Are hyper-conservative tendencies genetically linked to lower intelligence or dishonesty?

[reddread]

judging by our genetic advances we should know quite a bit about people at a deeper level these days.
How would you want to address innate philosophical implacability combined with a misbegotten sense of self interest
so many people seem to demonstrate these days?
What Im trying to ask, is should we be examining people's motives (deeper than they can themselves), and use that
information to adjust political expectations?
Does anyone think these traits can be, or will be detectable from DNA?
or are they all just that damn stupid and hateful by coincidence?

[Bortman33]

1. They don't call them CONservatives, rethugliCONs,

libercarelessians, teabaggers, and cwhorepoRATists for nothing.

[whistler162]

2. Oh Man.... NTSA

You just proved Mark Twain correct!

[cheyanne]

3. I've seen some articlees about studies of different brain types.

They profess to show differences between a "conservative" and a "liberal".

This is okay; there are many brain abilities and functions that can exist in a continuum.

However, we should not say that this one end of the continuum is "better" than another. As humans we need the how-to people as much as the visionaries.

In evolutionary terms, certain characteristics become of more consequence than others at certain times. For example, the continuum from fear to delight in new things.

The "conservative" fear of the new has earned its place in the human brain because it provides a benefit. In the past, human beings having much less knowledge of the physical laws, needed to be cautious about the "new" or "different". This is not an inherently bad thing in all circumstances.

Another caveat is that we should not demonize our opponents - either by calling them evil or dumb.

First of all, all groups of humans are alike: no one group has a monopoly of evil or good. Just as we reject conservatives who call all Muslims "evil", we must make sure that we do not fall into the same fallacy.


So why are conservatives, who are our family, friends and neighbors, hard-working and honest, now espousing view points we consider "evil"?

That is because they are afraid. A natural human reaction when your world view is shattered. These are people who, in their minds and as the republicans told them, had done all the right things: they worked hard, raised their kids, took out mortgages. They were told that this was good, it was patriotic, and that their prosperity was due to their hard work and their faith.

When this world view was shattered by the collapse of the economy and they were faced with possible loss of their pensions and homes and the faith that their kids would have a better life.

Now, when a person's faith in their leaders was shattered, what do they do?

Do they turn to the groups that they had been told had been "unpatriotic", "moochers", who had disagreed with their leaders?

No, they double down.

I think that you know where this is going. They defend their leaders who defend their views and now start demonizing the "other".

Since they are right and it can't be their fault, it can only be a conspiracy that has put their world in this state.

So, no these people are not crazy, dumb, or evil. It will take some time (which, besides reality, is on our side) for them to accept a new world view.

We can certainly try to understand human reactions better, but we should not demonize those different from ourselves. In fact, we need to research fundamentalism and extremist groups so we can ensure that this does not happen again.

[RobertEarl]

5. Indeed, good points, cheyanne

Our society has taught us to trust in the vision of the glorious leaders.

But the hippies were always right.

Now we have a society at a great abyss which our vision has lead us right up to the edge, and people, being not too stupid, and seeing into the abyss, are scared and increasingly in denial.

Bush et al, lied to them from on top the rubble of 9/11, and Katrina. Now they know they can't trust the government can save them or society. Obama gave all of us some hope. So there was at least a momentary step back from the abyss.

But on the edge we are.

[cheyanne]

9. What puzzles me is that we don't try to understand human behavior more instead of just condemning .

those who disagree with us? Where are all the psychologists and anthropologists on DU? They should be the first to provide an understanding of what we are going through. I mean, social catastrophy, extremist groups, conspiracy theories: these are not new or unusual phenomenon.

We talk about progress in everything except human understanding.

I'm glad you brought up the hippies, because they are an example that deserves study. It becomes increasingly clear to a generation that their society's values are racist, sexist, xenophobic, you name it. Their world view was shattered but they tried to create a new inclusive one . . .

I don't know enough history to know how often this happened . . .

Though we may be on the edge, I have hope that this crisis will led to a (do I dare say it) a better world.

[reddread]

12. ignorance is an important aspect of control

thanks for taking the question seriously, the way it was intended.
some head right for the authoritarian end games instead of the socially just plan of attack.
big difference.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. I think we should be extremely wary of assigning a genetic basis to certain traits.

Genetics is a very complex thing, you can't really point to a single bit of the genome and say "this is responsible for this behaviour"; it's the result of the expression of many genes coupled with the influence of culture. There are studies that show some NEUROLOGICAL differences between "conservatives" and "liberals" (different parts of the brain involved in decision making, for instance), but we can't say whether those differences have any genetic basis (and given that conservatism and liberalism are both found in genetically very similar populations there's obviously something more than genetics at play there).

[rrneck]

6. No.

Or do you like the sound of eugenics and political reeducation?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Liberalism is a Mental Disorder

yup, that was the actual tittle of a book by one of our lovely RWNJ. Better be careful of doing the same crap.

If you do not believe me, google the title and savage. I will not give him free hits though.

[xfundy]

8. That book came out after a book proving the opposite.

With a similar title, I think.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. And my point does stand

when we start doing that crap there is a problem... it is called dehumanization.

In the past I have posted extensively about that here.

For the record, what we do have though, is the beginnings of what looks like some political trends are based on a few anatomical structures, and that scares me to no end for other reasons. Conservatives tend to have smaller amygdala, And I think those studies had a relatively small sample

[NuclearDem]

10. Let's not go down this road