[ohanian]

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.


[web]http://www.abc.com.au/news/stories/2007/09/10/2028113.htm[/web]

[SinisterBlueCat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')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.

[jasonraymondson]

What about people who don't fit into either bracket.

Our country is so brainwashed into this left vs right mentality.

It seem that there can only be two choices

Liberal / Conservative
0 / 1
Left / right
crunchy / creamy
good / evil

[jboogy]

No shit , stop the fargin' presses! In other words conservatives /repugnantcans are less evolved than liberals ? I concur professor Duh! ( I'm not refering to you as professor Duh , ohanian, good find BTW)

[Last_Laff]

We're all in the same flesh and yet we're different.

[Bas]

I doubt that things are as simple as this, more probably factors like nurture, the political environment you reside in have a much bigger impact than genetics in this regard. But I guess making things more complex would be a very "liberal" thing to do of me).

what about "flip flopping" though? I like to be able to change my mind on political topics as much as on other things, after having thought about it or having been confronted with new evidence; I guess "conservatives" would make good accountants.

[jboogy]

All else being equal I think you would find "liberals" have a higher average intelligence , I have observed this countless times first-hand . I believe in most instances your "smart" repugnantcan is really something else first and foremost . Your smart redneck is really an overt racist , hence a repub. Your smart christian is really a militant fundamentalist , ditto a repub. Your smart atheist , business man is really just very greedy , yup! repub again(damn welfare moms sucking up my taxes),An intelligent gun nut is just that , a gun nut -guns matter most so he's a repub everything else be damned. If you find a repugnantcan that doesn't have a particular cross to bear they're usually not too bright , they're just being what their dad told em' they should be. An honest conservative can be just as smart as anyone , a lot of conservatives just want to go back to a simpler time and a simpler way of life , true conservatives have mostly renounced the current repugnantcan , neo-con clusterf*ck .

[Carlhole]

The Conservative/Liberal thing has been going on for centuries in multiple countries.

Conservatives are usually in favor of maintaining the status quo and ensuring the continued strength of whatever power is currently keeping the society's tendency to fly apart in check.

Thus, the first Conservatives were Royalists.

When South America, for example, went through it's Independence throes, it's educated elites divided themselves into Conservatives and Liberals. The Conservatives saw that only a strong central authority cold govern over the masses of uneducated Indians and former slaves.

The Liberals were looking toward to open market philosophies of Great Britain and were looking to educate and emancipate the masses.

In our own country, Liberals were responsible for creating our relatively free market economy, our constitutional balance of powers and our institutionalized system of human rights.

Progressive things like free markets, the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, the separation of Church and State, etc. were all originally Liberal causes that were contested by Conservative forces.

It's basically the argument between those who seek change and those who value and want to shore up tradition.

As for genetic proclivity, there is probably some gene complex that influences how an individual responds to authority. Some of us are much more likely to question authority and be distrustful of it. Those people are more likely to be Liberal and open to societal change. Others are more likely to see authority as a stabilizing and valuable force and wish to see it upheld because they see societal change as destabilizing and degenerative.

I'm always reminded of George W. Bush's pronouncement several years ago when he said: "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists". Such a statement divides people along this fault line of trust vs distrust of authority.

[SinisterBlueCat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', ' ')I guess this all leaves my genes one twisted mess?

[Plantagenet]

So when a conservative becomes a liberal...like Arianna Huffington

or

A liberal becomes a conservative....like Dr. Jeanne Kirkpatrick

Do their brains change physiologically in response to their changing politics, or did the brains change first and then the politics altered in response to their changed physiological state?

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'A')ll else being equal I think you would find "liberals" have a higher average intelligence

[jboogy]

PlantainG wrote;
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')any studies have shown that "conservatives", on average, have higher incomes and attain higher educational levels then "liberals."

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', '[')b]
So you equate inner city democratic voters with liberals ?

[jboogy]

So your contention is , inner city blacks are stupid ,inner city blacks vote democratic , so liberals are stupider than conservatives on average ? That's quite a stretch your making there Plantain , but ok , I realize Repugnantcans have to go to extremes to rationalize their prejudice on occassion. How do you reconcile the fact a preponderance of professors and teachers at the most prestigious universities are liberal or at least democratic leaning?Using your rationale of educational achievement equals intelligence then this kinda throws a monkey wrench in the works , don't it? I'd still like to see these studies you refer to linked somehow ,you say "many" studies , they're not a product of the heritage foundation , or god forbid the: Rush Limbaugh advanced studies of ethnic persons while completely ripped on pharmaceutical heroin college . Are they? And please respond to my question . Do you judge a man solely or mostly by the size of his bank account?

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'S')o your contention is , inner city blacks are stupid ,inner city blacks vote democratic , so liberals are stupider than conservatives on average ?