Posted on 10/12/2016 12:55:54 PM PDT by grayboots
This article was posted by one of my Facebook friends (soon to be unfriended) and it infuriated me. I want to respond but I am not very eloquent with words. Any help would be appreciated.
A neuroscientist explains what may be wrong with Trump supporters’ brains by Bobby Azarian, Raw Story
There’s no doubt that Donald Trump has said many things that would have been political suicide for any other Republican candidate. And almost every time he made one of these shocking statements, political analysts on both the left and the right predicted that he’d lose supporters because of it. But as we have clearly seen over the past year, they were dead wrong every time. Trump appears to be almost totally bulletproof.
The only thing that might be more perplexing than the psychology of Donald Trump is the psychology of his supporters. In their eyes, The Donald can do no wrong. Even Trump himself seems to be astonished by this phenomenon. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.”
Senator John McCain, who has been a regular target for Trump during his campaign, has a simple explanation for his unwavering support. “What he did was he fired up the crazies.”
While the former Republican presidential nominee may be on to something, he doesn’t exactly provide a very satisfying scientific explanation. So how exactly are Trump loyalists psychologically or neurologically different from everyone else? What is going on in their brains that makes them so blindly devoted?
The Dunning-Kruger Effect: Some believe that many of those who support Donald Trump do so because of ignorance — basically they are under-informed or misinformed about the issues at hand. When Trump tells them that crime is skyrocketing in the United States, or that the economy is the worst it’s ever been, they simply take his word for it.
The seemingly obvious solution would be to try to reach those people through political ads, expert opinions, and logical arguments that educate with facts. Except none of those things seem to be swaying any Trump supporters from his side, despite great efforts to deliver this information to them directly.
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains that the problem isn’t just that they are misinformed; it’s that they are completely unaware that they are misinformed. This creates a double burden.
Studies have shown that people who lack expertise in some area of knowledge often have a cognitive bias that prevents them from realizing that they lack expertise. As psychologist David Dunning puts it in an op-ed for Politico, “The knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task — and if one lacks such knowledge and intelligence, one remains ignorant that one is not good at the task. This includes political judgment.” Essentially, they’re not smart enough to realize they’re dumb.
And if one is under the illusion that they have sufficient or even superior knowledge, then they have no reason to defer to anyone else’s judgment. This helps explain why even nonpartisan experts — like military generals and Independent former Mayor of New York/billionaire CEO Michael Bloomberg — as well as some respected Republican politicians, don’t seem to be able to say anything that can change the minds of loyal Trump followers.
Out of immense frustration, some of us may feel the urge to shake a Trump supporter and say, “Hey! Don’t you realize that he’s an idiot?!” No. They don’t. That may be hard to fathom, but that’s the nature of the Dunning-Kruger effect — one’s ignorance is completely invisible to them.
Hypersensitivity to Threat Science has unequivocally shown that the conservative brain has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening. A classic study in the journal Science found that conservatives have a stronger physiological reaction to startling noises and graphic images compared to liberals. A brain-imaging study published in Current Biology revealed that those who lean right politically tend to have a larger amygdala — a structure that is electrically active during states of fear and anxiety. And a 2014 fMRI study found that it is possible to predict whether someone is a liberal or conservative simply by looking at their brain activity while they view threatening or disgusting images, such as mutilated bodies. Specifically, the brains of self-identified conservatives generated more activity overall in response to the disturbing images.
So how does this help explain the unbridled loyalty of Trump supporters? These brain responses are automatic, and not influenced by logic or reason. As long as Trump continues his fear mongering by constantly portraying Muslims and Mexican immigrants as imminent dangers, many conservative brains will involuntarily light up like light bulbs being controlled by a switch. Fear keeps his followers energized and focused on safety. And when you think you’ve found your protector, you become less concerned with remarks that would normally be seen as highly offensive.
Terror Management Theory A well-supported theory from social psychology, called Terror Management Theory, explains why Trump’s fear mongering is doubly effective.
The theory is based on the fact that humans have a unique awareness of their own mortality. The inevitably of one’s death creates existential terror and anxiety that is always residing below the surface. In order to manage this terror, humans adopt cultural worldviews — like religions, political ideologies, and national identities — that act as a buffer by instilling life with meaning and value.
Terror Management Theory predicts that when people are reminded of their own mortality, which happens with fear mongering, they will more strongly defend those who share their worldviews and national or ethnic identity, and act out more aggressively towards those who do not. Hundreds of studies have confirmed this hypothesis, and some have specifically shown that triggering thoughts of death tends to shift people towards the right.
Not only do death reminders increase nationalism, they influence actual voting habits in favor of more conservative presidential candidates. And more disturbingly, in a study with American students, scientists found that making mortality salient increased support for extreme military interventions by American forces that could kill thousands of civilians overseas. Interestingly, the effect was present only in conservatives, which can likely be attributed to their heightened fear response.
By constantly emphasizing existential threat, Trump creates a psychological condition that makes the brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric. Liberals and Independents who have been puzzled over why Trump hasn’t lost supporters after such highly offensive comments need look no further than Terror Management Theory.
High Attentional Engagement According to a recent study that monitored brain activity while participants watched 40 minutes of political ads and debate clips from the presidential candidates, Donald Trump is unique in his ability to keep the brain engaged. While Hillary Clinton could only hold attention for so long, Trump kept both attention and emotional arousal high throughout the viewing session. This pattern of activity was seen even when Trump made remarks that individuals didn’t necessarily agree with. His showmanship and simple messages clearly resonate at a visceral level.
Essentially, the loyalty of Trump supporters may in part be explained by America’s addiction with entertainment and reality TV. To some, it doesn’t matter what Trump actually says because he’s so amusing to watch. With Donald, you are always left wondering what outrageous thing he is going to say or do next. He keeps us on the edge of our seat, and for that reason, some Trump supporters will forgive anything he says. They are happy as long as they are kept entertained.
Of course these explanations do not apply to all Trump supporters. In fact, some are likely intelligent people who know better, but are supporting Trump to be rebellious or to introduce chaos into the system. They may have such distaste for the establishment and Hillary Clinton that their vote for Trump is a symbolic middle finger directed at Washington.
So what can we do to potentially change the minds of Trump loyalists before voting day in November? As a cognitive neuroscientist, it grieves me to say that there may be nothing we can do. The overwhelming majority of these people may be beyond reach, at least in the short term. The best we can do is to motivate everyone else to get out to the booths and check the box that doesn’t belong to a narcissistic nationalist who has the potential to damage the nation beyond repair.
Bobby Azarian is a neuroscientist affiliated with George Mason University and a science writer. His research has been published in journals such as Cognition & Emotion and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, and he has written for The New York Times, Scientific American, Psychology Today, Slate, The Daily Beast, and The Huffington Post. He also runs the website Science Is Sexy. Follow him @BobbyAzarian. http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/a-neuroscientist-explains-what-may-be-wrong-with-trump-supporters-brains/
azarian is a crazy leftist, and there is no reasoning with crazy.
Tell your fartbook friend that he's a dickless lowlife anti-American muslim loving TRAITOR. Ask him, 'haven't you Obama voters done enough damage to this country?'
This should be the Deplorables new manifesto. A thing of beauty:
A moral duty to insult liberals The way I see the last several decades, whenever the Stupid Party wastes effort on class, dignity, and manners, the Evil Party rams it right up their hineys.
There are things that are so bad that one has a moral duty to say terrible things about them at every opportunity. Liberalism is one of those things. That duty is more important than class, dignity, or manners.
It is long past time for decent people to wake up and realize that when dealing with scumbags, civility is nothing but a self-imposed handicap.
After a hundred million innocent dead in the twentieth century, no liberal is entitled to the slightest consideration, courtesy, or civility. Liberals should be reviled, abominated, spat upon, even beaten, whenever they have the gall to show their faces in the presence of decent people.
We act wrongly when we pretend that liberals have a right to a voice in human affairs. We act wrongly when we fail to excoriate them for the horrors they have wrought, and those they still lust to wreak.
When a human being appears in public with a liberal, at a political debate, for instance, he should preface his remarks with a statement to the effect that the proximity of the liberal is causing his gorge to rise and his flesh to crawl.
It is not humanly possible to say anything sufficiently critical and insulting about liberals and liberalism. Indictment, trial, conviction, sentencing, and execution would be insufficient punishment for their crimes against humanity.
Human beings arise! Computer science will allow a tyranny so complete and horrible that it has yet to be imagined, unless these loathsome swine are stopped.
Agreed. The only response is to call it cute fiction from an uneducated fool (I’d say twatwaffle) and leave it at that. There’s nothing you’ll ever do to increase that persons IQ or lack of moral compass, they are toast.
Maybe he is an idiot.
But his opponent is a wannabe mass-murderer.
Given a choice between an idiot and a wannabe mass-murderer, I'll take the idiot every day.
That said, I refuse even to accept their initial premise that he's an idiot.
He's admitting that non-conservatives are basically psychopaths.
TRUMP supporters are the producers of goods and services in our economy.
Hillary supporters are the parasites, sucking the life blood out of the producers.
This doesn’t required psycho-analysis, nor advanced degrees. It’s straight-forward: the establishment government is and has been completely out of touch with Americans. Trump has figured that out.
That and Hillary is the most crooked politician the world has ever seen outside of 3rd-world dictatorships.
Replace the word “Trump” with “Cllnton” and this article may contain some truth.
Another thing the Left don't understand.
Irony.
Hillary (and Bill) have done things that would be political suicide for anyone else. Why do people continue to support her?
Trump's loyal following has its roots in the people attacking him. The lamestream media is clearly an extension of the Clinton campaign, so no one believes them.
And after Hillary's 40 years in politics, no one believes her either --- not even the people supporting her.
And now, he's running against the establishment wing of the Republican Party, as well.
Trump's support is largely a rebellion against the UniParty. Until you understand the depth of disgust with the UniParty, you'll never understand why Trump's support is so loyal.
Yes, Trump has his warts. But, when an honest comparison is made with Clinton, Trump wins every time -- unless you have a vested interest in Clinton.
Your “friends” theory does not account for people who clearly are intelligent and support Trump. There is the former mayor of New York and the current Governor of NJ. There is a former John Hopkins Brain Surgeon and high ranking Military Officers. What “is” irrational is to suggest these people do not exist and “all” Trump supporters are ignorant rednecks.
No response needed...
Unfriend them if what they are posting makes you so upset.
I have one friend posting really nasty meme’s about Trump supporters being ignorant and uneducated etc. I ignored them for a long time ...I finally had enough of her liberal self-righteousness.
Sent her a private response and then promptly unfriended.
The sad thing is...they are all like this. From Hillary’s ‘deplorables’ comment to psychobabble like what is posted above. They hear and read this stuff and absorb it like sponges and for the life of me I cannot figure out why? Where is their common sense, critical thinking, etc. and it isn’t just the kids. This is mass group think and it is frightening as it never ends well.
Just un-Facebook and never go back.
Facebook’s full of dog twaddle.
Irrational fear of Donald keeps them controlled.
Trump's unwavering support is due to the fact that he IS an independent political outsider, and his supporters know that the break-up of our current corrupt political & media collusion is the most important objective. A few bad words won't change this.
Democrats are Commies..they learned from the best:
Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union
According to the Global Initiative on Psychiatry chief executive Robert van Voren, the political abuse of psychiatry in the USSR arose from the conception that people who opposed the Soviet regime were mentally sick since there was no other logical rationale why one would oppose the sociopolitical system considered the best in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union
The whole article is a desperate appeal to authority - a particularly ripe version of the fallacy that claims that “The World can only be understood by We the Elite”.
As the Left do not actually possess superior perception or understanding - very much the opposite - they have to pretend to it by misusing psychological and scientific terms.
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