Collideoscope

No wonder it took me so long to finish my thesis! A new study proves that my conservatism actually hinders my intelligence. Aggghhh . . .I need to check my thesis for "Bushisms"!

But, seriously, the study concluded that "on average, conservatives show more structured and persistent cognitive styles, whereas liberals are more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty."

Boy, did the press have a field day. But Will Saletan has a great response on Slate. He deconstructs the press party and pretty much the whole study. In so doing, he actually proves something else . . .

The first part of this test was flashing a series of "Ms" and "Ws" up on a computer screen. One of the letters was a "go" and required response. This is beginning to sound a lot like a joke I heard when I was 12 about the blonde who got fired from the M&M factory for throwing out the Ws.

Anyway, the conclusion of this section of the study is "conservatives cling more inflexibly to old ways of thinking". However, NYU professor David Amodio said of this test battery: "It's too quick for you to think consciously about what you're doing." Italics should have been original, but I guess my slow conservative mind was functioning liberally enough yesterday to spot this . . .

Is it just me or shouldn't Professor Amodio's statement amount to a tacit admission that "liberals" DON'T THINK?! Isn't that what that means? Liberals are better at reacting when there's no time to think?

Hmmm . . .I wonder if that would have made the Evening News with . . .well, whoever it is who is doing the Evening News now. Oh yeah, what's-her-name. . .Katie Current! Oh wait, that's Shark Tale! Blast my conservative mind . . .