Open Thread - We're all going to die edition - Friday, August 5, 2016

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Heh, I think I will tag some turf around the fringes of The Evening Blues today, except with more amperage.

For me, the whole horse race politics thingy has become so contrived. The fifth column, aka the super wealthy, corporations and political class, have rigged the system. Even Bernie is an establishment guy. The political system is so corrupt that I fear nearly nothing gets done, until the giant meteor saves us.

This Is Your Brain on This Election

Bloodthirsty rage appears to have swept up the American people, like mass hysteria boiling up in an angry mob. Discussions of deadly violence have become central to this presidential election season, with calls for killing in political ads and debates not just the ravings of a single fringe candidate. Gone are the intellectual arguments that have dominated our presidential debates for two centuries—this time it is the brain’s limbic system “fear center,” not the cerebral cortex, that candidates are tapping to drive public discourse.

The word “kill” was said 53 times in the Dec. 15, 2015, Republican presidential primary debate. Here’s a sampling. Ted Cruz: “… we will hunt down and kill the terrorists.” Donald Trump: “These are people that want to kill us…” Trump also advocates killing family members of ISIS terrorists. Lindsay Graham: “They’re trying to come here to kill us all…” Mike Huckabee: “We have to kill some terrorists and kill every one of them….”

By contrast, the word “kill” was never used in the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential debate, despite the era’s dire threat of global nuclear annihilation. The “K” word was not spoken by any of 2000’s Republican candidates—George W. Bush, Alan Keys, or John McCain—in their final debate on March 2 of that year; nor was it uttered in the Jan. 30, 2008, final GOP debate among candidates Huckabee, McCain, Ron Paul, and Mitt Romney.

Clearly, these urgent calls for killing are a reaction to the widespread fear of terrorism gripping our nation. But when we operate out of fear, we are prone to making mistakes. This is not a matter of policy—it’s physiology. Republican or Democrat, hawk or dove, how our brain responds at times of perceived danger and how our cognitive function and behavioral reactions are overwhelmed by fear must be fully recognized.

I am so sick of listening to pear shaped white or orange men in expensive suits, cushy jobs and future security telling me how fucking tough they are. I find it rather incredulous and entirely dickish on their part.

Thinking With Concepts

Concepts are to us like the air we breathe. They are everywhere. They are essential to our lives. But we rarely notice them. Yet only when we have conceptualized a thing in some way, only then, can we think about it. Nature does not give us, or anyone else, instructions in how things are to be conceptualized. We must create that conceptualization, alone or with others. Once conceptualized, a thing is integrated by us, into a network of ideas (since no concept or idea ever stands alone). We conceptualize things personally by means of our own ideas. We conceptualize things socially by means of the ideas of others (social groups). We explain one idea by means of other ideas. So if someone asked us to say what a “friend” is, we might say, as the Webster’s New World does, “a person whom one knows well and is fond of.” If that same person asked us to say what it means to “know someone well,” we would respond by introducing yet further ideas or concepts.

Humans approach virtually everything in experience as something that can be “given meaning” by the power of our minds to create a conceptualization and to make inferences on the basis of it (hence to create further conceptualizations). We do this so routinely and automatically that we don’t typically recognize ourselves as engaged in these processes. In our everyday life we don’t first experience the world in “concept-less” form and then deliberately place what we experience into categories in order to make sense of things. Every act in which we engage is automatically given a social meaning by those around us.

To the uncritical mind, it is as if things are given to us with their “name” inherent in them. All of us fall victim to this illusion to some degree. Thus we see, not shapes and colors, but “trees,” “clouds,” “grass,” “roads,” “people,” “children,” “sunsets,” and so on and on. Some of these concepts we obtain from our native language. Some are the result of our social conditioning into the mores, folkways, and taboos of particular social groups and a particular society. We then apply these concepts automatically, as if the names belonged to the things by nature, as if we had not created these concepts in our own minds.

If we want to help students develop as critical thinkers, we must help them come to terms with this human power of mind, the power to create concepts through which we, and they, see and experience the world. For it is precisely this capacity they must take charge of if they are to take command of their thinking. To become a proficient critical thinker, they must become the master of their own conceptualizations. They must develop the ability to mentally "remove” this or that concept from the things named by the concept and try out alternative ideas, alternative “names.” As general semanticists often say: “The word is not the thing! The word is not the thing!” If students are trapped in one set of concepts (ideas, words) — as they often are — then they think of things in one rigid way. Word and thing become one and the same in their minds. They are then unable to act as truly free persons.

How many of you have noticed the massive distractions? The media is flooded with stories about the Kahns, the baby, the bad old Russians, ISIS, email servers and potty talk. I want the candidates to state exactly where they stand on social security, the retirement age, health care, the minimum wage, the MIC, domestic spying, telecom/FCC/Internet and stuff that matters. We are watching a magic show people, so don't watch their mouths, watch their hands.

Correlation not Causation: The Relationship between Personality Traits and Political Ideologies

Abstract

The assumption in the personality and politics literature is that a person's personality motivates them to develop certain political attitudes later in life. This assumption is founded on the simple correlation between the two constructs and the observation that personality traits are genetically influenced and develop in infancy, whereas political preferences develop later in life. Work in psychology, behavioral genetics, and recently political science, however, has demonstrated that political preferences also develop in childhood and are equally influenced by genetic factors. These findings cast doubt on the assumed causal relationship between personality and politics. Here we test the causal relationship between personality traits and political attitudes using a direction of causation structural model on a genetically informative sample. The results suggest that personality traits do not cause people to develop political attitudes; rather, the correlation between the two is a function of an innate common underlying genetic factor.

Oh boy could I string together a profane and disparaging description of a few of the conservatives that I have had the fate to be acquainted with.

American Apocalypse: Millions of right-wing Christians trust ‘End Times’ pastors with their politics — here’s why

Last year the Texas pastor John Hagee presided over the ninth annual summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which describes itself as “the largest pro-Israel organisation in the United States”. Five thousand evangelicals gathered in Washington to hear a distinguished roster of speakers including six US senators, a former director of the CIA and the Israeli ambassador to the US. Binyamin Netanyahu sent a recorded message; he couldn’t be there because Israel was at war in the Gaza Strip. Nearly a thousand civilians had already been killed, and even Israel’s staunchest allies were calling for restraint. But Hagee demanded that Netanyahu be allowed to “finish the job” in Gaza. When he had finished, the pastor led other delegates up Capitol Hill to lobby those lawmakers who hadn’t shown up.

Hagee’s journey from a San Antonio megachurch to the halls of Congress has not been without setbacks. In 2008, after he endorsed the Republican presidential candidate John McCain , newspapers reported that Hagee had called Roman Catholicism a “false cult system” , and that he believed God had permitted the Holocaust for the higher good of establishing the state of Israel. Last November, he called Barack Obama “one of the most antisemitic presidents in American history”. Hagee later insisted that he had meant “anti-Israel”, though he didn’t retract his claim that God sent Ebola to punish humanity for Obama’s Middle East policy. If Hagee’s career seems impervious to the gaffes that would sink most politicians, perhaps it’s because he’s always led a double life as a public figure. When he isn’t demanding that the US bomb Iran, or Israel annex Palestinian land, Hagee writes bestsellers mapping the bad news of today’s headlines on to the bizarre landscapes of Bible prophecy. Would you take advice on the Middle East from a man who believes the world is about to end? The answer for millions of Americans, perhaps even for conservative members of Congress, is yes.

Matthew Avery Sutton’s new book locates prophecy belief at the heart of the modern evangelical movement. At the start of the 20th century, conservative Protestants reacted to the populist politics and theological liberalism of their age with righteous defiance. The stereotype of religious conservatism throws up images of rural churches in the southern Bible belt, but Christian fundamentalism was born in the big cities of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, funded by wealthy businessmen such as Lyman Stewart, a California oil tycoon who bankrolled The Fundamentals (1910-15), the book series that gave the movement its name. Initially, fundamentalists struggled to endorse candidates for Congress, let alone the presidency. Most loathed Franklin Roosevelt , who won an unprecedented four presidential elections despite their disdain. Politicians became aware of the power of evangelical voters in the 1950s and 1960s, and Jimmy Carter himself was a born-again Christian (though not a fundamentalist). But it was only with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 that the religious right gained entry into the White House.

Bless their hearts.

Bill Nye: “Despite our best efforts we’re all going to die, and I think that makes all of us a little nutty”

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” appeared this week in a video for Big Think. In a previous Big Think video, Nye was questioned about evolution deniers; his answer prompted a debate with Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham, which in turn spurred his most recent book “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation.” Salon’s interview with him about the book can be read here.

In this Big Think video, Nye discusses many topics found in his book — namely evolution, American innovation and humans’ fear of death. (He devotes a whole chapter to the latter topic, “Evolution is why we don’t believe in Evolution.”)

“I think, on Big Think, the problem is the same thing that allows us to recognize patterns — to imagine shapes and things and routes and ways to get things done — before we actually start doing those things,” Nye began. “That ability also enables us to understand that despite our best efforts we’re all going to die, and I think that makes all of us a little nutty. We all find it a little troubling.”

“And so because it seems incredible that all this stuff that we store in our brain — all the memories we have, all the mental images that we are able to keep, all the algebra that we learn — that all that goes away when we die is really hard for all of us to accept,” Nye continued.

“And along with this is that we are not nature’s last word,” he explained. “We are not the final answer that nature came up with. That we are not what some entity created as his or her very best work. We’re just one more step on the evolutionary timeline.”

It's enough to put a person in a funk.

Have a great weekend!

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hecate's picture

Sure, we're all going to die. Well, yes: okay. But the dead, you know, can dance.

; )

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zReWPjreJzI]

As for: "I want the candidates to state exactly where they stand on social security, the retirement age, health care, the minimum wage, the MIC, domestic spying, telecom/FCC/Internet and stuff that matters."

What I want to know. Is where they are. On free human beings. Alive on this earth.

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NCTim's picture

... is when death is an attractive alternative. What the funk.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

OLinda's picture

and everybody. Happy Friday!

Forecast has 74 degrees F. today. It has been high 80s and 90s every day for a month. This will be such a relief!

PS, Tim. Bernie went to University of Chicago.

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NCTim's picture

I like Bernie, but he is part of the establishment. Anyone who thinks he could pull off his agenda is being naive.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

OLinda's picture

John Edwards said it in 2004. He would hunt bin Laden down and kill him. It shocked me to hear it at the time. It was so harsh. Kerry probably also picked it up after that, I'm not sure. They were trying to show that they were tough guys and that they could protect America.

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NCTim's picture

Killing is an expression of weakness. To be tough, one has to find the strength to love, forgive, empathize, console, embrace, ... and express one's humanity.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

gulfgal98's picture

This cannot be repeated enough. We are a nation of barbarians hell bent on killing our way to "peace."

Killing is an expression of weakness. To be tough, one has to find the strength to love, forgive, empathize, console, embrace, ... and express one's humanity.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

OLinda's picture

...has demonstrated that political preferences also develop in childhood and are equally influenced by genetic factors.

I have often thought that Democrats and Republicans are two different species. At least, two separate branches of the evolutionary tree. One of us is more evolved.

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NCTim's picture

Doesn't tip.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

OLinda's picture

Tim. Very interesting read this morning. Thank you for the Open Thread.

Hope all is well as we await the Giant Meteor.

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NCTim's picture

Listening to the complicit media report on the horse race election reminds me of an old SNL skit where Paul Simon dies, goes to hell and is stuck on an elevator listening to Simon & Garfunkel muzak. The giant meteor is an attractive alternative.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Hell Tim, you could have stopped this OT right after the giant rock. At this point, I'm voting for the rock or this guy I found on facebook.

4Pres_0.jpg
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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

has my vote! Write in candidate?
Loved the more amperage this morning for some reason, started headbanging around and people were looking at me weird?!?
Break out of concepts to really See something uniquely is truly difficult, yet necessary to focus on solutions to our issues.

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

janis b's picture

especially Bill Nye. Thank you.

Have a wonderful weekend all.

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NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

janis b's picture

good as gold!

I enjoyed the music a lot.

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NCTim's picture

Eric Lindell. I just picked up his latest.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

janis b's picture

Here's one for you ...

[video:https://youtu.be/MWWap-WJAHg]

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LA Times Op-Ed: Bernie Sanders: I support Hillary Clinton. So should everyone who voted for me

being despondent and inactive is not going to improve anything. Going forward and continuing the struggle is what matters

Says the man who gave up and cashed-in with a book deal. But "we" need to keep working for free, in fact funding the neoliberals to stay in power. Yeah right. Plonk!

FTS

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If Bernie's op-eds are a preview of his book, I won't be buying it.
It used to be easy to praise him.
sigh...

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

a-oe-sanders-message-bernie-bros-20160805-snap-story

fuck that subliminal shit too
pew pew pew! Wink

Oom

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The other day I read a link from Unabashed Liberal about North Carolina: Obamacare's November surprise

“The pool is far less healthy than we forecast,” said Brad Wilson, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, which says it lost $400 million on its exchange business during the first two years and is weighing whether to compete for Obamacare customers in 2017. “That’s an issue not just here in North Carolina, but all over. … We need more healthy people in the pool.”

All over, they need more healthy people in the pool. Then I read this happened: In Louisiana, the rush to sign up for Obamacare highlights a 'long overdue' demand for health insurance

After Kentucky and Arkansas expanded their Medicaid programs in 2014, for example, researchers found poor patients there skipped fewer medications and were more likely to get regular care if they had a chronic illness such as diabetes.

Don't say unhealthy unsafe food system causes poor people diabetes that would be bad. Personal choice after all everyone eats junk ~shrug~.

“This isn’t just about getting health insurance,” the governor told a group of reporters visiting Baton Rouge recently. “You get people health coverage for a reason. You want better health.… We want healthier people.”

Chronic = healthier people? I think not but go on.
Americans weigh at least 15 pounds more than 20 years ago, CDC study says

"About 10 years ago, about half the country was considered obese or overweight," said Dr. John De Beixedon of the Pasadena Center for Medical Weight Loss. "Now it's every single state."

How terribly effing ironic for the FLOTUS. Thanks Obamas.

"Most Americans are unaware that the No. 2 cause of cancer is obesity," De Beixedon said.

"Healthcare" industry loves chronic, insurance bills as far as the eye can see. Don't fix the system, just get more healthy people in the pool! LOL how's that gonna work, please proceed.

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NCTim's picture

BCBS of NC had to provide rebates because their admin costs were greater than 18%. They had a giant IT cluster fuck and the CEO got a $3.5 million dollar raise. F' the insurance industry, single payer!

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Daenerys's picture

You deny people from going to the doctor for many years, then when they finally can go they actually NEED health care? Who'd'a thunk!! Dash 1

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This shit is bananas.

I think, as a defense, a lot of people grow up with Stockholm Syndrome, devoted to all forms of Authority, especially brutal Authority. Very difficult to change that, I understand, since it's trained in with terror. Not really a free choice of attitude. So maybe the genetic tendency is toward familial brutality, rather than directly toward its effects.

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NCTim's picture

My kids were never hit, but they do understand authority. If I say, "You are going to get a size 10", they know it is code for a swift kick. It would be doled out as restricted civil liberties our economically punitive actions, but conceptually it is expressed as a violent act.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

enhydra lutris's picture

Nobody gets out of here alive.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

NCTim's picture

I almost went with The Electric Flag version of Killing Floor. Bloomfield is holding a Music Maker above. He was known for using a Telecaster, then a Les Paul. MB was a rich kid and started out with a nice guitar. His father was in restaurant supply and invented the red and yellow squeeze bottles for ketchup and mustard.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

shaharazade's picture

this is an good OT. It has no Bernie or Jill shoes or crazy ass theories as to why so and so did such and such. I vote for the Meteorite. I do not like science man's ramblings about how people operate. It's just too pathology and data derived. I think humans are way more humanly complex then they give people credit for. I mean humans came up with concepts like democracy and all those inalienable truths to begin with. Maybe there is more to life and death then science man and their technological so called progress I also think political science is an oxymoron. They can measure the inner workings till their blue in the face but they will never grasp what any of it is worth. Thanks again for the OT and being here. Your spirit is golden and seeing it is not dependent on clinical test's, You can't measure or test what makes us all capable of love, heart and progress.

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NCTim's picture

Who gives a flip. They are all cogs in the machine.

After being on the planet for awhile, and observing people the whole time. I have concluded that the vast majority of people have no idea what they are doing and are just winging it. The political class, in particular, is disjointed from reality.

They might as well be talking out their asses.

with amplitude

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -