What is a libertarian with conservative views? Uh....sorry....not checkmate....see, I can still move this rook and knock (up) off your queen.

Krellin, you would know what to do with the queen if she ordered you to knock up or go down....lol :)).

I sure would, big boy....<wink>

Hehe

Should we take a pole?

Or would you turn up a BO?

More than anything else, this article is indicative of the shoddy reasoning endemic in recent neuroscience thinking. Neurons fire differently in conservatives, and therefore it's genetic? Oh, right, because those neurons haven't been molded by one's life experiences or thought processes at all.

I'm with Semck; conservatives train themselves to be revulsed by anyone who doesn't look, think, and act like them. That's all this is.

I'd believe that, but than again ghug that's how a lot of people work regardless of their political affiliation. So perhaps its just a compulsion in the brain that is meant to be over come?

Conservatives are dirty pig-dogs.....

um... you aren't born conservative or liberal, it is a decision you make OR even deny to Make! maybe the statistics prove these facts- but neurological evidence is far from conclusive- but maybe it is a professionalism thing. I'm an independent but my personal views are this:

if you are a liberal or conservative stop being a bitch because i assure you in some shape or form you are a bitch (i know i am :p). so stop. Stop It! Remember it was Benjamin Franklin who said: "A house divided cannot stand, but a house undivided but full of bitches sucks ass"

direct quote people

krellin answering jamesyanik in caps in 3...2...1...

We've got a Sassacre over hurr

I have to support krellin's paper here. As a liberal, I regularly masturbate to images of mutilated animals, and I see no reason to believe that all other liberals aren't of a like mind.

So the whole point of this study is to prove conservatives are pussies, right?

Your tax dollars at work.

How interesting. Proof that krellin's conservatism is a result of his weak genetic inheritance.

It's proof that "publish or perish" is a real thing in academia, and not much more.

"More than anything else, this article is indicative of the shoddy reasoning endemic in recent neuroscience thinking. Neurons fire differently in conservatives, and therefore it's genetic? Oh, right, because those neurons haven't been molded by one's life experiences or thought processes at all."


Close, semck, you're very much on the right track.

I read the paper, and the authors do not claim anything like what the articles says that they do. The conclusion of this scientific work makes mention of both genetic and formative sources of the neurobiological signal, however, the authors don't actually claim at any point that they are able to differentiate them with this functional MRI technique. In fact they state outright "We have not isolated the distinct roles played by genetics and life history in the development of the brain responses that we measured."

So this article posted is sadly misrepresentative of the results of the actual study. Aren't you guys glad you have a local webdip MRI expert on board to call bullshit? Now, it should be mentioned that krellin's point does still stand: regardless of the nature/nurture contribution, liberals are still insensitive bastards :)

Wow, some of you guys are so anti-academic at times. I'm really glad that you have your B.S. detectors going off - mine did too. But you should keep in mind that in cases like this (when a blog or something cites a peer-reviewed scientific work) 99% of the time it is the blog misrepresenting the results of the study, not the study creating bullshit results.

The vast majority of academic work is of great value. However, there's plenty of nonsense too.

I the author of this blog an email. I'm that badass:



Hello Ms. Brown:

That's a very interesting research study you've cited. However, I feel that the introduction to your article is a bit misleading. You seem to be implying that this peer-reviewed work supports a genetic (nature) foundation for political leaning, when in fact it does nothing of the sort. While the authors do acknowledge both life events and genetics as potential sources of fMRI signal, they clearly state in the discussion section, "We have not isolated the distinct roles played by genetics and life history in the development of the brain responses that we measured."

Nothing about this study suggests that "[political ideology] is likely much more genetic than most people realize," or that there is any sort of genetic political "predisposition." This is not to downplay the genetic role that may exist, but if you are going to make these claims, you should cite an article that actually supports them.

@invictus possibly, but it's far more likely that it's being presented as garbage by a 3rd party than it is to be garbage on its own.

YJ, keep us updated if you get a response. Also, send her a bottle of unpretentious wine for her trouble.

YJ,

Thanks for doing the legwork. You're absolutely right, of course -- a lot of the time, the fault is with the journalist and not the scientist. This is actually why I said "neuroscience thinking" and not "neuroscience work." I was too lazy (unlike you) to find out if it was in the paper or not, but I knew that somebody (journalist or scientist) was doing some crappy thinking about neuroscience.

I wouldn't quite put the proportion as high as you do, though -- sometimes I do go look up the paper, and more than 1% of the time, it was as bad as the article implies it was. Not half, though.

Anyway, good letter.

I'll also add that, unfortunately, the post-facto misuses of scientists' work are not limited to blogs and the press. I've had a little exposure to legal academia, and it's all too common to see legal writers drawing terrible, poorly reasoned results from scientists' work. This is really awful, because sometimes, a generation or two later, this crap can end up in a Supreme Court case if it's not challenged.

"Should we take a pole? "

Ssoren, grab your ankles and I'll give you some pole...

heh heh heh....dance little monkeys...DANCE for your master!

God, it's been so long since I made the silly kiddies shriek. Delightful!

Thanks all for being so predictable. :)

Nobody really danced, krell, but OK. We've missed your... interesting threads.