Not a Factual Blog Post

Wow, I know I shouldn’t be surpised, but seriously?  John Kyl?  SERIOUSLY?  Citing statistics so grossly inaccurate as if they were true.  A seasoned senator such as you should know better…  or do they?

After all, facts are facts, and although we may quote one to another with a
chuckle the words of the Wise Statesman, “Lies – damned lies – and statistics,”
still there are some easy figures the simplest must understand, and the astutest
cannot wriggle out of.  ~Leonard Courtney, speech, August 1895, New York, “To My
Fellow-Disciples at Saratoga Springs,” printed in The National Review
(London, 1895)

Hmmm, so we had this problem in 1895 as well.  I guess politics leads people down the path of wanting to tell whatever story results in votes.  No surprise there.  What’s surprising is we let them.  In 1895 maybe the media couldn’t fact check so rapidly, nor respond so broadly, but that’s no excuse today.  We catch and respond in less than 24 hours.

In addition, there are facts and there are opinions, but opinions are never facts no matter how factually based.  So let’s call it what it is, saying something not intended to be factual means you lied, intentionally.  This isn’t just some “misinformation” euphemism (to go with many other euphemisms for lying we’ve used over the years) and it was not a mistake, he lied, and got caught.  The question is what will done about it?  Granted I like the Steven Colbert approach, but it isn’t likely to generate change in a meaningful way.

What we need is a system that doesn’t reward lying for votes with re-election.  But that’s up to the “masses” and if history is any teacher, they are being failed by our education system and the uneducated are more likely to believe the lies, making this a tough problem to resolve.  Which came first, the failed education or the lies?

Brain Science of Politics

So this article just got published (as far as I saw), which seems to indicate that there are actual physical differences in the brains of self described liberals and conservatives.  It does seem to agree with my previous posting on bipolar behavior of politcians.

Using data from MRI scans, researchers at the University College London found that self-described liberals have a larger anterior cingulate cortex–a gray matter of the brain associated with understanding complexity. Meanwhile, self-described conservatives are more likely to have a larger amygdala, an almond-shaped area that is associated with fear and anxiety.

Ok, I’ll admit, this seems to fit, and passes the initial “faux science smell test” of fitting the world view of many people.  Liberals get complexity, conservatives are fear mongers.  Ok, so I call shenanigans, precisely because it fits so easily into our preconceived views on these people.  Not included in the study, centrists, socialists, etc. or determination of the other options in the political spectrum and the associated brain structure sizing.  What if I’m a financial conservative but social liberal?  Etc.

The good news is that the researchers know this and have commented on it, but I’m guessing many people will ignore the remaining questions.

While the London study does find distinct differences between Democrats and Republicans, its authors caution that more research needs to be done on the subject. One unknown is whether people are simply born with their political beliefs or if our brains adjust to life experiences–which is a possibility, Kanai writes.

We all knew that these views were different, but posing them as polar opposites coded into the brain seems a bit of a stretch.