Posted on 10/18/2013 11:21:38 AM PDT by neverdem
Yale Law professor Dan M. Kahan was conducting an analysis of the scientific comprehension of various political groups when he ran into a shocking discovery: tea party supporters are slightly more scientifically literate than the non-tea party population.
When composing histograms of the scientific inference abilities of liberals and conservatives, he discovered that those who described themselves as tea party supporters came out pretty well, based on National Science Foundation standards of evaluation:
The shift to the right on the gray columns represents a positive correlation between tea party members and generally higher scientific test scores. The r=0.05 is not a drastically higher score, but the findings are statistically significant to p=.05. In other words, tea party members appear to be slightly, but solidly more scientifically literate than non-tea party members.
In fact, tea party members tend to be more scientifically literate than other self-described conservatives, who have slightly negative scores, overall. These findings should give both liberal and GOP establishment types pause over their caricatures of tea party constituents.
Remarkable was the professor’s reaction on the Yale Law “Cultural Cognition Project” website:
I’ve got to confess, though, I found this result surprising. As I pushed the button to run the analysis on my computer, I fully expected I’d be shown a modest negative correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and science comprehension.But then again, I don’t know a single person who identifies with the Tea Party. All my impressions come from watching cable tv — & I don’t watch Fox News very often — and reading the “paper” (New York Times daily, plus a variety of politics-focused internet sites like Huffington Post & Politico).
I’m a little embarrassed, but mainly I’m just glad that I no longer hold this particular mistaken view...
(Excerpt) Read more at ijreview.com ...
Now run the numbers on how stupid liberals are and see what you get....
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Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
“I found facts but I disregard what I found.”
Really? Where does he say this?
You don’t even have to click on the link to see that he says:
“I’m a little embarrassed, but mainly I’m just glad that I no longer hold this particular mistaken view.”
Sounds like a mea culpa to me.
I must have missed that.
I did read where he said: "I’ve got to confess, though, I found this result surprising. As I pushed the button to run the analysis on my computer, I fully expected I’d be shown a modest negative correlation between identifying with the Tea Party and science comprehension... ...I’m a little embarrassed, but mainly I’m just glad that I no longer hold this particular mistaken view..."
That doesn't sound like someone who "disregarded" what he found.
“Can I pay my VISA with my MasterCard?”
Half the D party consists of generational welfare loads, now WTF science education do you get from Jerry Springer or Oprah?
I’m curious what the NSF considers the “facts” on Global Warming. I suspect that conservatives might have gotten even better scores if you adjust the numbers for that.
Not a surprise to me.
Comment on original article:
Let me add an international twist:
I am a Brazilian self-taught Software Engineer. I also taught myself English, to the point where I managed to hold a Cambridge CPE, despite the fact that I’ve never stepped on anglophonic soil and zero formal training. So my analytic and reasoning faculties seem to be in working order.
Now, with that out of the way, here’s why I strongly identify with the Tea Party: in my view, they are right, and they are the US’s lifeline. They represent the virtues that led to American Exceptionalism (and YES, this does exist).
I find caricaturing Tea Partiers extremely ironic, and it would be hilarious, weren’t it so revolting. In my experience, being a lefty liberal is EASY. It is the default stance of the intellectually lazy. All you have to do is feel (specially “good about myself” kind of feel), and never solve anything. Here’s, in my view, why:
I live in the logical endpoint of Fabian socialism. Born to and raised in a culture where the concepts of “right” and “left” are non-existent (I take that back, actually “right” is a language stand-in for “evil”). We have over 30 political parties, and they are all some variant of the left. From Social Democrat parties to “Trotsky-ish” parties. Our *current* constitution, which dates back all the way to the Gun’n’ Roses era (1988), is pretty much a Soviet Constitution (1936) copy/paste job. Culturally, the population is in pretty much a state of “1984 meets Brave New World” in terms of ideology.
Brazil is also a country where:
- the utter government control of the private sector trough bureaucracy managed to destroy entrepreneurship. To the point that it exists, it has to deal with the accepted fact of life that the bribes which feed the corrupt bureaucrats demand to allow business to exist have to be factored in business plans.
- a crushing tax burden that sustain a permanent dependent underclass of favelados in welfare ensures the populists remain eternally in power and that any semblance upward mobility is quickly “corrected”. For an employer to put 10.000 in the pocket of an employee, with will costs him nearly 18.000, so jobs market are always tepid at best so informal work and tax dodging schemes are commonplace.
- The relentless attack on Catholicism (the historical prevalent brand of Christianity practiced here) over the past decades eroded any semblance of morality form a large chunk of the country, and that coupled with utter corruption and/or incompetence of law enforcement made way for drug cartels to take over. Violence and crime spiraled to such inhuman degrees that between the 50K murders in average a year, this year we saw a soccer referee stab a player to death and then be beheaded and quartered in the field by the spectators for his trouble. His head was placed in a spike in the middle of the field, as an added dramatic bonus (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2357453/Brazilian-referee-beheaded-Angry-fans-head-stake-stabbing-player.html).
This act barely caused a murmur.
I could go on for ages with more evidence of social rot, but you probably already got the gist of it.
Now, remember, being immersed in this cultural cesspool since birth I, like most Brazilians, never even *knew* that this wasn’t actually just “the way things are”. I mean, we get a gut feeling that something is off, but like Plato’s cave dwellers, light is something really frightening and instinctively avoided. And the *obvious* solutions by all the *smart people* are always the same: more government “compassion”. More “social programs”. More “awareness”. Less “greedyness”.
Imagine my shock when by a quirk of fate a Mark Levin book ended in my hands. That led me to Burke, Locke, Smith, Mises, Friedman, Hayek and many others. Conservative philosophy is what gave me a glimpse of the shinning city in the hill and a will to fight, along with a battle plan, to improve my lot in life, and of those I can reach.
So, Dan, I understand you are surprised that your results showed Tea Partiers not the raging bufons the media portrays them as being. The most obvious things are often the easiest to miss. But never doubt that being conservative is quite the intellectual effort, if only to overcome the moroseness of the mind that liberalism creates imposes with all its group-think and easy answers.
Best wishes,
Rodrigo
PS: written in a hurry on lunch break, no time to proof-read, so apologies in advance for eventual typos.
Obama groupies couldn’t spell logic gate. They know how to spell only government handout.
Obrigado Senhor Rod, - Sábias palavras!
Awesome comment, thanks!
Fair enough. I was referring to the part where he wasn't going to change the sources of his misinformation.
There was another article where more of his statement was quoted. It was in another thread. I can see now why my statement was confusing. I had caught the previous thread and commented on here when I saw it again. I have posted the quote here that was the basis of my comment.
Thanks for the ping!
Thanks neverdem.
This study will be of course be dumped on, and the people involved in it will be subjected to the most vile kinds of ad hominem attacks.
You have to go t the actual source article, NOT the IJR story that quotes only a little bit.
The relevant “I saw the facts but they dont fit my prejudices so I ignore them” part of the professor’s article:
“Of course, I still subscribe to my various political and moral assessments—all very negative— of what I understand the “Tea Party movement” to stand for. I just no longer assume that the people who happen to hold those values are less likely than people who share my political outlooks to have acquired the sorts of knowledge and dispositions that a decent science comprehension scale measures.”
Yeah, “what I understand the “Tea Party movement” to stand for” not finding out what they ACTUALLY stand for.
And “moral assessments”?!?! From this guy?
*spit*
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