PARIS (AFP) - The brain neurons of liberals and conservatives fire differently when confronted with tough choices, suggesting that some political divides may be hard-wired, according a study released Sunday. Yeah, I think it's Zen who's been promoting this theory for some time now.
Aristotle may have been more on the mark than he realised when he said that man is by nature a political animal.
Dozens of previous studies have established a strong link between political persuasion and certain personality traits. Must . . . not . . . snark!
Conservatives tend to crave order and structure in their lives, and are more consistent in the way they make decisions. Liberals, by contrast, show a higher tolerance for ambiguity and complexity, and adapt more easily to unexpected circumstances. Yeah, it takes me about 10s longer than a liberal to start dealing with a f-ed up situation because that's about how long it takes me to stop telling him "I told you so you f-ing moron!"
The affinity between political views and "cognitive style" has also been shown to be heritable, handed down from parents to children, said the study, published in the British journal Nature Neuroscience. I wonder what would happen if Noam Chomsky and Ann Coulter were to have a kid together, besides Ann eating him for dinner after mating with him.
Intrigued by these correlations, New York University political scientist David Amodio and colleagues decided to find out if the brains of liberals and conservatives reacted differently to the same stimuli. Stimulus: Promise made that doesn't materialize as quickly as subject had hoped.
Conservative response: Keep promise even though it involves more work.
Liberal response: Run away, blame it on Conservative.
A group of 43 right-handed subjects were asked to perform a series of computer tests designed to evaluate their unrehearsed response to cues urging them to break a well-established routine.
"People often drive home from work on the same route, day after day, such that it becomes habitual and doesn't involve much thinking," Amodio explained by way of comparison in an e-mail.
"But occasionally there is road work, or perhaps an animal crosses the road, and you need to break out of your habitual response in order to deal with this new information."
Using electroencephalographs, which measure neuronal impulses, the researchers examined activity in a part of the brain -- the anterior cingulate cortex -- that is strongly linked with the self-regulatory process of conflict monitoring.
The match-up was unmistakable: respondents who had described themselves as liberals showed "significantly greater conflict-related neural activity" when the hypothetical situation called for an unscheduled break in routine. Did your tests look into how well the responses solved the problem?
Conservatives, however, were less flexible, refusing to deviate from old habits "despite signals that this ... should be changed." They shouldn't have had a liberal family run out in front of me as the test or I would have hit the brakes.
Whether that is good or bad, of course, depends on one's perspective: one could interpret the results to mean that liberals are nimble-minded and conservatives rigid and stubborn. From my perspective I think I not hitting the brakes solved the problem just fine.
Or one could, with equal justice, conclude that wishy-washy liberals don't stick to their guns, while conservatives and steadfast and loyal. Maybe. Maybe not.
As to the more intriguing question of which comes first, the patterns in neuron activity or the political orientation, Amodio is reluctant to hazard a guess. Who cares? Unless it might result in some kind of treatment.
"The neural mechanisms for conflict monitoring are formed early in childhood," and are probably rooted in part in our genetic heritage, he said. Oh crap, it's going to take gene therapy to cure this! Well, they're liberal so they can deal with it. We'll just have to use some of that 'moral relativism' to confuse them before they figure out what's going on.
"But even if genes may provide a blueprint for more liberal or conservative orientations, they are shaped substantially by one's environment over the course of development," he added. Ah, there's hope . . . .
Obscuring causal links even more is the fact that the brain is malleable and neural functions can change as a result of new experiences. Like getting mugged?
#2
"...respondents who had described themselves as liberals showed 'significantly greater conflict-related neural activity' when the hypothetical situation called for an unscheduled break in routine..."
Then shouldn't "staying the course" keep them calm?
I suspect this is science at the Al Gore level of quality.
#6
Liberal brains tolerate what they find complex or ambiguous - like 'right and wrong' are complex and ambiguous. Conservative brains instruct their bodies to destroy the 'wrong'.
#7
Utter rubbish. Anyone who has known, as I have, a dedicated liberal who has become a dedicated conservative knows that nothing about politics is hardwired. It's all programming. In the case of liberals, you might even call it an infinite loopiness...
Now, liberal traits do tend to track the feminine and conservative traits the masculine. But that is merely a starting point and does not in any way control where you wind up.
#9
I'm reminded of my experience when I started a new job. The drive to work went through miles of forest. There were a number of squirrels in the road making drivers swerve every few miles. I thought I could find a solution to all this swerving. On my second day, I got the record with 27 kills. On the third day, I only saw a dozen squirrels, and I hit five of them. I don't remember squirrels being a big deal after that. I guess the liberals would still be braking and swerving, day after day. It was obvious to me that I was the lone 'hunter' driving that road, so the record doesn't mean much.
#10
Liberals, by contrast, show a higher tolerance for ambiguity and complexity, and adapt more easily to unexpected circumstances.
What I suspect is that brain waves show when someone is actively engaged and plans to take some valid action - v/s someone who has no intention of doing anything and is expecting someone else to do the work.
Makes sense to me.
I'm suspect that they can also isolate the brain pattern for the action of bitching about the fact that others didn't do the job perfectly.
I suspect they could also isolate these same brain patterns from a nagging wife.
Seriously, I think a study should be done to see if the brain patterns of liberals can be duplicated simply by taking a sample group of conservatives, confronting them with a problem that is outside their ability and expertise to fix and then telling them that someone else will take care of it for them.
#11
Dr. John Ray has a website "Dissecting Leftism". He has probably written more papers on this subject than anyone, and almost always finds fatal flaws in these studies.
Posted by: moody blues ||
09/10/2007 13:15 Comments ||
Top||
#12
"Verdict first, trial after!"
-- The Red Queen
#13
In most cases Liberals make decisions on Emotions and Conservatives on Facts. That is why liberals are more likely to have conflicting or switching positions and talk about how things made them feel. That is why it matters less of a policy actually works (it may do damage to their cause) but doing something feels good and tryign to change things is bad.
#14
Its not that Liberals can hold paradoxes and contradictions - conservatives cna do so as well. Its that Liberals insist on sustaining them instead of solving them. They are more concerned with how the feel about such things instead of how to deal with them.
Morocco's moderate Islamist party is crying foul after failing to become the largest party in the country's parliamentary elections, which were won instead by a traditional secular nationalist party, but marred by a record low turnout. Saadeddine Othmani, leader of the Justice and Development party (PJD), accused unnamed rivals of buying votes. "Money was our first enemy," he said. "We think that the PJD is the [real] winner."
International observers said Friday's vote had taken place "in an orderly fashion", though there had been "isolated irregularities". The western-backed Rabat government, anxious to burnish its liberal and democratic credentials, pledged to examine any charges of vote buying - which anecdotal evidence during the campaign suggested was common.
Moroccans had been urged to do their duty and vote, but scepticism was rife since real power rests with King Mohammed VI, who defines himself as an "executive monarch" and appoints ministers, including the prime minister, regardless of the election result.
Early figures showed turnout was just 37%. The Istiqlal (Independence) party was the surprise winner, with 52 of the 325 seats in the lower house.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Omans Sultan Qaboos yesterday ordered a government reshuffle that affected a number of technical ministries and split two ministries into two departments, the official ONA news agency reported.
Decrees issued by the ruler of the sultanate created a Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, which will be headed by Hmoud ibn Faisal Al-Busaidi, and a Fisheries Ministry headed by Sheikh Mohammad ibn Ali Al-Qatbi, ONA said. Al-Qatbi was hitherto governor of Dhofar province and minister of state without portfolio. Qaboos also set up an electricity and water authority.
He named Sheikh Ahmad ibn Mohammad Al-Issai as new president of the Majlis ash-Shoura or Consultative Council, just weeks before elections to the 83-member advisory body slated for Oct. 27. Issai replaces Sheikh Abdullah ibn Ali Al-Qatbi, who becomes a state adviser, ONA said.
Yussef ibn Alawi ibn Abdullah is the minister responsible for foreign affairs and Saud ibn Ibrahim Al-Busaidi is the interior minister. There are three women ministers in the Cabinet. Ms. Rawya bint Saud Al-Busaidi holds the Higher Education portfolio, Ms. Rajiha bint Abdul Amir ibn Ali is the tourism minister and Ms. Sherifa bint Khalfan ibn Nasser Al-Yahiyaia is the social development minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Indigenous Culture:
This page intentionally left blank.
Earning money:
"Gimme ma benefit"
"I will be persecuted by the people I tried to murder"
Dealing with the Police:
"Itz ma ooman rites!"
"RACIST!"
"Izit cuz i iz black?!"
Tensions lately have ratcheted up over an ambitious political gambit by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian that has rattled both China and the U.S., Taiwan's closest ally. At issue is Chen's plan for a public referendum next year on Taiwan seeking entry to the United Nations. Beijing views the referendum as a direct challenge to its claim that Taiwan is part of China.
No one expects war anytime soon, but Chen's move worries U.S. officials enough that they have publicly criticized it. The United States is wary of getting dragged into a scrap between a democratic friend and its giant neighbor across the Taiwan Straits. Chen's initiative is a "mistake," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said last month. Seeming to support China's view, he said the referendum would be "a step towards ... a declaration of independence of Taiwan," and urged Taiwanese authorities to "behave in a responsible manner."
China hardly wants war either. That would cast a giant shadow over its economic leap forward and next summer's Beijing Olympics. But ignoring Chen would give new impetus to Taiwanese independencea prospect Beijing abhors.
The controversy boils down to a name.
Taiwan has applied for U.N. membership beforemore than a dozen times since it was expelled from the world body in 1971 when the China seat was transferred to Beijing. But except for a failed attempt this year, it always did so under its official namethe Republic of China.
That's what Gen. Chiang Kai-shek called the island when he and his Nationalist forces fled there in 1949 as Mao Zedong's Communists took control of China. Mao and Chiang hated each other, but they agreed on one thing: There could only be one China. Chiang was no less vehement than the Communists in resisting any notion of an independent Taiwan. Many of those who laid the groundwork for Chen's Democratic Progressive Party once served in prison for advocating independence.
Now Chen wants the electorate's permission to apply for U.N. membership under the name Taiwana crucial difference because it implies a rejection of the "one China" concept. The referendum would ask whether the territory should apply for U.N. membership as "Taiwan." The Mainland Affairs Council, which implements Taiwan's China policies, published a poll in August putting support at more than 70 percent.
Any name would be symbolic. The U.N. Security Council would have to approve Taiwan's membership, and China has a veto.
The "aim is to provoke conflicts from the two sides, cheat Taiwanese people to get more votes and realize plans of Taiwan independence," said Yang Yi, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Yang's reference to votes reflects a widespread Taiwanese perception that Chen, although a longtime supporter of independence, is holding the referendum mainly because he thinks it's a huge vote-getter.
The referendum is expected to take place during elections to choose Chen's successor in March, and it puts the main opposition Nationalist Party in a bindto oppose the measure and lose credibility, or support it and appear to be a DPP clone. For the time being, Nationalist presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou has adopted a middle ground, supporting U.N. membership, but as the Republic of China.
#1
Good lord, it's only Taiwan, not China's manhood or something. Let it go. If China gets their hands on Taiwan it's toast, and that would look bad (as in "I haven't heard much about Hong Kong recently, have you?"). Leave a good thing alone.
#2
It was ok during the Soviet hegemony that the Baltic States and the Ukraine had seats concurrent with Moscow, I see no basis to object to this [other than of course the pure play of power]. While we're at it, throw in Puerto Rico also for a seat.
#4
China has not screwed up Hong Kong too much, especially not economically. GDP is up 25% from 2003 to 2007. I doubt they would screw up Taiwan, either. It seems to me that in the long run Taiwan and HK will do more to undermine the Chicoms than vice versa.
But the electronics world would have to seriously reconsider the amount of semiconductor production taking place on Taiwan if the Chicoms took over. TSMC, UTI, et al falling under communist control would have serious implications for the civilian electronics sector. Would it extend to the military? A lot of stuff is bought off the shelf these days. lotp?
#6
Darth: what, on the theory that Olympic restraint will chill the ChiComs long enough to let the inevitable ground-swell hypernationalist fury pass without help from the official line? Sort of going for two lesser swells - one intrinsic & grassroots at the time of announcement, the other manufactured after the Olympics are over & it's safe to be officially ugly?
That sort of assumes that the Party is rational on the issue of Taiwanese independence, or at least more rational than the 'roiding garden-variety nationalist-in-the-street.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/10/2007 10:46 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The rational response by the Chicoms would be to invade Taiwan and squish it like a bug. Otherwise, every warlord in the empire will be tempted to further remove his satrap from control of the center. Six and a half months should be just about enough time to mobilize the troops and finalize the plan.
#8
Mitch, I would bet that the bad PR would cause many nations to boycott the olympics. That, after the toy and other export PR problems would really make China not look very good as an investment choice.
I would expect China to make nice and then a couple months after the olympics to try to invade.
#9
The rational response by the Chicoms would be to invade Taiwan and squish it like a bug.
Assumming they can. D-Day was a squad short of being a disaster: seven demolition squads failed to blow the wirse barring the narrow exit from Omaha and it was the eight and last who succeeded. But China is not going to enjoy the overwehelming naval and air superiority of the Allies and it would be very embarrassing for the Chicoms if their invasion force became fish food. Embarrassing enough for toppling the Party leader and perhaps regime itself.
#11
Alos there are at least three kinds of people populations in Taiwan: melanesians (ythe original inhabitants), those who came before Japanese occupation and Tchang Kai Check's chinse. The melanesians couldn't care less about China and I am not so sure that the pre-Japan Chinese care so much about it.
#12
I believe China will respond as they usually do. By threatening the people that trade with Taiwan and thus economically shackling them until Taiwan's people just give in.
If I was the PRC I'd make up a Tawianese Indepedence group to blame for the agitating. Make them sound like the Hawaiians that want Hawaiian Kingdom's return (or similar group in Puerto Rico). The world is filled with such groups and would be willing to ignore the lie to avoid prescidents about Freedom. If I was the PRC I'd also call Tawian an Autonomous Area or whatever the term for Hong Kong is as a semi-explanation of why Taiwan has a slightly different political situation. Hell, I'd even consider telling people that Tiawan settled their independence stuff a decade ago when the Security Council Seat changed and force Taiwan to disprove the lie. Tell the people of China how much aid they send into Taiwan and make them look arrogant and unthankful.
Since when is independence something granted by the UN Security Council?
Does some other state control Taiwan? Is there a colonial governor or viceroy running the show there? A foreign organized army of occupation?
Do Taiwanese pay taxes to some other nation?
Taiwan is a far more prosperous and stable nation state than most members of the UN.
It has a democratically elected legislature, a judiciary and an executive. It enforces its own laws, it has an effective military. It has an advanced industrial economy.
Taiwan is not independent because Beijing claims it? The Chinese claim territory of ten of their neighbors. That doesn't make the lands Chinese.
Can China enforce its writ on Taiwanese soil?
One future Taiwanese nuclear weapon aimed at Beijing or Shanghai and all Chinese dreams of conquest evaporate.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/10/2007 19:03 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Watch. Taiwan will declare independence six months before the Olympics.
I predicted this here at Rantburg months ago. Any military action would cause a massive Olympic boycott. This is a classic and well deserved no-win situation for China. Both action or inaction mean a loss of face, something prized beyond all measure in high context Chinese culture. Tainted goods already have China on thin ice, if the dragon starts belching fire it'll plunge right through.
Trust the UN to support communist China on this one. No way does the UN want another prosperous capitalistic democracy on board making the rest of their pissant failed member nations look like the despotic hellholes they already are.
Also, no way in hell do we want China taking over Taiwan. As the world's eighteenth economy, Taiwanwith one fiftieth of China's population nonethelesshas one tenth the GDP of China. The politburo's Mandarins drool in their sleep over dreams of raping this incredible little economic powerhouse. Taiwan represents a technology gold mine that would pull China forward in semiconductor manufacturing by decades. That is an entirely unacceptable prospect for any sane person.
#20
Trust the UN to support communist China on this one. No way does the UN want another prosperous capitalistic democracy on board making the rest of their pissant failed member nations look like the despotic hellholes they already are.
#5
Gay agendists have admitted that codes are used to enable plausible denial, should gays get caught in public sex. The public believes the arresting officer. Craig can't weasel out of this.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
DRUDGEREPORT > article wasn't too impressed by the Dem Candidates' showing at the Latino/Spanish-language Dem POTUS debate in Florida. Dems need a lot of work iff they expect to win the Spanish vote come 2008.
Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, vowed that she would go back to basics and invoke her late fathers name to win her way back into power, in an interview with UK newspaper The Guardians Sunday edition The Observer.
Bhutto said her campaign would be inspired by the old slogan of her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) food, clothing, shelter. Under my leadership, the PPP will bring moderation, democracy and the basics that the nations poorest need, she said. We represent the underprivileged, the peasants, women, young people, the minorities, all those who have been neglected by elite governments.
Bhutto confirmed talks with representatives of President General Pervez Musharraf. Pakistani politics is a rollercoaster ride, Bhutto told The Observer. We were 80 percent there, then negotiations stalled, then we started off again. My return will take place irrespective of the dialogue process.
I am doing this for the Constitution, not for personal benefit, Bhutto said. If the people of Pakistan want me there and want to trust me with the leadership of my country it will be a great honour to accept it, she added. According to the newspaper, Pakistani commentators have not greeted the news of the return of Sharif and Bhutto with any notable enthusiasm.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, vowed that she would go back to basics
Buy arms from the Americans. Check.
Engage in low level warfare against the Hindus. Check.
Blame the Jews. Check.
Government has finally decided to deport Former Prime Minister and Quaid Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia on his return to Pakistan today (Monday). The Plan in this respect has been finalized. Protocol will be given to Former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif when his airplane would be landed at Islamabad International Airport, top-level sources in the Government told Online on Sunday.
On arrival at Airport, Mian Nawaz Sharif Ex-Prime Minister and Mian Shahbaz Sharif Former Chief Minister Punjab will be taken to state Guest lounge where they will rest for sometime and then will be sent back to Saudi Arabia through Special plane.
Some Arab dignitaries will also present on the occasion who were guarantor of the agreement stuck with Nawaz Sharif about his exile for 10 years. Neither Quaid PML-N will be handcuffed nor he will be arrested so that the implementation can be ensured on verdict of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Sources added that the personalities including media men, who are coming alongwith Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, would not be deported to Saudi Arabia. They will be taken out from Airport and be boarded in separate bus.
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in the presence of Saudi Personalities will be told to board another Plan for Jeddah. On arrival at Jeddah, Arab authorities will confiscate the Passport and other traveling documents of both brothers and they will spend their more three years terms of exile in Saudi Arabia according to the agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
The head of PML (N) and former PM, Mian Nawaz Sharif has expressed his deep regrets that government of Pakistan was bent on creating misunderstandings about the real term for his "exile", which was five years as opposed to much propagated 10-year.
Addressing a press conference he expressed his full resolve to land at the Islamabad International Airport along with his brother on 10th Sep, and has castigated the regime for endangering the integrity and honor of the Federation.
He said that under the prevailing socio-political conditions of the Country it was impossible for him to stay out anymore, and scoffed at President Musharraf for "beating about the bush" and refrain from indiscriminate arrests of PML (N) workers and activists.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
RANGOON, Burma - Burma's military junta accused detained prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party of inciting unrest and instigating Buddhist monks to take part in protests over price hikes, state media reported yesterday.
The regime also said that prodemocracy groups outside Burma and foreign media were deliberately spreading false information to destabilize the government, comparing the current situation to mass protests in 1988 when thousands of demonstrators were believed killed by security forces. "Internal and external destructive elements are inciting a period of civil unrest like the one in 1988," the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. "It has been found that foreign broadcasting stations are launching political propaganda and exaggerated news reports on the demonstrations with the intent of misleading the public."
The report comes as Buddhist monks in northern Burma, angry at being beaten for protesting fuel price rises, vandalized a shop belonging to supporters of the military government, witnesses said. The destruction Thursday night in the town of Pakokku came just hours after monks held a group of officials captive at a monastery for several hours before releasing them, also to protest their rough treatment during a march a day earlier.
Wednesday's demonstration was the latest in a string of protests triggered by a 500 percent rise in government-set fuel prices, but one of the first in which the country's monks took part. Civilian supporters of the government kicked and beat the monks and soldiers fired shots into the air, witnesses said.
In a case unrelated to the price protests, six labor activists received prison sentences of up to 28 years for organizing a seminar at a US Embassy center earlier this year, a defense lawyer said yesterday. All six were found guilty Friday of inciting "hatred or contempt" for the government, lawyer Aung Thein said. Some were also convicted of having links to illegal associations and immigration violations.
The six - all in their 20s - had planned to discuss labor rights at the US Embassy's American Center in Rangoon, the country's biggest city, but the plans were canceled after a few participants were arrested. Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min, and Kyaw Win were sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Western District court. Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw were given 20-year sentences.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
PARIS (AFP) - The brain neurons of liberals and conservatives fire differently when confronted with tough choices, suggesting that some political divides may be hard-wired, according a study released Sunday. 
Omans Sultan Qaboos yesterday ordered a government reshuffle that affected a number of technical ministries and split two ministries into two departments, the official ONA news agency reported.
Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, vowed that she would go back to basics and invoke her late fathers name to win her way back into power, in an interview with UK newspaper The Guardians Sunday edition The Observer. 
Government has finally decided to deport Former Prime Minister and Quaid Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia on his return to Pakistan today (Monday). The Plan in this respect has been finalized. Protocol will be given to Former Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif when his airplane would be landed at Islamabad International Airport, top-level sources in the Government told Online on Sunday. 
The head of PML (N) and former PM, Mian Nawaz Sharif has expressed his deep regrets that government of Pakistan was bent on creating misunderstandings about the real term for his "exile", which was five years as opposed to much propagated 10-year. 
RANGOON, Burma - Burma's military junta accused detained prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party of inciting unrest and instigating Buddhist monks to take part in protests over price hikes, state media reported yesterday.
