Brain study proves something

[packman]

I always suspected.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]


"partisanship “can even undermine our very basic reasoning skills…. [People] who are otherwise very good at math may totally flunk a problem that they would otherwise probably be able to solve, simply because giving the right answer goes against their political beliefs (and their religious beliefs, I believe- my addition).”

In other words, say goodnight to the dream that education, journalism, scientific evidence, media literacy or reason can provide the tools and information that people need in order to make good decisions. It turns out that in the public realm, a lack of information isn’t the real problem. The hurdle is how our minds work, no matter how smart we think we are. We want to believe we’re rational, but reason turns out to be the ex post facto way we rationalize what our emotions already want to believe."


Article points out that no matter how much evidence you can show a person (author uses Weapons of Mass Destruction) or how much data you can show a person (climate change) , once their mind is made up- that's it. Shut the door. Turn off the lights. If you give them facts, proof, evidence they tend to cling to their beliefs even more tenuously.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/17/the_most_depressing_discovery_about_the_brain_ever_partner/

[cheapdate]

1. It's about metaphor, narrative, and framing.

For instance, Ronald Reagan "Raygun" created the "welfare queen" metaphor. This powerful metaphor still shapes how conservatives conceive of public assistance to this very day.

Raygun invented narratives peopled by men in white hats or black hats, damsels in distress, and hapless government bureaucrats.

We don't win with complex, rational arguments. We win how they won. With metaphor, narrative, and framing. With simple pictures of justice and injustice, right and wrong, moral and immoral. Repeat copiously.

[True Blue Door]

2. The study gives a ray of hope.

Positive thoughts made people more amenable to changing their minds.

Maybe the relentless optimism of the best liberal leaders is not so much a personality trait as a political necessity.