Is this question and answer to much ? Who is more hung up on their own dogma, the left or right ?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmM458jZvYUUHUsdYFTF5OTsy6IX?qid=20060922092732AA6W1QI

I reposted a response from another member ...from a question that we both answered... I was so struck by his response that I re-posted it.
Now I am typically very Liberal in my thinking but am a quasi conservative in regards to government spending, smaller federal bureaucracy, "No Gun control" etc.. I am a moderate basically ..which really is a sensible mixture, but aside form the left and right name calling that we all seem to love so much on here.. Both my radical friends from the left and my Fascist enemies from the extreme right ..misread, didn't read, or read and decided to just go off anyway about this post which begs another question..


Does anyone really care on here is this just a big ego match ?

Answer 1

Polarization is for imbeciles. The pendulum swings 360 degrees, and this site has become famous for 1-dimensional rhetoric. If we have a crisis, it isn't left vs. right, its reason vs, emotion.
If you want to see where it all leads, take a look at the "Arab Street". That's a sharp bunch!

It is getting harder and harder to find a well-formed thought, expressed in clear terms, absent of huge syntax and grammatical errors. Anyone who doubts the theory of de-evolution merely has to study the decline of the American political debate over the last century.

Maybe we are destined to become intellectual slobs, and simply run through life shouting down those who disagree. That's fine, as long as it lasts. However, our social fabric is too complex to survive this dumbing down. We are headed towards the consequences of our stupidity at lightning pace, and the voices of reason are lost in the din.

Like the dim-witted electrician that fell asleep during the safety section of the 440 volt class, we are in for a big shock!

Answer 2

I care....

But it is a big ego match... and a playground.

The biggest issue with Yahoo are the children that insert themselves into discussions that they fail to contribute one iota of useful input.

I don't have a problem with someone of the opposite idealogy. I enjoy having discussions with them. I do have a problem with a bunch of idiotic responses from immature imbeciles who are damaging the image of the one thing I find important on these boards, my country. I am positive I am not alone in feeling this way.

We have hundreds of different countries and cultures represented here. The impression we leave with people of various cultures, religions and idealogies is very important.

Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all Americans are boastful. Not all Europeans are snobs. I could go on and on.


And to answer your question... "Who is more hung up on their own dogma, the left or right ?" Only someone from the left would use the word dogma. ;) I would say the left. It seems like the left base their "dogma" on feelings rather than logic. The right feels they can't afford to base their "dogma" on feelings. Their feelings won't pay the bills.

Answer 3

The right is more hung-up on its own dogma, especially with the President being so unpopular and the possibility of the Republicans losing their majority in Congress. One of the best examples I can use to back this up is Sean Hannity. I've seen enough of his latest performances to know that when Democratic strategists or people who disagree with Republicans in general, actually have the courage to take Sean to task, he always goes back to the same talking points:

*Cut & Run!
*Tax Cuts!
*No NSA program!
*No Patriot Act!
*No banktapping!
*Wave the white flag!
*Democrats are weak on national security and they're hurting the war effort by undermining our President and our troops!

It doesn't matter if the guest is Bob Beckel, Arianna Huffington, political cartoonist Ted Rall, or liberal radio host Stephanie Miller. It's like Sean has a tape he plays and replays in his head every night before going on the air.

Answer 4

Both sides are compulsively hung-up on their respective dogmas. The only people, in my opinion, that are not completely myopic, are the moderates.

As far as people in this forum caring? I think there are a few posters that just like to stir the pot, create controversy...it's their schtick. I think a lot of the posters just like to use this forum as a soapbox, and don't really care about anything but their own pov.

Answer 5

hardartsystems
Maybe this will give you something to use in thinking about the different answers.

"Don't Confuse Me With the Facts

I remember on numerous occasions I would try to convince my Less-Than-Sainted Dad about a particular subject. He would simply answer, "Don't confuse me with the facts. My mind is already made up."

It seems that researchers at Emory University did a study and found that Democrats and Republicans are also adept at ignoring facts. I know that will shock some of you. But the interesting part to me is that we actually enjoy ignoring facts. Our pleasure centers in our brain get positive feedback when we ignore certain facts that might contradict cherished beliefs. (The following story is from www.livescience.com, a rather cool web site on science news. The actual story is at http://www.livescience.com/othernews/060124_political_decisions.html)

"Researchers asked staunch party members from both sides to evaluate information that threatened their preferred candidate prior to the 2004 Presidential election. The subjects' brains were monitored while they pondered.

"'We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning,' said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. 'What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and circuits known to be involved in resolving conflicts.'

"Test subjects on both sides reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted... 'None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged,' Westen said.

And here is the rather amazing part. "Essentially, it appears as if partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until they get the conclusions they want, and then they get massively reinforced for it, with the elimination of negative emotional states and activation of positive ones."

We get a positive vibe from ignoring negative information damaging to our strong biases. "Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning."

"The tests involved pairs of statements by the candidates, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, that clearly contradicted each other. The test subjects were asked to consider and rate the discrepancy. Then they were presented with another statement that might explain away the contradiction. The scenario was repeated several times for each candidate.

"The brain imaging revealed a consistent pattern. Both Republicans and Democrats consistently denied obvious contradictions for their own candidate but detected contradictions in the opposing candidate. 'The result is that partisan beliefs are calcified, and the person can learn very little from new data,' Westen said.

In East Texas, back when I was growing up, we had what were called Yellow Dog Democrats. They would only vote for a democrat, even if they put a yellow dog on the ballot. Which shows that things can change over time, as now they are electing republicans even in yellow dog counties. But it was a long time for that change to come. Now, we see some of the opposite patterns. But it is that way all over the world.

That is why you can reliably predict what a "core" vote will be. It is what makes gerrymandering so effective and easy. It is the small group of voters in the middle, whose minds do not get a stimulus from ignoring data where the real political contest is waged. But that study does more than show us about our political problems. It is the human condition. Religion, family, our kids, our favorite weight loss program - we too often come to the table with our biases.

It is only when we are in a crisis of some kind that we seem to look for answers outside our biases.

I keep coming back to psychology time and time again in this weekly letter. It is so important that we understand how our own thought processes can deceive us into acting in ways that are not consistent with good investment practice. Sometimes we believe what we want to believe. If we are confronted with a fact that would not be helpful, we ignore it, explain it away and find some novel new interpretation. Or we look for more facts which favor our position.

Answer 6

I would have to say the left is hung up on their own dogma. They are stuck on "hate Bush" so much, they actually applaud Chavez for his comments at the U.N. They forget that Chavez gave $1,000,000 to Al Qaeda after 9-11 and said he wants to destroy the United States.

Answer 7

I would have to say that the majority of the voices are young people who have not experienced the real world and therefore do not understand what they are saying.

That would explain the volume of inane filth that is spewed back and forth on both sides.

Answer 8

I don't know, I am just trying to pass time in my miserable life until I am able to either die of natural causes or I am blown up by my terrorist government. I guess the real answer here is whatever..

Answer 9

I'm a Libertarian. We just sit back, shake our heads and contemplate the silly and stupid arguments from both sides. Ok, so we're smug. But you have to admit, we never have to take the blame about who got elected.

Answer 10

I think we had this conversation before. I don't think it matters as everyone gets to judge for themselves. Perception is reality in the eyes of the beholder.