from another list, two interesting articles pertaining to recent discussions. btw, the list i got these articles from? they've been discussing how stupid people are. they are tech/geeks and, boy-o, does the conversation make most LBOers look like sweethearts. the typical opinion seems to be that every one on the list, because tech/geek (therefore rational), extremely smart and therefore superior. i'm sure that opinion varies, since not every subbed is speaking up, but wow. no wonder non-techs hate techs. their perception that techs think they are better than everyone else seems to have some gittupingo. ----
"What Makes People Vote Republican?"
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN?
What makes people vote Republican? Why in particular do working class and rural Americans usually vote for pro-business Republicans when their economic interests would seem better served by Democratic policies? We psychologists have been examining the origins of ideology ever since Hitler sent us Germany's best psychologists, and we long ago reported that strict parenting and a variety of personal insecurities work together to turn people against liberalism, diversity, and progress. But now that we can map the brains, genes, and unconscious attitudes of conservatives, we have refined our diagnosis: conservatism is a partially heritable personality trait that predisposes some people to be cognitively inflexible, fond of hierarchy, and inordinately afraid of uncertainty, change, and death. People vote Republican because Republicans offer "moral clarity"a simple vision of good and evil that activates deep seated fears in much of the electorate. Democrats, in contrast, appeal to reason with their long-winded explorations of policy options for a complex world.
Diagnosis is a pleasure. It is a thrill to solve a mystery from scattered clues, and it is empowering to know what makes others tick. In the psychological community, where almost all of us are politically liberal, our diagnosis of conservatism gives us the additional pleasure of shared righteous anger. We can explain how Republicans exploit frames, phrases, and fears to trick Americans into supporting policies (such as the "war on terror" and repeal of the "death tax") that damage the national interest for partisan advantage.
But with pleasure comes seduction, and with righteous pleasure comes seduction wearing a halo. Our diagnosis explains away Republican successes while convincing us and our fellow liberals that we hold the moral high ground. Our diagnosis tells us that we have nothing to learn from other ideologies, and it blinds us to what I think is one of the main reasons that so many Americans voted Republican over the last 30 years: they honestly prefer the Republican vision of a moral order to the one offered by Democrats. To see what Democrats have been missing, it helps to take off the halo, step back for a moment, and think about what morality really is.
(edge.org)
The very premise of the question is pretty amusing, and obviously ironical given the actual article and follow-on discussion. The way it's phrased it sounds like they're talking about a different species of organism in need of scientific investigation.
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt08/haidt08_index.html
"5 Myths About Those Civic-Minded, Deeply Informed Voters" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/05/AR2008090502666_pf.html (washingtonpost.com)
http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)