Brain Differences In Liberals and Conservatives

i_like_spam writes "Scientists from NYU and UCLA report in Nature Neuroscience that the brains of Democrats and Republicans process information differently. This new study finds that the differences are apparent even when the brain processes common information, not just political topics. From the study, liberals were more likely to be accurate and showed more brain activity in the region associated with analyzing conflicts. A researcher not affiliated with the study stated, liberals 'could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.' Moreover, 'the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry... as a flip-flopper.'"

This is very good news

[Hal_Porter]

I'm a liberal and I've always had great difficulty convincing Republicans that I'm right and they are wrong. Thankfully this study tells me that it is because I am smart and they are stupid. Since I am white and male, I look forward to further studies proving women and other races are also inferior to me to explain why they are similarly disobedient. Soon, I hope we shall return to the happy days of the 19th Century where science explained why some people the rulers and others are the ruled. Perhaps we could have a rule where Republican votes count for 3/5ths of Democrat votes, like we did with Negros before the Republicans stirred things up. Or perhaps they could be barred from voting completely, like we used to do for women.

I also hope that when the country has universal health care it will be be possible to abort fetuses with these cognitive disabilities, just like we do for babies with other developmental defects.

No, just kidding. This looks like awful science, just like the 19th Century studies that confirmed the experimenter's prejudices that black people and women were inferior.

Hmm...

[poor_boi]

1) Liberals are more likely to smoke pot

2) Pot smokers are more likely to sit around the house

3) People who sit around the house are more likely to play video games

4) People who play video games are more likely to have better hand-eye coordination

5) ???

6) Profit!

Re:Could age be a factor?

[node 3]

Conservatives [made more mistakes] when they saw a W, researchers said.

Ain't that the truth.

Not very liberal minded of you

[OrangeTide]

You assume one way is better than another. How un-liberal of you.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[ErroneousBee]

actually, according to tfa liberals are better thinkers.
imho old persons become conservative just because of decline of cognitive functions due to old age.

No, according to TFA, liberals are faster and more reliable at differentiating between the letter M and the letter W in a timed experiment.

I think we may safely extrapolate, and say that we expect this to be true for all differentiation between objects,
I.e. liberals could tell the difference between:

• a man, a woman, and cop when propositioning someone in the toilets.
• a deer and the vice-president when out shooting.
• a WMD and a big fat nothing.
• having sexual relations, and just mislaying a cigar.

As for going so far as to say conservatives are slow and stupid. Well, there are many chains to be yanked, but saying that would would be neither fair, nor scientific.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[Colin Smith]

this means that liberals actually think about what they do and are more accurate because of it.

No. It means they're better at button pushing.

and this means that conservatives have difficulties to gasp changes and understand new ideas (nothing new here).

No, it means that they find button pushing more interesting and worthwhile of effort.
 

Re:Just In!

[August_zero]

"What about people like me that are a little of each and some of neither?"

Simple, you don't exist, now get out of here and stop invalidating the data!

Re:Is "liberal" an evolutionary survival trait?

[mwvdlee]

The conservative brain is already dead, it's just too inflexible to notice this change.

Re:Just In!

[Fred_A]

How so? Same chromosomes.

Has this been experimentally demonstrated ? Can the two sides actually cross-breed ? Is the offspring sterile ? Can it vote ?

Re:liberals

[smidget2k4]

You sir, have the strangest definition of religion I have ever seen.
Political models != religion.
Economic models != religion.

However, OS choice == religion.

Re:Just In!

[arpad1]

What's to understand?

Socialism is both self-evidently false and a uniform failure where ever and to what ever it's been applied. This troubles socialists not at all and this research suggests that the reason for preferring a political system that's never worked over one that has a chance of working is part of the structure of the brain.

You're not a liberal/socialist/communist/who-gives-a-shit because you're insightful or compassionate, you're a liberal because your brain is wired in such a way as to find some value in what conservatives see as abject failure.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:Could age be a factor?

[condour75]

Yes, clearly if conservatives are failing in our cognitive experiments, it's a result of a cultural bias in the test. It's hardly surprising, after decades of prejudice against conservatives in the sciences, that the tests are designed to protect the current cultural hegemony. Rather than subjecting conservatives to standardized cognitive experimentation, therefore, we should be using holistic methods in the laboratory, and perhaps speaking to them in their own rich linguistic heritage, which I call "elephonics".

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[account_deleted]

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Re:Just In!

[meltpac]

To be perfectly blunt, when you are as obviously self-serving, hypocritical, smug and condescending as the French were (are?), that's sort of the political equivalent of finding a "Kick Me" sign and taping it to your own back.

How ironic, this is exactly what we thought (think?) of the Americans (ie American government).

Re:It's math or mathematics

[halvin]

Actually, it's "maths" because it stands for "Mathematical Anti-Telharsic Harfatum Septomin".

So there.

(Serious answer: mathematics is plural, meaning "the mathematical sciences", so should be shortened to maths.)

Re:Not very liberal minded of you

[Oktober Sunset]

and the conservatives stick to the one they chose first, even if it turns out to be the wrong one.

Dimiss Modern Psychology

[sweatyboatman]

if you dismiss it on this motive alone, you'd have to dismiss half of modern psychology with it.

sounds good to me!

Study proves Liberal more responsive to "W" Bush

[PortHaven]

Come on, they used a "W". To any conservative a "W" is just a letter. To any Liberal, a "W" means "George W. Bush" to which they have an adrenaline rushed response to any mention or sight.

In fact, the study almost proves this fact. For both conservatives and liberals their reactions to the letter "M" were nearly identical. Liberals only excelled in targeting the letter "W".

We pretty much already know that Liberals are very good at targeting George "W".

Bah!

***

This is some of the worst science. Thankfully, it's anti-conservative therefore Slashdot will readily post it in it's slide away from a "science" log to a "politics" log.

Re:Not very liberal minded of you

[genner]

Quoting a Christian Author, how unliberal of you.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[nomadic]

For example. Think before you troll.

He can't, he's a conservative.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[Opportunist]

But it's kinda easy to tell that four year old that it's NOT his: Grab it and slap him.

Now try the same with a 60 year old who has a lawyer and a rifle, and knows how to use both.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[rthille]

No, according to TFA, liberals are faster and more reliable at differentiating between the letter M and the letter W in a timed experiment.

Well, I'd have to say that since seeing "W-2004" with a little flag bumper stickers prior to the 2004 election, liberals [note: I'd describe myself as one] have an immediate, visceral, and very negative reaction to the letter 'W'.

Who knew?

[starnix]

So in other words, Conservatives are more conservative in their thinking and Liberals think more liberally?

What variables did they not correlate?

[Hussman32]

The article said they tested college students that were noted as liberal or conservative. Did they ask if they were

• Sober or stoned
• Straight or gay
• Just got off a 12 hour shift or a living on a trust fund
• Athletically talented or clumsy as hell
• Man or woman

That they call this 'science' makes me want to quit my job and start selling cars...

Can we fix it?

[Urza9814]

So if we know what the difference is between liberals and conservatives...

Does that mean we can finally fix the conservatives?

Re:Could age be a factor?

[NMerriam]

Not all liberals are sexual deviants, bit is true that most sexual deviants are liberals.

That's certainly true, which is why dating conservatives is so boring.

Sure!

[Tony]

Tellysavalliskojak Johnson, of Bartholomew, Illinois. He was born to a crack whore in a squalid apartment on fourth street. (His sister, Imaginemyjoy, also had no opportunity.)

There. I've named two.

Out of millions.

Re:Could age be a factor?

[Rakarra]

I.e. liberals could tell the difference between:

• a man, a woman, and cop when propositioning someone in the toilets.

A cop is neither a man nor a woman? What the hell are they? O_o