Study: Liberal And Conservative Brains Process Information Differently

Los Angeles Times:

Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

Scientists at New York University and UCLA showed through a simple experiment to be reported Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Horus]

12:00 PM on 09/11/2007

Yeah, blacks always are good at the sports, they can always jump high and they are prone to violence...oh wait, we're making generalizations about somebody else right now?

My bad.

[Lemoenus]

01:47 PM on 09/10/2007

Liberals are smart and conservatives are rich. That's why they hate each other!

[demigod]

01:54 PM on 09/10/2007

Liberals actually contemplate the facts, determine if they conflict with previous assumptions, and reconstruct the theory was necessary in the search for truth. It's called the Scientific method. Conservatives simply sniff for Rush Limbaugh's anal scent mark, and scream "Ditto !"

[UncleJimbo]

12:47 PM on 09/10/2007

Just perhaps they have found the cause of Narrow Mindedness in Conservatives?

[Shadow51]

12:29 PM on 09/10/2007

This is so funny! Did anyone catch the M/W thing in their test? Of course liberals aren't going to press the button on "W"! After 6+ years of "W", we've had enough!

So they're saying Conservatives are born that way? This is going to end up like the debate about Gays. Are they born that way or is it a "lifestyle choice"? And now so many Conservatives are turning out to be closet Gays, well...

This is delicious.

[JHD]

11:58 AM on 09/10/2007

Carl Rove figured this all out years ago...

[ClevelandTom]

12:23 PM on 09/10/2007

Bingo.

[Horus]

11:55 AM on 09/10/2007

It's sad, that whole families can be torn apart by something as simple as wild dogs.

[JMark64]

11:49 AM on 09/10/2007

Science seems to be behind what everyday observation has already determined. But it is nice to get confirmation.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

11:29 AM on 09/10/2007

So... conservatives get bored easily with mindnumbingly repetitive tasks? Liberals are able to keep intellectually engaged with boring jobs where they do the same thing 50 times in a row but then some special case pops up, and they can exclaim with child-like glee "a W out of sequence!"?

Sounds like McDonalds worker is the perfect job for the left. They can sling those burgers together while dealing with the occasional "hold the pickles" or "no special sauce", a definite improvement over the teenagers that work there now.

[JohnKemp]

11:17 AM on 09/10/2007

How many times did they let the libs change their selection?

[1will]

11:02 AM on 09/10/2007

Before you guys congratulate yourselves too much bear in mind this is just a BS study done at a Left Wing university. You guys can stand around fluffing each other all you want but that doesn't make you rocket scientists.

[booboouu]

12:00 PM on 09/10/2007

You have to admit, there is a flaw in a line of thinking that requires your own destruction in an effort to promote peace.

[JHD]

12:07 PM on 09/10/2007

How do you know it is a "Left Wing university"? I wonder how many real rocket scientists voted for Bush twice...

[hydenorhare]

10:43 AM on 09/10/2007

Tabasco
"Fact is, Liberals avoid sites like Drudge and Free Republic ..."
posted 09:52 am on 09/10/2007

No shit. I'm sure you do. That's the point.

If you didn't avoid Drudge, you'd notice he's light years more balanced than HuffPo.

What the hell, who needs balance.

cindyw
"Liberals realize that very few issues are black and white, and therefore many diverse opinions are tolerated, which can sometimes be perceived as disorganization. "
posted 10:10 am on 09/10/2007

"Liberals realize that very few issues are black and white,..."
That's called an excuse for inaction.
Where's the gray when a guy says you convert to Islam or we'll kill you?

"many diverse opinions are tolerated ..."
Well that's just pain ridiculous on it's face. You try being a black Conservative.

"...which can sometimes be perceived as disorganization."
It's perceived as having no core beliefs other than their political power. Lacking a foundation of beliefs other than getting elected to tell you what to do.

[1will]

11:01 AM on 09/10/2007

That's the best post on this column.

[primordialsoup]

11:01 AM on 09/10/2007

Everything the cons have posted supports this article. Apparently, you have no problem with its conclusions. Of course, some of your assertions are still b.s.

[happily]

10:41 AM on 09/10/2007

"liberals could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas."

But what if the new ideas that they accept so easily are crappy? That is precisely the problem with liberals.

[MetalCanuck]

10:31 AM on 09/10/2007

I think this could be bullshit. I have conservative views just as much as I have liberal views. I can see through bullshit and I think this report may be one of those times I see though it.

[situationcritical]

10:33 AM on 09/10/2007

You have the liberal side of your brain to thank for that.

[MetalCanuck]

10:48 AM on 09/10/2007

LOL:) Good one I will give you that.

I am socially liberal, I am for gay marriage, no war on drugs, human rights but I am also pro gun rights, small government and I am pro life.

Let me explain if you want..read on.

1. Big government becomes big brother as we are all finding out. The more the government knows about you the worst it is. Believe me, I am Canadian so I know. THEY KNOW EVERYTHING about you...no privacy. Public services are great and are necessary (This is where I disagree with Ron Paul..the only way I disagree)but they should not give the personal info to the government. Only the most necessary info should be kept as well.

2. Unless it can hurt or kill the woman abortion should not even be a consideration BUT I also think the state should have a program if the woman cannot take care of the child then there should be state homes (Publically funded) with care workers to take care of those babies. I just can't bring myself to support abortion. I tried. Even if they are on my side on on other social issues and political issues.

3. Gun rights are needed to keep government in check thats why the founders put it there. I understand the danger of guns but if the government is coming to take you're land, haul you to a FEMA CAMP or to chip you then they are necessary.

[RGKahn]

10:24 AM on 09/10/2007

It has nothing to do with how the brain processes the information. It has everything to do with what we have learned in life, school, from our parents and so forth. What we learned as our core values. Our CORE VALUES determine how we view the world and how we react to that world view. Did we learn to share or are we the "mine, mine generation" Did we learn to help others or are we the me first - screw you generation. Do we believe in the "common good" ? Are we we the "ME Generation" or the "WE Generation"? There is a poster and book that is called, I believe, Everything I learned I learned in Kindergarten" or words to that affect. All of these thing determine how we process information and how we use the results of the processing. In essence its our programming.