We are in the middle of an election season and it is so far been nothing but a bust….the only people that have any ideas on the country have left the race….and we are left with a maniacal egotist and a guy with the personality of a nondescript rock…..which leads me to the meat of this post….the dumbing down of America…..
Stephanie Pappas of livescience.com has written piece that gives us three ways that this cycle is for low info voters…..
Brains and bias
Earlier studies have found links between low levels of education and higher levels of prejudice, Hodson said, so studying intelligence seemed a logical next step. The researchers turned to two studies of citizens in the United Kingdom, one that has followed babies since their births in March 1958, and another that did the same for babies born in April 1970. The children in the studies had their intelligence assessed at age 10 or 11; as adults ages 30 or 33, their levels of social conservatism and racism were measured. [Life’s Extremes: Democrat vs. Republican]
In the first study, verbal and nonverbal intelligence was measured using tests that asked people to find similarities and differences between words, shapes and symbols. The second study measured cognitive abilities in four ways, including number recall, shape-drawing tasks, defining words and identifying patterns and similarities among words. Average IQ is set at 100.
Social conservatives were defined as people who agreed with a laundry list of statements such as “Family life suffers if mum is working full-time,” and “Schools should teach children to obey authority.” Attitudes toward other races were captured by measuring agreement with statements such as “I wouldn’t mind working with people from other races.” (These questions measured overt prejudiced attitudes, but most people, no matter how egalitarian, do hold unconscious racial biases; Hodson’s work can’t speak to this “underground” racism.)
As suspected, low intelligence in childhood corresponded with racism in adulthood. But the factor that explained the relationship between these two variables was political: When researchers included social conservatism in the analysis, those ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and bias.
A study of averages
Nonetheless, there is reason to believe that strict right-wing ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the complexity of the world.
“Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer structure and order,” Hodson said, explaining why these beliefs might draw those with low intelligence. “Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice.”
In another study, this one in the United States, Hodson and Busseri compared 254 people with the same amount of education but different levels of ability in abstract reasoning. They found that what applies to racism may also apply to homophobia. People who were poorer at abstract reasoning were more likely to exhibit prejudice against gays. As in the U.K. citizens, a lack of contact with gays and more acceptance of right-wing authoritarianism explained the link. [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]
Simple viewpoints
The researchers controlled for factors such as education and socioeconomic status, making their case stronger, Nosek said. But there are other possible explanations that fit the data. For example, Nosek said, a study of left-wing liberals with stereotypically naïve views like “every kid is a genius in his or her own way,” might find that people who hold these attitudes are also less bright. In other words, it might not be a particular ideology that is linked to stupidity, but extremist views in general.
“My speculation is that it’s not as simple as their model presents it,” Nosek said. “I think that lower cognitive capacity can lead to multiple simple ways to represent the world, and one of those can be embodied in a right-wing ideology where ‘People I don’t know are threats’ and ‘The world is a dangerous place‘. … Another simple way would be to just assume everybody is wonderful.”
Prejudice is of particular interest because understanding the roots of racism and bias could help eliminate them, Hodson said. For example, he said, many anti-prejudice programs encourage participants to see things from another group’s point of view. That mental exercise may be too taxing for people of low IQ.
“There may be cognitive limits in the ability to take the perspective of others, particularly foreigners,” Hodson said. “Much of the present research literature suggests that our prejudices are primarily emotional in origin rather than cognitive. These two pieces of information suggest that it might be particularly fruitful for researchers to consider strategies to change feelings toward outgroups,” rather than thoughts.
Although this is NOT by any means conclusive….it still points to the possibility…..and after a long look to a state with a very bad educational record….it is more accurate than not…..
This is so much bull shit, Lobotoro.
Nonetheless, there is reason to believe that strict right-wing ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the complexity of the world.
The author supposes the world is so complex that traditional views of morality are irrelevant. The premise is unsupported.
Abortion is a perfect example of a supposedly “complex social issue.” If someone responds that abortion is wrong, it’s because they’re unable to appreciate the “complexities of the situation.” Is the prejudice of the author considered? No. It’s the default position and the willingness of the respondent to accept it is that which is measured. It’s absurd.
Leftists want people to accept that situational circumstances, which may or may not be complex, make abortion a complex issue. Does the complexity of any situation, under our laws, warrant the taking of an innocent life? No.
And then this talk of racism. How are they defining racism, Lob?
It is said that Pat Buchanan is racist because he bemoans the decline of white America. Is is really racist for a white American to lament the decline of his own people? I would prefer my son and daughter grow up to marry people of Irish descent, because that is my heritage and I would like it to continue with few interruptions. Am I a racist? To the Left, yes.
Preferring to work among people of your race is prejudice? Nonsense. Blacks, Mexicans, Asians, and Caucasians have distinct cultures that others may find uncomfortable being around simply because they’re not accustomed to it. This is not racism; this is human nature.
I don’t have a problem with homosexuals. I generally support or else don’t care about Same-Sex Marriage, but some of those “gay myths” they claim to debunk are, in fact, upheld in other studies. For instance, there are studies which show homosexuals have higher rates of mental illness, even in cultures where homosexuality is widely accepted. I’ve also read studies that homosexual relationships are more likely to fall apart due to infidelity. Research has also shown that there exists no family unit as beneficial to child development as the traditional family unit. The Left dismisses those studies, however, as “bias,” yet never bothers to elaborate. But I have shown that studies espousing a leftwing point of view, like those from the Guttmacher Institute, can be extremely biased. I actually read the studies and then pick them apart. I don’t just say, “Guttmacher’s biased!”
People cannot have intelligent, rational public debates on these issues for fear they’ll be sacrificed on the Altar of Political Correctness. And LiveScience has the gall to suggest that conservatives are narrow minded? Please.
I wish you could come down here and then make your arguments…..hatred for the president has NOTHING to do with his policies……and your re right about abortion…..there will NEVER be a logical discussion when both sides detest the other for what they believe….and again you need to come South and then we can make a logical argument….not seeing it first hand and I am NOT talking about reporting from one side or the other, just talking with people sitting around a table having coffee….and you would able to grasp what they are talking about…..I am not saying that they are completely right but they are not completely wrong, at least from my personal observations….
You and i have debated many things but this one we could only debate if we talk with the same people at the same time…..
Terrance, I apologize for the shortness of my reply but i was on the phone with a friend in Syria in between typing
I say that this is somewhat true because of my dealings with people almost everyday…..for instance….
http://lobotero.com/2010/11/05/blue-dog-bites-the-dust/
And then I was at the polling place last primary and was talking with people after they had voted….my question was…Why do you dislike Obama? The most popular response was Obamacare….then I asked what part of the law do you dislike? Most popular answer was it came from a Democrat……I even had woman tell me that …just because….
And i live in a more progressive part of the state……so imagine the small towns that still live in 1955….at least my father, a 91 year old vet dislikes Obama because he is black….
education is not that important in this state and it shows….so there is some validity to the study…but I will admit that it is biased in several spots…..
Dumbing things down makes it easier to understand 🙂
Exactly that is why bumper stickers are used instead of policy ideas….
Critical thinking or the absence of it is what seems to be at issue here. Zealots on any issue are often blinded to anything that would alter an attitude that justifies hating someone who they disagree with on any issue. When someone who watches or reads those programs and sites that are often bellicose and heavily slanted in one direction, critical thinking is not a factor.
The reason the GOP is able to control its voters more easily than Democrats suggest that their simplistic messages do offer what Hodson called “structure and order”. Critical thinking requires time and an analytical approach and the efforts and results of this is often a failure to put things in simple black and white terms.
Larry, we can thank Newt for most of this…..his idea back in ’94 was to brand Dems and that seems to have made the control a lot easier….