DEMOCRATS THINK, REPUBLICANS FEEL
Can anybody help me? Last evening I was falling into an exhausted sleep with the TV still on and I heard a piece of a news segment that I've been trying to track down. The report was about a scientist who tracked the brain patterns of people when they're receiving information that conflicts with their predetermined political beliefs. Typically, the scientist said, Republicans or conservatives (I can't remember which) are agitated by it, reject the information, refuse to process it, and then their pleasure centers are stimulated and they feel better. Democrats, on the other hand, deal with the information; we weigh it and integrate it into our total store of knowledge upon which we base our opinions.
I remember hearing the guy say just as I drifted off to sleep, "This is good news for Republicans and bad news for Democrats" or something to that effect; in other words, any evidence we bring to the fore isn't going to influence hard-core Republican voters. The opposition just has to get their propaganda and talking points disseminated before the s**t hits the fan -- their voters won't believe the latter if the former's taken root. Democrats, the scientist concluded, THINK, Republicans FEEL.
Who's surprised? But it'd be nice to have it scientifically proven. Sure wish I knew which channel or network put the story on so I could read the transcript and post a link.
Tags: Democrats, Republicans, brain activity
posted by Motherlode at 3:50 PM
5 Comments:
I saw an article on this very subject recently, I think in the Guardian Weekly. I'll check my back issues when I get home from work.
Rob G
I saw it, too, so you're not crazy. I did a little quick looking when I first saw this post, but couldn't lay my hands on it.
Did a little blogger search figuring somebody must've written on it, but "Democrats think" or "Republicans feel" brought back too many responses.
Wait, maybe this?
I don't know anything about this source, politics, reliability, whatever, but it looks to have the entire article you're looking for. And from that you can certainly find some search terms like the researchers names that can put you on a course for a better summary article.
I hope that helps.
Mike
Thanks, Mike!
Thanks, Mike!
That's the article I saw; I think it was in the Toronto Star a couple weeks ago.
Rob G
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