Here’s some neuroscience knowledge. If a part of the brain is overstimulated and requires too many resources, it actually gets expanded to the detriment of other parts of the brain. The inverse is also true, if a part isn’t used other parts become more dominant. As seen when the brains of blind and deaf people were studied, it was found that the brain actually rewired itself to improve the still working parts.
It’s simply your brain being efficient with it’s resources. That means the amygdala of conservatives is so overstimulated that it leeches resources away from the rest of the brain.
They can also often be some of the kindest people as well, at least individually even if not from a societal standpoint. It’s strange to think about, I know!
They just think different - accepting argument by authority more readily than using skeptical thought to personally analyze all input. And in that sense, they share a lot more in common with liberals than the latter group is comfortable admitting… Most thinkers are liberals but the converse is not true.
Also, everything changes - this Alt Right (or whatever term has replaced it now) is nothing like the Tea Party brand of fiscal and social conservatism that it replaced, which itself was very different than the old-school conservatism, like George W. Bush was a freaking progressive, who wanted to fund education and feed the homeless (and despite the ineptness of their implementation, he did end up doing both!) (And on and on it goes, further back, e.g. Lincoln freed the slaves - what will Republicans be ten years from now, I wonder? At some point, the two sides will switch again, it’s the nature of the game.)
It’s so easy to simply blame the other side for being inept, but even if true, it does not absolve us from not accomplishing anything ourselves. e.g. abortion is now up to each state to decide, so an excellent time to pass laws protecting it in each state… before conservatives find a way to do the opposite?
Boris Johnson, Bolsonaro - it’s happening all over the world. Russia is funding both sides along carefully-chosen division lines, in an effort to accomplish…well…exactly what is happening: the two sides turning from what used to be a united nation (USA post-9/11 was a high point for us, across the pond from Europe:-D) into a heavily divided one. Putin is laughing and hoping for a national divorce between those sides, which he actually might get (Brexit was bad enough but in USA it might take the form of an actual, irl civil war… which is mostly happening already in the cold sense, i.e. almost total dysfunction of the entire legislative branch and fairly close to it in judicial as well), but either way it has us all heavily distracted while he makes his gains, e.g. in Crimea, which he tried to extend further into Ukraine though absolutely failed miserably:-P. At least in the military sense, though sadly, the misinformation game he seems more like he is winning:-(.
If our nation were a human body, I would say that we are under attack, and our immune system isn’t properly fighting off the invader but instead joining with it - so like AIDS I guess? But nobody knows what to do about it.:-( At least I feel more comfortable whining about it here where there aren’t as many Redi-trolls underfoot:-).
Alternative take, conservatives are stupid, panicky, irrational animals lashing out in fear at anything unfamiliar or that they don’t understand
Here’s some neuroscience knowledge. If a part of the brain is overstimulated and requires too many resources, it actually gets expanded to the detriment of other parts of the brain. The inverse is also true, if a part isn’t used other parts become more dominant. As seen when the brains of blind and deaf people were studied, it was found that the brain actually rewired itself to improve the still working parts.
It’s simply your brain being efficient with it’s resources. That means the amygdala of conservatives is so overstimulated that it leeches resources away from the rest of the brain.
Or to put it more succinctly “Fear is the mind-killer”
Scaredy cats!
Often, but remember to punch up, not down.
They can also often be some of the kindest people as well, at least individually even if not from a societal standpoint. It’s strange to think about, I know!
They just think different - accepting argument by authority more readily than using skeptical thought to personally analyze all input. And in that sense, they share a lot more in common with liberals than the latter group is comfortable admitting… Most thinkers are liberals but the converse is not true.
Also, everything changes - this Alt Right (or whatever term has replaced it now) is nothing like the Tea Party brand of fiscal and social conservatism that it replaced, which itself was very different than the old-school conservatism, like George W. Bush was a freaking progressive, who wanted to fund education and feed the homeless (and despite the ineptness of their implementation, he did end up doing both!) (And on and on it goes, further back, e.g. Lincoln freed the slaves - what will Republicans be ten years from now, I wonder? At some point, the two sides will switch again, it’s the nature of the game.)
It’s so easy to simply blame the other side for being inept, but even if true, it does not absolve us from not accomplishing anything ourselves. e.g. abortion is now up to each state to decide, so an excellent time to pass laws protecting it in each state… before conservatives find a way to do the opposite?
Capturing the whole America conundrum in mere sentences when looked at from a European point of view
Boris Johnson, Bolsonaro - it’s happening all over the world. Russia is funding both sides along carefully-chosen division lines, in an effort to accomplish…well…exactly what is happening: the two sides turning from what used to be a united nation (USA post-9/11 was a high point for us, across the pond from Europe:-D) into a heavily divided one. Putin is laughing and hoping for a national divorce between those sides, which he actually might get (Brexit was bad enough but in USA it might take the form of an actual, irl civil war… which is mostly happening already in the cold sense, i.e. almost total dysfunction of the entire legislative branch and fairly close to it in judicial as well), but either way it has us all heavily distracted while he makes his gains, e.g. in Crimea, which he tried to extend further into Ukraine though absolutely failed miserably:-P. At least in the military sense, though sadly, the misinformation game he seems more like he is winning:-(.
If our nation were a human body, I would say that we are under attack, and our immune system isn’t properly fighting off the invader but instead joining with it - so like AIDS I guess? But nobody knows what to do about it.:-( At least I feel more comfortable whining about it here where there aren’t as many Redi-trolls underfoot:-).