Researchers Find a 'Liberal Gene'

An anonymous reader writes "Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study's authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views."

Oh, just great

[Anonymous Coward]

Now "they" will be able to make a drug to counter-act the receptor and cure liberalness. Just what we need, a pharmacated electorate.

Where's the gene that makes people believe

[VShael]

in the bat-sh*t crazy Glen Becks of the world?

That's got to be deserving of enough research to find a cure. (As best we can tell, about 25% of American people are afflicted.)

Re:Oh, just great

[vlnc]

after reading the title, that is exactly what i was hoping for.

Re:Whew... So there is hope for a cure?

[WrongSizeGlass]

The "cure" for liberalism is exactly the same as the "cure" for conservatism: elect a lot of it and wait a few years for the electorate to "cure" themselves.

Re:Oh, just great

[tuxgeek]

Don't forget John McCain and his 'little blue pill'
just what I needed, a visual of an old man with a boner

Re:Oh, just great

[BlueScreenO'Life]

Here we go again with that evolutionary thingy. Everyone knows the world is 6000 years old and all that evolution stuff is rubbish.

Whoever disagrees must have something wrong, like, a genetic defect or something.

Re:Where's the gene that makes people believe

[bsDaemon]

Precisely. Thomas Jefferson was a liberal. Barbara Boxer is a hippie lesbian with an obnoxious voice.

Re:And an absence predisposes you to conservativis

[19thNervousBreakdown]

8 years.

Re:Oh, just great

[Profane MuthaFucka]

Glen Beck is going to be crying about this later today.

Re:Oh, just great

[ByOhTek]

*ahem*

Except my girlfriend... And that only helps strengthen my logic to be a pessimist.

I hope it's a recessive gene

[OhHellWithIt]

If it's not a recessive gene, then my conservative parents may have a difficult conversation ahead of them.

Re:Oh, just great

[sempir]

Wonder what Jesus was.

Re:Oh, just great

[jrumney]

OK, so being liberal has roots in our evolutionary history, while conservatives were created out of thin air 6000 years ago (minus 5 days).

Re:Oh, just great

[slapout]

When Jesus comes back he's not coming to take sides, he's coming to take over.

Chopstick gene

[JohnFluxx]

Did the researchers avoid making the mistake of the "chopstick gene"?

There's a gene that determines how good you are with chopsticks. It's otherwise known as the blue-eye gene...

Re:Where's the gene that makes people believe

[T.E.D.]

IMHO the part you should have bolded was this:

.. although even conservatives said liberal blogs were often better-written, Davis pointed out

The issue isn't that the Conservatives are more open minded. It is that the two kinds are articles aren't equivalent. Or to put it uncharitably, even Conservatives don't want to read that crap.