The Leftist brain is wired differently than a Conservative one. Of course, you can reverse this and it is still true. The Conservative brain is wired differently than a Leftist one. The why and wherefore part, is the interesting study of this book.
You should not be surprised that the study of the brain is less well understood than the workings of a computer. In a computer, we can create memory boards and figure out how to make them small and compact and can even give them simple logic. We have not and will not be able to give emotion, common sense, or intuitiveness, to a computer. If they talk to us they, like a parrot, simply repeat what is programmed for repetition. In fact, most studies of brain function… why it does what it does… are still in the dark ages. You can spend a lifetime getting mired down in words and categories and studies of all types. I have no doubt that many who fancies themselves wise persons of the mental world will criticize this work as superficial and unfounded in science. To them I respond: “Your ignorance is astounding when you consider how little is yet known of what makes up the brain functions.” Give lowly me a chance. I am a scientist without portfolio. So was Einstein and Socrates. Hopefully, we stand on the same platform. Of course I am at the other end. Keep in mind I have lived a long life studying this phenomena, and more particularly I have lived the last 20 years up and close to it as is humanly possible. I doubt anyone can exceed my experience and my study.
Scientist’s with normal Portfolio, know the brain lobes (Frontal, Parietal, Temporal, Occipital, and Cerebellum) and the hemispheres of the brain. (The hemisphere concept deals with the fact that the right side of the brain provides signals for the left side of the body and vice versa. We tend to use one more than the other.) These same scientists have also, more or less, decided that certain signals to our body and brain have a lobe they like more than any other.
For Example:
Frontal Lobe: Source of Conscious thought. Generally, the largest lobe.
Parietal Lobe: Integrates our senses, and has something to do with visual-spatial (space) awareness.
Occipital Lobe: Most of our sight signals are processed here.
(It is at the back of the head)
Temporal Lobe: Handles the sense of smell and sound and processing complex vision. This lobe is under the Frontal and Parietal lobes and goes across the brain to both sides.
Each of the lobes feeds and is fed by the other lobes, by matter called the corpus callosum. Think of it as the hard drive which makes all the software work. Each of the lobes is kind of software that is hard wired in.
Scientists can test you to decide if you are left or right brained, from the hemisphere approach, but the main point is that Cognitive Science is in its beginnings---not its endings. Cognitive Science is the interdisciplinary research of mind and intelligence; embracing philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics and anthropology. Just putting those words together is mind boggling. Included is the study of formal and informal logic, rules, concepts, analogies, images, connectionism and actual and theoretical neuroscience. It goes on and on.
You can spend a lifetime trying to understand the various aspects of human behavior via the brain. We all spend most of our lives working to survive amid a maelstrom of acts and reacts. Some folks spend their lifetime putting the various bits and pieces in categories and giving them names. It does not mean they have a better answer because they know the bits and pieces. It simply means that is their specialty. In the final analysis, you may have just as good an idea of why one ticks as they do. In my many years of examining “experts”, I learned that most of them use smoke and mirrors to tell their tale. In fact, we all do in one way or another. The point is, do not give to science the Holy Grail. Do not put the science of the mind on any kind of pedestal. There is much to do. We know so little.
One very good example is Common Sense. Are there grants to study just it? If there are, I have not found them. In fact, you can find a great deal of rhetoric of what common sense is or is not. For some reason, I always remember the lyrics to Cy Coleman’s song “Witchcraft” which glorifies common sense.
“…I’ve got no defense for it, the heat is too
intense for it. What good would common
sense do for it. Cause its Witchcraft,
Wicked Witchcraft..”
I do not mean to imply that what causes the difference between a Leftist and a Conservative is witchcraft, but it has crossed my mind. Especially so when I become exasperated trying to get one to use logic. But then an old Warlock like me understands the occult, I think. You remember the above song recording by Frank Sinatra. It was and is special. Ole blue eyes and I met each other once. Shared an adult beverage too. Imagine that. Maybe that is why I recall the song so well.
The definitions of common sense are varied and abound. Let me add mine because it makes, dare I say, more common sense to me.
The first word of “Common Sense”, “common”
Means the collection of observations and
experiences (data). These are acquired.
The second word, “Sense”, means
the mental agility to work with the
data and draw conclusions (intuitions)
from it.
If your common sense works well, you make few mistakes in life. If it does not, you will make many more, because your logic or ability to use the data is flawed. As Mr. Wayne observed, being stupid, makes life all the more difficult.
We have discussed intelligence and being stupid before, but let me dwell here for a moment to better understand. To not be stupid, means you have a good balance of Intelligence (I.Q) and Common Sense.
Scientists, one and all, can bore you to death with their testing and knowledge of I.Q. Ask any member of the Menses International Society (Club of those of high intelligent quotients) what intelligence is and they will say they have it. I will say they do not necessarily have it. A high I.Q. alone, does not make intelligence. You have known many very bright people who cannot tie their shoes, let alone play ball. Why is that? They have a defective common sense. It is the latter which makes it easy to tie a shoe and to field and throw a ball. Oh yes, muscle ability is a requisite, but much of it is common data used for the particular activity. The data is acquired out of practice and teaching. It is the good sense (mental agility) to use that data effectively which levels out life. A good I.Q. and good common sense makes up good intelligence.
Do any research on common sense, and you will be amazed at how scientists, for the most part, accept it, but do not attempt to analyze it. Philosophers pontificate on it, but do not analyze it. Albert Einstein said, “The only real valuable thing is intuition”. Intuition is another way to look at common sense, all though it includes pre- programmed reactions, like moving the head back and forth to find the mothers nipple the first time. We humans are born with few instincts (sometimes called intuitions). Yes the infant moves its head to find food, but it will easily give up the natural nipple for a rubber one, once the source data is processed. Another way is to think of intuition as a combination of “common data” and the mental agility “sense” working on the data to guide us. I believe intuition is better described simply as our common sense. Ok, maybe the head movement casts a different shadow.
This ability to make sense of the data no doubt is found in the Frontal Lobe. This is where we develop Conscious thought. Most would agree the interaction with the other lobes makes exact location of “Common Sense” beyond our reach today. There are some recent studies out of England which say x-rays can detect autism, but what kind is still to be discovered, if at all. Most would also agree that all portions of the brain can have wiring problems which manifest themselves in all manner of ways. Psychologists and Psychiatrists spend their careers in trying to find cures and explanations for these wiring problems. Much work needs to be done. Of all the sciences, this is the one most neglected. It should be given top billing.
Scientists and Physicians and Surgeons who work the field pre
tty much agree the frontal lobe is the probable source. I accept that and then add…. It, like all the lobes, can have short circuits, and badly tuned distributors. At a factory, turning out hard drives and software, they test and discover the bad ones and discard or reprocess them. With humans, it is not done. If there is faulty development, it stays there until you die. You may be able to compensate some, but you do not cure it.
It is easier to study brain damage than mal development and much has been done to locate the problem and understand what to do with it. For example, if a person suffers a brain injury (could be a stroke) personality changes are expected. Even here, I have not found studies of what happens to common sense. It may be mentioned, but it is not the subject nor does anyone I found dwell on Common Sense as a vital part to complete the package of intelligence and wisdom. This is the shame of the specialist.
Before we leave the quest of the source we need to think about a few other issues that are relevant to our understanding of the brain. One is that if a scientist today suggests, as I do, that a Leftist is wired wrong, they are nearly burned at the stake. In fact, I would not be surprised if they come and burn a big W on my lawn. If a scientist suggests that one race seems to have, or may have, more cognitive ability than another, the Leftists throw eggs at them and scream at them and effectively damage their career. I think of the Stanford Professor, Mr. William B. Shockley. Now, he was no average scientist. He was given the Nobel Prize, along with two others, for inventing the transistor, and with his company, helped to create Silicon Valley. During World War II, he was very instrumental in the development of radar. His study on what would happen if we invaded in Japan, gave the statistics to the White House which caused them to decide to use the Atomic Bomb. Not a dummy. When he left the world of electronics he took up a chair at Stanford University, (One of my alma Maters) as a professor of Engineering and Applied Science. One of his focuses was “Intelligence” in the field of Eugenics. He wanted to understand the level of intelligence of humans in the far future and whether or not race would have anything to do with it. His conclusions of lower IQ and its effects by the Black race is what set the mad dogs of liberalism on their heads. They, the defenders of equality are the same imbeciles who think it is ok to take money from some give it to others (graduated tax). It does not jive, if you’re hip. I do not know if Shockley was right or wrong, but I do know we need all kinds of inquiry into the function of our brains and it should be welcomed as a teaching tool, not as a hot potato. Today, scientists in this effort are cowed and are afraid to come out. A very bad situation.
Another example of liberalism intolerance for anything which might point to their disability is “The Bell Curve”. I am not an expert here, but have watched with some interest the Leftist dither and mad cow disease symptoms because of it. The Bell Curve, published in the middle 1990’s was the product of one Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray. They too touched on race and intelligence. For that taboo, they have roundly been stoned by the ever tolerant Leftists. Their primary concern was not race, but to explain, using public and private statistics, the gaps in intelligence in various parts of the United States. Now it is impossible to do this without finding race as an influence one way or another. They identified an intelligence gap and that is demonstrated by the Bell Curve. They warned about a decrease of intelligence if something was not done. Oh yes the Leftists cannot be bothered with such worries when they are consumed with Global Warming, and that ugly disgusting stuff…Oil.
What I hope you understand is that the scientific world is crippled by the left as the former tries to understand I.Q. and Common sense. Scientists are frightened to venture into the dark unknown recesses of brain inquiry for fear of being half buried and stoned to death. What I hope you also understand, it is not Conservatives who want to do this. Conservatives want and hope for enlightenment.
CHAPTER 9
(KEOAAAID 9—Greek)
He uses statistics as a drunken
Man uses lamp-posts…
For support rather than illumination.
Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
AN OVER-VIEW: PROBLEMS OF THE MIND
Because the mind is so elusive about telling us its secret, we cannot precisely list all of its problems. With a car or computer, diagnostic work is relatively easy because we have the blue prints. We created them. God, Darwin, or Aliens created our brains, and whoever did it, they made the divining difficult. We have developed some as-built drawings of the ole gray matter, but mostly it remains a mystery. No one has learned the inter-workings well enough to tell you or me what makes up a single thought.
Listing and examining the misfires of the brain is a little better. These misfires are often enough and alike enough that we can attempt to define them.
The IQ definition of Dumb and Bright: One way to define misfires is to rate the ability to memorize and logically apply the memory. This is the Intelligent Quotient syndrome. (I jest.) For example, a low IQ is measurable. We can find a mean mark and rate very good IQ and set a mark for the dumb and the genius. But this is not an end in of itself. By doing so, you have only gone half way to wisdom or full intelligence. Wisdom is a combination of IQ and common sense. To see how little common sense has been studied, and how enamored we are with IQ simply search the Web for either. Having spent days and days researching this issue, I can tell you most of the so-called IQ tests are not well done. Those found on the internet are pathetic. The many, so called Common Sense, tests I found were IQ tests. Besides, there is a great ego thing that goes with IQ. Most dummies might believe that if they have an over average (90 to 110) IQ, they are superior. Superior over what pray tell? This is so, even if they flunk out in social gatherings and cannot pick their nose the same way twice. This ego trip is why there is a Mensa International which is a grouping of people who have scored high on an IQ test. As I stated elsewhere, I have known several and too many of them would score low on a comparable Common Sense test. No one has come up with a way to measure Common sense, but I will attempt to do so before this book is out.
The major listing of brain misfires. There is a general division between misfires. One is defined as Psychiatric disorders and the other is Disorders of Neural Development. You will not read this any place but here. Understand the line between the two is not discernable by measurement. It is somewhat arbitrary. It seems to me that being severely autistic is just as much of a concern for family and friends as someone with sleep disorders or someone who is schizophrenic.
Psychologists and Psychiatrists have done their darnedest to categorize all these problems. The list is an on-going effort by the American Psychiatric Association (called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders---DSM). You have to take your hat off to them for their effort. I, for one, believe grant searching and ego boosting motivates much of the listing and proposed listing. Do not forget mind reading has yet to be proved and each of us is different. Gad Zooks!! the variables are out of this world. It is a given that we do need categorization if we are going to be able to treat and otherwise handle the misfires. Obviously, the health and wellbeing of those not so inflicted is dependent on some degree of control.
So far the DSM states there are the following categories of disorders. (not disorders of neural development)
Adjustment
Anxiety
Dissociative
Eating
Impulse-control
Mood
Sexual
Sleep
Psychotic *
Sexual dysfunctions
Somatoform
Substance
Personality
*Under Psychotic disorders fall the better known problems of Manic Depression (now called Bipolar so as not to offend anyone); Obsessive Compulsive, Schizophrenia and enough special sleep and sexual disorders to wake the dead.
What you discover is that there are many misfires which seem to be pushed to one side. For example, Narcissism (major ego problems) does not rise to Psychotic level
s; the confidence person (AKA con-man) does not; and Autism does not make the list either. These latter are loosely called defects in neural development. Sorry, I personally do not see the difference, but then my doctorate is in law and I need glasses to read. In my simplistic way, a misfire is a misfire is a misfire.
You know another misfire which gets very little attention is being dumb…..having a very low IQ. Now, obviously, if it gets too low we have categories for that, such as imbecile, moron, half-moon etc. For example, besides being the former name of the City of Taft in California, (and a slew of other towns around the world) Moron is the psychiatric world’s word to describe someone with the intelligence of an 8 to 10 year old. An imbecile is one with an intelligence of a 3 to 7 year old. The question of Retardation or low IQ has many identified and unidentified causes. Obviously, low I.Q. is a concern of the person afflicted and their families. Today, there are many cover words such as “mentally disadvantaged”, “developmentally disabled”. Somehow, if you change the name every 10 years it makes the problem better. You understand. Yesterday it was divorce, and now it is dissolution of marriage. Name games for the faint of heart.
Does the obvious thought differences between a Leftist and a Conservative rise to the level of a psychotic aberration? Should it be left to the level of a neural disorder? Is it simply honest differences between thinking men and women? From all the prior chapters we have explored the differences. I hope you agree, the differences are Grand Canyon like. That is, a Leftist is over here mentally and a Conservative is over there, at least on the issues of politics and government. Said another way the differences really are a warp in the way the mind perceives how to cope in society. Just on gun rights, a Conservative wants to follow the law and a Leftist does not. Isn’t that a pretty basic problem? In some places, we arrest people who will not follow the law, but somehow this, and the other Leftist avoidance of the law slips by. Why does it slip by? Because this difference has been considered a matter of opinion and not a brain misfire. In the next chapter, I will try to explain why it is not and can no longer be considered a mere opinion problem. It is a mental problem.
It Is S.A.D.- The Leftist Brain Exposed Page 10
