Red Brains vs. Blue Brains? 1665
eLoco writes "From the NYTimes (reg. req.): The Political Brain -- "Why do Republicans and Democrats differ so emphatically? Perhaps it's all in the head." Researchers from UCLA have seem to have found that liberals have, on average, a more active amygdala than conservatives. According to the article, studies of stroke victims "have persuasively shown that the amygdala plays a key role in the creation of emotions like fear or empathy." So is this scientific "proof" that liberals tend to be more compassionate but also more cowardly? [DISCLAIMER: this is not a troll; I am a liberal]. Regardless, this seems to have implications for more than just politics. Favorite quote: "Perhaps we form political affiliations by semiconsciously detecting commonalities with other people, commonalities that ultimately reflect a shared pattern of brain function.""
All the studies show (Score:2, Funny)
article modding (Score:0, Funny)
Hence this article should be modded +5 insightful.
Brain differences? (Score:1, Funny)
Perhaps some kind of medication could get that recalcitrant amygdala up and running again.
Funny... (Score:4, Funny)
That's funny... I rarely make that distinction.
Harry Potter politics? (Score:5, Funny)
Translation (Score:2, Funny)
Please give us a large research grant.
Love,
Scientists
Worst ever... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Geographic Distribution (Score:5, Funny)
That''s EXCELLENT news!!! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Wow.... (Score:4, Funny)
Within a matter of seconds, I found that people who agree with me on political issues are rather brainy. On the other hand, I found that people who disagree with me on political issues are extremely braindead.
This, indeed, is good new for libertarians everywhere.
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:5, Funny)
They finally found the gene ... (Score:1, Funny)
Reminds me of something else (Score:2, Funny)
Those with the red brain perceive the truth, and are able to see how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Plus, the red-brainers get to dodge bullets and wear a *really* stylish jacket and glasses
Re:Libertarians? (Score:2, Funny)
I prefer clear.
So which will it be? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:This explains why liberals play emotions like f (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:5, Funny)
I never thought I'd see this day.
Re:Geographic Distribution (Score:3, Funny)
Re:All the studies show (Score:3, Funny)
Fingers crossed, c'mon no stroke for me... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:3, Funny)
"Please get your facts straight "?! I'm deeply offended!
Or at least I would be, if I was a Queer Homo Deviant (QHD).
(Yes, bad joke, but don't mod me down. Arguably, I couldn't help myself.)
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:2, Funny)
I heard an advert on the radio a few weeks ago that summed up the whole compensation culture thing:
If you've been in an accident and you think it was someone else's fault...
But I always thought accidents were nobodies' fault?
Re:You don't really *have* a left in America (Score:5, Funny)
More refined distinctions between schools of thought in the multi-party systems in continental Europe are unnecessary and confusing to our brains.
We don't need environmentalists, socialists, communists, social democrats, social liberals, social christians, conservative liberals, christian conservatives, constitutional christians, conservative nationalists, national socialists etc. Just "blue" and "red" will do fine. There is no such thing as a "green" brain, and nazis do not exist. They are just "blue" and "red". Or vice versa.
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:4, Funny)
Clearly your amygdala isn't as active as mine, or you would have said, "spherically challenged, libationally oriented, sexually curious, placidly impaired, or democratically impeded"
Re:What about temperment? (Score:4, Funny)
And you are right that conservatives use more logical arguments. To prove this I will sum up every single argument conservatives have used in the past four years:
"how dare you question the president, you must hate America"
You see there is nothing emotional about this. It is all pure logic.
Arent colors backwards? (Score:4, Funny)
A couple elections ago TV networks started using the opposite convention in their maps and the colors stuck. Now people use these map colors as a metaphore for national sentiment.
Re:WHO CARES! (Score:1, Funny)
It's all in the monitors. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:All the studies show (Score:3, Funny)
Appology accepted.
Re:Nature vs. Nurture relate to Free Will (Score:5, Funny)
Red vs. Blue? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Perspective (Score:1, Funny)
Yeah, I can feel the love just RADIATING from you!
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:1, Funny)
Your brain doesn't belong to you if it's all chemistry, it belongs to whomever knows most about brain chemistry. What if the "electro-chemical mumbo-jumbo" was modified
by, say, your toothpaste so that when it came time to decide what sort of Breakfast Cereal you want, your brain's already tilted towards Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs by Acme(*)? Sure, that's all paranoid delusional rambling, and there are legal safeguards (at least in the US) to keep that from happening, but it's a possibility.
OTOH, if the human mind is unquantifiable, then there's no storing your brainscan in a computer, no Computer AI that can pass a Turing Test (**) and each human mind is fundamentally unique, and unmeasurable because of quantum uncertainty.
So this is why there's so much fuss and bluster about this. It boils down to how the world works, all in this argument about Free Will vs. Biology. It comes down to what is, at this point, scientifically unprovable faiths. That's why people are so fervent about it: It's a matter of faith.
-Poster Child for Anonymous Cowards.
(*) note that I'm using the same Acme company as Wiley E. Coyote does, and not any RL company in my example. CYA.
(**) YMMV, ref. Blade Runner's retina test (and the high difficulty of determining androids like Rachel) vs the commonality that snowflakes are never blue, never hot to the touch, and never taste like grapes.
Re:Jesus H Christ (Score:3, Funny)
That's funny.