 Kore7 says: In The Political Brain, psychologist Drew Western summarizes fMRI experiments exploring the neuro-psychology of systematic bias and rationalization in the brains of political extremists. Finding ways to dismiss contradictory evidence triggers pleasant emotional releases in partisans' brains, eventually becoming a pleasurable, learned behavior. Once partisans had found a way to reason to false conclusions, not only did neural circuits involved in negative emotions turn off, but circuits involved in positive emotions turned on. This explains much. Interesting! This explains much.kenstipe, I concur, and speculate that it bears relevance beyond the boundaries of politics. great clip. Indeed, indeed, indeed. POP POP POP. Thank you ten million. What a brilliant clip. How sweetly it fits into interpretations of psychopathological projections, self-loathing, world-hating defences against anxious terror. One relevance beyond the boundaries of politics is the way that such misery is contained within ideology so that the despair of being oneself fits in so well with 'normality'. Phew! Nicely wound me up to go to the Liverpool-Everton game later. <<<In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions, a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory, in which logic plays only a supporting role. Westen shows, through a whistle-stop journey through the evolution of the passionate brain and a bravura tour through fifty years of American presidential and national elections, why campaigns succeed and fail. The evidence is overwhelming that three things determine how people vote, in this order: their feelings toward the parties and their principles, their feelings toward the candidates, and, if they haven't decided by then, thei... Thats why bigotry is so popular "this explains much" What I meant is that it explains why on issues where opinions should take a back seat to the facts we are prone to be divided by political agendas. On the issue of Climate Change you have partisans line up behind Rush Limbaugh because he is on the Right and people line up behind Al Gore because he is on the Left. Very few of these people are knowledgeable of the facts. These oppositions are furthered a Media that also does not know the facts and are also partisan -take your pick Foxsnooze or MS-in-me-see. Partisans always have a place to get the facts they need. They all sound reasonable for the most part and we all tend to avoid the opinion we do not *choose* to believe. Yes, bigotry. We are all bigots. How many times do I have to tell you idiots? All my opinions are the product of unasailable evidence and tautological reasoning! Confirmed by direct communication with God! I don't spew radical nonsense just to get a rush! I don't! I DON'T! I DON'T!!! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh baby, that was good...  Thank you yanceducat. The sad part of this research is it's suggestion that centrists like myself are the less intelligent people. I see extremism in the comments making fun of extremism but I guess I am overly sensitive. How sweetly it fits into interpretations of psychopathological projections, self-loathing, world-hating defences against anxious terror.  Arthur Brooks, an economist at Syracuse University, examined the question of happiness from a politico-economic perspective and came to some similar conclusions in his new book, Gross National Happiness. This quote on extremism (from The Economist 's review) seemed interesting and relevant: Mr Brooks also finds that extremists of both sides are happier than moderates. |
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