Slant and Spin

I found this article, that has an obvious slant to it, but I thought I’d give my take.

The studies looked at things like differences between groups’ perception of eye movement, and aversion to threatening noises. Researchers also noted that Democrats had larger anterior cingulate cortexes, which are associated with tolerance to uncertainty, while Republicans had larger right amygdalas, which are associated with sensitivity to fear.

“Everybody seems to basically agree, and these are people that have scientific backgrounds,” Markoff said of the repetition in the studies. “That to me is probably the biggest eye-opener.”

Although Markoff concluded the studies combine to mean that the different groups communicate in different ways, psychiatrist Greg Appelbaum said the studies point toward conservatives’ tendency to avoid something called self-harm, while liberals avoid collective group harm.

Now the slant comes in with the display of the results “tolerance to uncertainty”, and “sensitivity to fear” are pretty loaded statements, but let’s look at them a little closer.

Maybe its just me, but does high tolerance to uncertainty and low fear sound like somebody you might know? That isn’t a loaded question because the person I’m thinking of is ME!

Now not the me that’s sitting here today, but the “clean shaven”, younger me. I didn’t have much for world experience, so I was less hesitant on novel ideas, and like most teens, I assumed bad stuff just happened to other people, so I was generally less cautious. I can think of dozens of risky behaviors I engaged in that could have physically, financially, or socially harmed me permanently. Strangely enough this risk-taking me was also much more “Progressive”, and I’d say “Stupid”.

Fear isn’t a bad thing, fear can be VERY good. Think of how you react when approached by a dog with wide eyes and a wagging tail, vs the same dog with ears pinned back and teeth bared. Sometimes this can be unfounded, I remember recoiling at a friends dog who had a tendency to “Smile” when excited. She’d flip her upper lip back bearing her teeth, while she hopped around and wagged her tail. I learned this behavior and adapted to it, but can you fault me for stepping back from a dog with its teeth exposed?

We can also look at political policies. The “Progressives” want to ban civilian firearms. Now by doing this they eliminate self-defense, which they claim isn’t needed…at the same time they claim that every lawful gun owner is a psychopath just moments away from committing mass murder.

I think this odd reaction ties in well with this profile. I want to refrain from the loaded term of “Fear”, but let’s turn it to “caution”. They don’t feel the same level of caution others may on their day-to-day. They seem upset that I might carry a gun, but have zero concern for the cars speeding past them as they walk on the sidewalk. Hell they might even drop a dollar into the hat of a hobo laying on the sidewalk with no though on how and why that person may have come to such a dire predicament.

Meanwhile they ignore the stats and information about defensive gun use, and lower crime rates in areas with liberal gun ownership, because others have told them the new laws will make things “Better”.

The same can be said about people’s tolerance for the TSA. They don’t feel caution about giving up rights to a bunch of poorly-trained strangers, often will ill intent, because they trust that they are being made safer.

Or the people who seem to always want to implement national socialism, even tho countless regimes have become the biggest mass-murderers in history. “This time we’ll do it right!” seems to be the call of a person with an unhealthy level of cation, and an unhealthy tolerance of an uncertain end.

I could go on and on. I’ll close with a joke I recently heard. A comedian was noting that his Mom used the “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” Cliche. The comedian noted that he probably would, because he trusts and loves his friends, and wouldn’t associate with them if they did dumb things for no reason. He mentioned that maybe the bridge was on fire. I personally thought of jumping off bridges into rivers in Maine with friends. I saw my friends jump, after they told me it was safe, and I saw them swim away happy, so while there is some risk, its a calculated one.

Also the thrill of jumping long distances into dark water isn’t much if you don’t still have some fear.

I’ll finish with a note that this is all the rules of averages, and covers a vast N-value, meaning different education and knowledge levels.

My wife is quite conservative, and seems to become more and more so the older she gets…yet she is 100% without a right amygdala.

She’s like the way she is because she’s both logical and intelligent. She’s also a very cautious person, not excited about doing new things without doing her due-diligence. This goes for “Progressive” ideas, as well as some of my more radical Libertarian ones. I can’t say I fault her for that.

Can you?