Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Every once in awhile an egghead study comes along with a conclusion more definite than that in other studies; in this case, the trend is identified viewing the data from several different perspectives (see second page).
It has become undeniable, not only to people with preconceived notions contradictory to the study or the conclusion at which it arrives, but to people with preconceived notions in other areas. Something is clearly going on here. But what?
Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four November Gallup Health and Healthcare polls. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans report having excellent mental health, compared to 43% of independents and 38% of Democrats. This relationship between party identification and reports of excellent mental health persists even within categories of income, age, gender, church attendance, and education.
Probably the most even-handed way we could inspect this is to predict a deliberately-biased explanation from the Republicans, and a likewise deliberately-biased explanation from those silly donks. And I predict…the Republicans would say Republicans are more accustomed to noodling out answers to their own problems without relying on other people, and are therefore accustomed to blaming their episodes of misfortune on their own missteps, misjudgments, flawed executions, etc…which will lead to more improved mental health. The silly donks would say it’s all an illusion. That seems like a virtual given. All things that paint an unflattering picture of donks, in the donk mind, are illusions. They always get there time after time, the question is how. This one is easy: It’s a self-assessment, so the answers given by this 58% of Republicans represent an exercise in — all together now — ARROGANCE. And the fact that a far slimmer percentage of donks gave themselves positive assessments of mental well-being…represents…humility. Ah yes, grasshopper.
This is probably as good a time as any to note what an excellent write-up the Wikkans have on Locus of Control. It’s probably an equally apropos occasion upon which to comment on the Yin and Yang series.
What do these have to do with each other?
Yin vs. Yang is something you learn in childhood. It is a “fork in the road” to which toddlers and pre-toddlers come, as they decide how they’re going to go about the arduous task of relating to the world around them…the decision made at this fork, is a precursor to a pattern of lifelong habits. The Yang recognize the environment around them, through a process that involves incorporating the behavior of others in that environment. They are more socially mature, at least in childhood. The Yin, on the other hand, deplore from an early age the idea of having to check and see what others are doing, just to figure out what is true.
Because of that, the socially-outgoing Yang are susceptible to external locus of control, and the Yin excel at tasks that involve avoiding cognitive error…such as solving puzzles, or building things…and tend to see other people as a distraction. The Yin, necessarily, must rely on internal locus of control. They really can’t function with their environment through any other means.
What has this to do with Republicans and donks? Well, nothing, really…except the donks, in the modern era, have made it their business to do all of their recruiting from the Yang. It’s just easier. A sales pitch made to the Yin has to make sense, but to get the Yang to hop on board in large numbers, all you have to do is tailor the theme. Make it “The Thing To Do.”
There are exceptions to everything, but the end result is going to be that our liberal party ranks are going to be filled with people accustomed to an external locus of control. (Conversely, through a process of depletion, the conservative planks are going to popularly favor an internal locus of control.)
The internal locus of control gives you a more stable mindset with which to deal with a world that doesn’t always do what you think it should. You see people doing dumb things, and you think “pffft, that’s stupid” and pretty much leave it at that…unless it somehow directly affects you. But to someone relying on external locus of control, it already affects you because it’s part of your environment.
Speaking for myself, I’d want some definitions to be built in to such a test before I took it. If I were asked to rate what others thought of my mental health, I’d have to submit a much lower score compared to what I thought of my own mental health. Other people tend to not know a good thing when they see it. And I’d also want to know if it’s testing my least flattering mental health profile at any given moment across a stretch of time. I mean, if I’m somehow compelled to go shopping at Wal Mart on a weekend, at that point my mental-health is going to be way down in the basement and I’ll be going bollywonkers.
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I think were pretty much in agreement. I think of it more as collective versus individual. Those who are collective minded will naturally propose collective approachs while the individual minded will propose the opposite.
Clearly our species needed both to survive and flourish. An individual could not feed themself adequately all the time and needed the tribe. Also individuals came up with innovations that help the tribe as a whole. In other words humanity evolved to it’s peak status because of both traits.
The trick is in the balance, and is reflected in our politics as well. The thing that disturbs me is that the collective (left) seems to want to eliminate the individual completely, and the individual (right) seems to discount the stability the collective can provide the tribe.
I have argued this with people over and over to no avail it seems. For example, taxes, I have argued taxation which is a collective idea has benefitted the tribe greatly say by building interstates or winning a war. It takes the individuals though to be the engineers and leaders.
- Allen L | 12/01/2007 @ 15:50[…] [Discuss this article with MKFreeberg over at House of Eratosthenes…] Share Article […]
- Webloggin - Blog Archive » Republicans in Better Mental Health | 12/03/2007 @ 14:30