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She thought it was some kind of higher, dark and secret magic. She thought there were secret codes and symbols placed in speeches to communicate secret messages and elicit certain reactions.

Liberals look at communication this way because THEIR personalities function this way, and they project their pathology onto the rest of the universe.

They respond from a sub-analytical place in their soul. They are therefore very susceptible to manipulation by symbols and tactics. They are not capable of bringing analytical acumen to bear on language BEFORE they respond to it. This is why it is impossible to argue with a liberal; they don't think; they feel.

Even the bright among them. The smart liberals use their brains differently than you and I. The function of their brains is to wrap a pre-analytical response in a protective coating of justification. First, the feeling, then, the argument to support it. So it isn't a question of who is smart and who is dumb; no, the difference between a liberal and a conservative is the SEQUENCE in which the faculties engage.

So when they look for the magic phrase, the magic symbol, they are just assuming that the entire electorate is like them.

The liberal is a person with a subconscious. The more conservative is your temperament, the less a subconscious you have. Literally. So when you're a Peggy Noonan and some leftist academic asks you about rummaging around in voters' subconscious, you have no idea what she is talking about.

This is why it is impossible to argue with a liberal; they don't think; they feel.

My number one saying and very true!

"Liberals look at communication this way because THEIR personalities function this way, and they project their pathology onto the rest of the universe.
They respond from a sub-analytical place in their soul. They are therefore very susceptible to manipulation by symbols and tactics. They are not capable of bringing analytical acumen to bear on language BEFORE they respond to it. This is why it is impossible to argue with a liberal; they don't think; they feel.

Even the bright among them. The smart liberals use their brains differently than you and I. The function of their brains is to wrap a pre-analytical response in a protective coating of justification. First, the feeling, then, the argument to support it. So it isn't a question of who is smart and who is dumb; no, the difference between a liberal and a conservative is the SEQUENCE in which the faculties engage. So when they look for the magic phrase, the magic symbol, they are just assuming that the entire electorate is like them. "

Oh, that's good Tal. Can I use it as my tagline? Will it fit? Very well said.

The liberal is a person with a subconscious. The more conservative is your temperament, the less a subconscious you have.

Not sure I agree. The difference is really the willingness of the conservative to ask the second question. Not just,
"Wouldn't it be great if the story of the moment making me feel bad could be cured by some great protector?",
but
"What would be the effects of the various possibilities for ameliorating this situation?"

"The liberal is a person with a subconscious. The more conservative is your temperament, the less a subconscious you have. Literally. So when you're a Peggy Noonan and some leftist academic asks you about rummaging around in voters' subconscious, you have no idea what she is talking about."

Thanks. You've explained something that has always puzzled me. I haven't believed in a subconscious, at least, as Freud described it, and wondered why people did believe in it. I was self aware of my decisions from my childhood and knew why I made my decisions. They weren't always good or right or well informed, but I knew why I made decisions. Making choices without knowing why was alien to me.

As I've gotten older, I realize many people make decisions like that because they don't want to know their own reasons. They want to lie to themselves because they don't like what they do and why they did. Self honesty, even if brutally critical, is essential to my personality. I'd rather deal with an unpleasant truth about myself than lie to myself and have reality smack me in the face with the lie.

I think lying to oneself is the nature of being a liberal.