Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (260708)	9/17/2014 11:38:33 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542054

Research about this topic, biological or psychological predispositions to political positions, is hardly in the same category as evolution or climate change. The work on the sources of political positions is a very long way from settled assertions. Much more in the early stages in which lots of work needs to be done before one can call the results settled enough to approach even within shouting distance of something like evolution or even climate change. I'm actually more than a little surprised at this conversation. It seems possible to me to take the position that your argument is a little better than mine simply because some researchers have thought about it, asked some questions, and published some work. I get that. And if I were interested enough in the topic, as opposed to just interested enough to type with you about it, I would read some of the results. But to give it the status of something like evolution or climate change is more than a bit of over reach. It's more as if the research has strengthened the formal hypotheses one takes to research rather than established conclusive results, at least conclusive in the sense of evolution of even climate change. There may well be something there. Who knows. But the research I've seen posted here is very early stuff. And is not yet ready to go into the text book as one more "scientific" item which runs counter to common sense.

To: epicure who wrote (260708)	9/17/2014 12:18:20 PM
From: koan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542054

<< You realize, the studies don't make either side "good" or "bad". I don't like conservatives, personally- but the studies themselves are fairly neutral about which side is "better". Maybe that will make you more comfortable with them.>> Not sure what studies those are? But I would suggest a better test of liberal versus conservative is simply look at the positions they have taken over the last 100 years, and the votes they have cast, and their general behavior certainly has been judged by history with regard to which side is better. Or just watch any debate between liberals and conservatives. The conservatives can never defend their positions. This plays out almost every week on the Bill Maher show. I am sure you probably agree with most of the above.