Spiders, Maggots, Politics

We're talking about pictures, right? Is it possible that liberals don't get overly worked up over two-dimensional dangers? Maybe liberals are more curious, and more willing to explore. Maybe they are less bothered by novelty because the fact that something is new or different (like The Gays) isn't automatically dangerous to them. Liberals are criticized for giving long, wonky answers where others use zippy lines ("Let's just look under the hood and fix this thing!" -- Ross Perot). But maybe it's because their ideas actually are more thoughtful and nuanced.

We're talking about PICTURES here, right? Is it possible that conservatives don't get the whole 2-dimensional part of that?

Maybe liberals are naturally more curious and more open to explore things that have the POTENTIAL to be dangerous, but aren't ACTUALLY dangerous right this minute. Maybe that's why some liberals are accused of being "wonky" when their explanations are lengthy and nuanced.

I heard this on the radio this morning - what a bunch of malarky.

New research suggests that ethical decisions are best made with emotional input. These emotions stem from deep seated values that may be aquired environmentally, so the other possiblity here is that it biology might not be the crucial element here. Prior research suggests liberals and concervatives are not any more or less characteristically rational.

The other possibility is that biological hard wiring may not be at play here. New research suggests ethical decisions might often made based on emotional information which originates in deep seated values. Our "gut reactions" to situations are emotional in nature. Values themselves may be a function more of environment than genetics.

I tend think these reactions are more culturally wired than innately biological. Perceived threat of spiders and other "scary things" may be influenced by education. I take a look at my parents who have completely different political views than I do--how could that be biological? In this case, I think it has everything to do with the culture, location, and education we had when growing up which were all very different. I believe in biologically driven reactions to the environment whole-heartedly. But I think culture also influences these reactions and in turn our biology.

I tend think these reactions are more culturally wired than innately biological. Perceived threat of spiders and other "scary things" may be influenced by education. I take a look at my parents who have completely different political views than I do--how could that be biological? In this case, I think it has everything to do with the culture, location, and education we had when growing up which were all very different. I believe in biologically driven reactions to the environment whole-heartedly. But I think culture also influences these reactions and in turn our biology.

So what hes saying is that the right is operating out of manipulation of irrational fears and the left operates out an ability to distance themselves from their animal instincts and use their brains. We already knew that.

Your elitism isn't showing, but your high-school advanced placement English class is.

Anyone else reminded of Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave'?
(or is my elitism showing?)

A scientific study with a whopping 46 test subjects, all from the Mid West, and almost entirely caucasian.
I am in shock and awe that this amazing finding was not published in Scientific America or the New England Journal of Medicine as a front page article.

Who knew that all people have the same type of physical skin response to images that that draw an emotional reaction.

Who knew that Liberals are really unemotional drones who don't care about the suffering and poor people in the world. and that they are all just "faking it!" Our government needs to enact legislation to ban Soma immediatly!

Next time I pick a fight, it will be with a Liberal, because now I know that if I punch him in the face, he won't fight back.

The next time I attend an anti-gay rally, you will notice me by my big banner saying "Go Away You Dirty SPIDERS!" and at my next anti-abortion rally I will carry a banner saying, "Stop the maggot filled wombs!"

I'd like to point out that phobias (irrational fear of something) are actually a form of mental illness. By subjective reasoning then, saying that liberals don't properly identify threats (not being afraid of) means they are mentally healthier than conservatives who would essentially then be prone to mental illness.

Not only does the study need to include larger sample groups, it also needs to consider people who are not political advocates (people neither left nor right) the middle ground types of people so to speak. Otherwise the entire study is pointless and irrelevant and little more than propaganda.

A rather more important problem is the media frenzy to release half-assed and spindoctored reports and the psychological problems invovled with those. But you won't see that because the big wigs at the media groups don't like to have thier stupidities shown to them.

The images used in the experiment are interesting to me, "a large spider on someone's face, a bloodied person and maggot-filled wound" because having a measurable physical reaction to all of these threats implies empathy toward the person in the photos. Don't we tend to stereotype liberals as more empathetic?

The pictures weren't just scary images of a spider on a table or a bloody knife or maggots on a steak. They were all images of human beings in physical danger. I wonder if conservatives would have reacted as strongly without that element.

I agree with many of the other commentators here, perhaps what is best demostrated by this experiment is the ability of some to react to the suggestion of threat rather than a real one. This conveys an evolutionary advantage to those who do not waste their energy and resources reacting to a "false" or unmaterialized threat.

It also displays poor experimental design and real clues into researcher bias. We are SUPPOSED to find spiders threatening and smiling babies calming. It may be that we find the spiders interesting, or realize that most species of spider are harmless. Conversely, not everyone has the stereotypical 'I love cute babies' response, although I personally do find both spiders and babies interesting and beautiful.

It could be there are professional variables not controlled for. A doctor might see wounds as a problem to be dealt with or with a professional interest. Similarly, maggots have been reintroduced by doctors into medical practice for treating certain types of infected wounds as they devour infection but leave healthy tissue untouched. So gross as they might be to some, they can be as helpful as the spider...if one is not a knee jerk reactionary who sees only one possible interpretation of an image.:)

I think this is simply a poorly devised experiment. And drawing conclusions from it is problematic at best.

This is kind of ridiculous, The idea that liberals wouldn't be able to discern a real threat has absolutely NOT been proven by this experiment. If anything has been proven, it is that conservatives are unable to determine real risks from pictures on a screen.

I wouldn't be afraid of a picture of a spider because I'm not an idiot.
I might be afraid of a spider in my physical proximity if I weren't sure it was harmless. My reaction to a Black Widow would differ from my reaction to a Brown Recluse which would differ from my reaction to *duh* a freaking picture.

I would like to point out to the scientists and anyone who reads this. The subjects were shown pictures of threats. If they want to know how people react to actual threats put a real spider in front of the subjects, then put a bunny in front of them. What this study shows is that some people know the difference between a picture of a threat and a real one.

I still don't see how this study proves that biology plays a role. It still seems environmental and how one was raised and where. Additionally, the study assumes that a person finds an image of a bunny (or child, etc.) non-threatening. Perhaps a person has a fear of rabbits. In any case, I don't find the results of the study conclusive of anything really.

I couldn't agree more with the findings. Most conservatives I know bring their emotions into the decision process which clouds their impartiality and logic.