectively, by those closer to the center without the more emphatic perspectives of those on both ends of the spectrum. Conversation between the two might clarify the muddied waters

To the OP...this thread is halarious. I mean c'mon...liberals have a greater ability to process the complex? Well...if your talking their ability to process and maximize benefits within our complex welfare system I'd be on board. Anything more than that is a stretch.

I love this forum...just when you think you've heard it all something like this will pop up. It's awesome.

reply to post by soficrow

Soficrow

Which brings me back to media exposure and the fact that this study's participants were all young. ...I think it's possible that constant random media exposure opens a HUGE variety of different 'windows,' allowing the creation of multiple neural pathways.

I have considered this thought in regards an evolutionary explosion. We've spent , how long, with little to no variety of windows, hence limited and narrow neural pathways only to have this , geeez I'll say it again, explosion of random stimulus and information

opening in, to, around and through us in the last 60, 50 ,40,30,20,10years!

And this goes alongside the NON random exposure which seems to me to reinforce, calcify and entrench the more narrow pathways and established memetic systems that interplay with them.

These vague conceptualizations when placed over the template of creation via soup, flavored with complexity, offer the suggestion of a future unaccountable to our historic interpretations of reality and make the simpler discussions of left and right moot.

Well lets take a look at the meanings of Liberal and Conservative:

Liberal: favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs and open-minded or tolerant, especially free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.
dictionary.reference.com...

Conservative: disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change and cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.
dictionary.reference.com...

I don't think a scientific study was needed to tell the difference between the brain development of the two... it shows up right in their definitions.

Good post OP.

If they understand complexity why is it so hard for them to understand simple economics?

If they are good at processing fear, than why do they always FEAR change?

Originally posted by Janky Red

Originally posted by 46ACE
I'll bite:
This thread is an obvious unabashed poke at conservatives. I'll play:
IF I infact I process information differently and I tend to believe in certain political ideologies because of a physical characteristic I didn't choose and can't change. Is it right or logical or compassionate or even,",deep and complex" to have a group hug liberal back slapping:" let s abuse the idiot conservatives party" over the way I was born????????????

Why; Isnt that the exact argument?#1most common liberal argument: " straights are not "superior" to Homersexuals because they are born that way; "natural and above all "normal!"?????

Its not nice to make fun of people because they are different.( I',m sure you understand the "complexity" of my argument...).
and yes I harbor a deep seated hate for smarmy ( better'nyou" ) liberals: but I'm handicapped...say so right up there.


Added: if its "natural" :and I think its pure "b.s". who's to claim one is superior to the other. In the jungle I get to watch liberals eaten by hyenas because I watch my back trail through the jungle instead of trying to "reason" with the circling snarling hyena pack.

Complexity is not ALWAYS great, there are millions of example where liberal policy creates way too much red tape, or too many hurdles to things that should not be barred. But then again, creating massive holes for abuse
of systems, society is not smart either...


I tend to think that conservative and liberal differences span a great range of things, literally everything that can be accepted or rejected will be in line with one line of thought or the other.

It is funny that you conjure the notion of "superiority" to summarize your take on the information, that you hone in on that speaks for itself.

This thread from the title on down was clearly declaration of liberal superiority" ( Why look here Theodore:"the liberal mind is more subtle; nuanced and understands "complexity". Where as the conservative mind is based on primal fear.Not a very positive portrayal from where I stand.

Don' go gettin all "smarmy" ( I hate that): the"liberal" condition" was portrayed in a positive light. The conservatives were laughed at as "troglodytes".
word games:
" superior"
advantageous"
"beneficial"or benefiscient
shoulda found the thesaurus...

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
If they are good at processing fear, than why do they always FEAR change?

Because change is not always for the better?

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
If they are good at processing fear, than why do they always FEAR change?

I don't fear changing myself. I fear other people forcing their misguided change upon me.

Originally posted by 547000
If they understand complexity why is it so hard for them to understand simple economics?

Because simple economics is more complex than you presume?

Originally posted by 46ACE

I don't fear changing myself. I fear other people forcing their misguided change upon me.

There! you said it yoursef. You FEAR!

So much for being able to process fear.

reply to post by SeekerofTruth101


No it isn't. It's quite simple: TANSTAAFL.

Besides, even if it were complex, they should understand. Instead they turn everything into a social issue.

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101

Originally posted by 46ACE

I don't fear changing myself. I fear other people forcing their misguided change upon me.

There! you said it yoursef. You FEAR!

So much for being able to process fear.

"YOU PEOPLE"(DEMOCRATS) SCARE ME:
because my one vote is cancelled out by:" OMIGOd I was in tears! he's gonna PAY MY MORTGAGE AND MY GAS BILLS!!!!!!!!."

Originally posted by jennybee35
reply to post by soficrow

 

"The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."

I think that probably gives us the answer to the difference here. Liberals are Godless.

I'm not trying to make this flame war worse. But the other day I was out driving and thinking about this thread and laughing to myself how silly it all seemed. But I thought about my younger years when I was a christian. I liked senior Bush back then. I also feared god. Since I remembered reading that somehow fear is attached to the conservative mind (ignoring the chicken and egg questions brought up here), I remembered how my fear of god and fear of demons was always present and that I felt I had to constantly go to church or pray to dispel it.

And I started wondering whether any kind of fear, religious or not, might lead us to have conservative brains? Or perhaps an environment where we're intentionally sheltered might lead us to have liberal minds? I think this relates to the questions the OP brought up about changing our brain through advertising. But I wonder if maybe there's no agenda behind it. Maybe it just depends on the environment you grow up in or live in. Maybe something as simple as watching a horror movie makes us more conservative? Or maybe news that we have peace makes us more liberal? I linked another study on here about how conservatives tended to react more alertly to loud sounds and liberals more tentatively. The study concluded that liberals were somehow calmer. Could they have somehow tricked their mind into believing the world is a much more peaceful place than what's commonly believed in newspapers or in the military?

I'm not saying here that liberals can't worry (they worry a lot about AGW and pollution), only referencing the studies that show a slight but measurable difference between liberals and conservatives and wondering perhaps that both our environment and ourselves shape us as we grow into the political person we later become. Maybe it's too dynamic to clarify.

And on a broader level, ATS is full of paranoia. Could it be that conservatives feed on this fear, this paranoia? Or maybe just coming here makes us all more conservative?

Could it be that by feeding fear of AGW and pollution that liberals are unintentionally breeding a population of conservatives? Might all this fear make the liberals more conservative?

Could the wars in afghanistan, iraq and now libya be causing us to be more conservative because of the fears that they breed in us? Could times of peace cause a resurgence in liberal thought? A lot of questions start popping up. Without empirical evidence it's just speculation.

These speculations make me wonder for sure. I never once during my time here on this thread thought this made liberals superior. The only people who might think that are the liberals themselves who might have something to lose. In fact, I wonder if a little bit of fear is good. And I think the Middle of the roaders should be investigated further. What does this all mean for them?

Who am I? I'm 33. When I was growing up I was a christian and, for my part, was conservative. I believed the earth was 6000 years old. I grew out of this sh** when I was maybe 17 or so. But I never really left it behind until my mid 20's. I was only able to say "F*** God!" in my early 30's. It took me a long time. Only now can I say that as a christian I felt lots of fear. Back then I would have said love. But only because I felt sinful and god was merciful enough to forgive me.

In any case, I think I was more liberal between 20-31. I think I'm more conservative now. I've thought a lot about the wars lately and the differneces between republicans and democrats. I always felt guilty that I was a liberal. So I think I have gravitated towards conservative values over the past year or two. I took a personality test on another forum and this is what I got:



I answered the questions honestly. There were people that were more liberal than me and some who were more conservative. You can take the test here:
www.politicalcompass.org ...

I wouldn't analyze the results. They're partial, for sure. But they might give you an understanding of yourself and where your difficulties are. For me, I have a hard time with capital punishment and leaders who want to bully and corporations that want to spill their ineptitude into our rivers. Those are some of my liberal traits. On the conservative side I tend to think that tradition is tradition because it has done us well. So I think I lean in the direction of the past to learn from it. But at the same time, I realize the past isn't always right. We have to discriminate. And I may become more conservative with time, I am not sure. I guess it depends how much I fear? Seems to me that I'm between a rock and a hard place. I can't explore and find too many dangers or I become ultra conservative? I don't want to live a sheltered life and become ultra liberal.

Maybe I'm not understanding this, but I have a multi-phobic personality and I fear a lot of things, so why aren't I conservative?

reply to post by SeekerofTruth101


Because the change the US has been met with in recent times has been absolutely horrifying. After experiencing president bush and president obama, I honestly don't understand why we still even have liberals and conservatives.

Is there part of the brain that processes the concept of learning from our mistakes? Because I think that the majority of the human race could benefit from more gray matter or whatever filling that region of the brain.

Originally posted by arbitrarygeneraiist
Maybe I'm not understanding this, but I have a multi-phobic personality and I fear a lot of things, so why aren't I conservative?

FEE

FIE

FOE

FUM

Originally posted by 46ACE

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
If they are good at processing fear, than why do they always FEAR change?

I don't fear changing myself. I fear other people forcing their misguided change upon me.

I think we all worry about that

I fear you guys are going to sell all the fresh water rights in AMERICA to three corporations
and remain truly clueless as to why that is a horrible idea.

Well I know one thing, that a liberal that thinks with his little head leaves himself open for more problems than a liberal thinking with his big head.

reply to post by Janky Red


But I'm not English. Nor am I French for that matter.