Below is an e-mail exchange between my daughter, my wife, and my sister-in-law. In it, my 21 year old daughter, who will graduate in December with a Bachelors degree in Communication, reacts to an article sent out by her aunt claiming the sky will fall unless Bush is elected!
At the bottom of this email is a forward I received
from my mom, who received it from my aunt. As a
communication major who has extensively studied
techniques of persuasion, I must take the time to
comment on it, especially at this critical time for
our nation. The article, like many of the rhetoric
used in the campaigns of this election, is blatant use
of fear appeals, a technique of persuasion which, in
order to be effective, relies on people thinking
emotionally rather than rationally. With what our
country has endured over the last several years, I can
understand why people would have a tendency to think
emotionally, but I encourage you to look at the facts.
I have pasted a relevant article for your review...
I encourage all voters to think critically and use
resources like www.factcheck.org (sponsored by
UPenn)to become informed before you go to the polls!
Unfortunately, you cannot rely on the media , the
candidates, or confused partisan writers to feed you
accurate information.
Christina
APPEALING TO OUR LIZARD BRAINS
by Arianna Huffington, October 13, 2004
Since the president's meltdown in the first debate
followed in quick succession by Paul Bremer's
confession, the CIA's no-al Qaeda/Saddam link report,
the Duelfer no-WMD-since '91 report, and the woeful
September job numbers I have been racking my brain
trying to figure out why George W. Bush is still
standing.
The answer arrived via my friend Ed Solomon, the
brilliant writer and filmmaker, who explained that the
conundrum could be solved by looking at the very organ
I'd been racking.
Ed introduced me to the work of Dr. Daniel Siegel, a
Harvard-trained psychiatrist and author of the
forthcoming book Mindsight, which explores the
physiological workings of the brain.
Turns out, when it comes to campaign 2004, it's the
neuroscience, stupid!
Or, as Dr. Siegel told me: "Voters are shrouded in a
'fog of fear' that is impacting the way our brains
respond to the two candidates."
Thanks to the Bush campaign's unremitting
fear-mongering, millions of voters are reacting not
with their linear and logical left brain but with
their lizard brain and their more emotional right
brain.
What's more, people in a fog of fear are more likely
to respond to someone whose primary means of
communication is in the non-verbal realm, neither
logical nor language-based. (Sound like any
presidential candidate you know?)
And that's why Bush is still standing. It's not about
left wing versus right wing; it's about left brain
versus right brain.
Deep in the brain lies the amygdala, an almond-sized
region that generates fear. When this fear state is
activated, the amygdala springs into action. Before
you are even consciously aware that you are afraid,
your lizard brain responds by clicking into survival
mode. Fight, flight, or freeze.
And, boy, have the Bushies been giving our collective
amygdala a workout. Especially Dick Cheney, who has
proven himself an unmatched master of the dark arts of
fear mongering. For an object lesson in how to get
those lizard brains leaping look no further than the
vice presidential debate.
"The biggest threat we face today," said Cheney in his
very first answer "is the possibility of terrorists
smuggling a nuclear weapon or a biological agent into
one of our own cities and threatening the lives of
hundreds of thousands of Americans."
Just in case we didn't get the point, he repeated the
ominous assertion, practically word for word, another
two times throwing in the fact that he was
"absolutely convinced" that the threat "is very real."
It was "be afraid, be very afraid" to the third power.
And when we are afraid, we are biologically programmed
to pay less attention to left-brain signals indeed,
our logical mind actually shuts itself down. Fear
paralyzes our reasoning and literally makes it
impossible to think straight. Instead, we search for
emotional, nonverbal cues from others that will make
us feel safe and secure.
We don't want to hear about a four-point plan to win
the peace, or a list of damning statistics, or even a
compelling, well-reasoned argument. We want to get the
feeling that everything is going to be all right.
In this state, our brains care more about tone of
voice than what is being said. This is why Bush can
verbally stumble and sputter and make little or no
sense and still leave voters feeling that he is the
candidate best able to protect them. Our brains are
primed to receive the kinds of communication he has to
offer and discard the kinds John Kerry has to offer,
even if Kerry makes more "logical sense."
The strutting, winking, pointing, and near-shouting
that marked Bush's town hall debate performance all
sent the same subconscious message to our fear-fogged
brains: "I'm your daddy I've got your back!"
"At the deepest level," Dr. Siegel told me, "we react
to fear as adults in much the same way we did as
infants. It's primal. Human babies have the most
dependent infancy of any species. Our survival depends
on the caregiver. We instinctively look to authority
figures to comfort us and keep us safe."
As needy infants, this natural drive to be soothed and
reassured is what we looked for in our parents; as
anxious adults in these exceptionally unsettling
times, it's what we are looking for in our leaders.
Over the remaining three weeks of the campaign, as the
anxiety level reaches a fevered pitch and you can be
certain the Bush campaign will do everything in its
power to make sure that happens the test facing
voters is no longer "Which candidate would you rather
have a beer with?" It's "Which candidate would you
rather give you your blankie and a bottle and keep the
boogeyman away?"
I know it sounds ludicrous that the most important
election of our lifetime is coming down to who can
best pacify the electorate's inner baby, but I can
think of no better explanation as to why Bush is not
currently hovering at around five percent in the polls
a voting bloc made up of those hardcore fanatics who
are as utterly blind to reality as he is.
As long as we're operating from our lizard brains
and reason takes a back seat to more primal needs
George Bush will continue to survive the logic-based
attacks on his ever-escalating failures.
----
The originally distributed forward I received follows.
Christina
>
>
>
> Interesting perspective - written by Matthew
> Manweller, a university
> professor in Oregon (numerous references in Google,
> Yahoo, etc.):
>
> >"In that this will be my last column before the
> presidential election,
> >there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty
> repartee. The topic is
> >too serious, and the stakes are too high.
> >
> >This November we will vote in the only election
> during our lifetime that
> >will truly matter. Because America is at a
> once-in-a-generation
> >crossroads, more than an election hangs in the
> balance. Down one path
> >lies retreat, abdication and a reign of
> ambivalence. Down the other lies
> >a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the
> daunting obligation
> >its future demands. If we choose poorly, the
> consequences will echo
> >through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a
> spasm of frustration,
> >turn out the current occupant of the White House,
> the message to the world
> >and ourselves will be two-fold.
> >
> >First, we will reject the notion that America can
> do big things.
> >
> >Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the
> Nazis and stood upon
> >the moon, we will announce to the world that
> bringing democracy to the
> >Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more
> significantly, we will
> >signal to future presidents that as voters, we are
> unwilling to tackle
> >difficult challenges, preferring caution to
> boldness, embracing the
> >mediocrity that has characterized other
> civilizations. The defeat of
> >President Bush will send a chilling message to
> future presidents who may
> >need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions.
> America has always been
> >a nation that rises to the demands of history
> regardless of the costs or
> >appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn
> away from who we are.
> >
> >Second, we inform every terrorist organization on
> the globe that the
> >lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we
> showed
> >terrorists that you don't need to defeat America
> on the battlefield when
> >you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned
> that a
> >wounded America can become a defeated America.
> >
> >Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracking
> polls will do the heavy
> >lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except
> that Iraq is Somalia
> >times 10. The election of John Kerry will serve
> notice to every
> >terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly
> of American power is the
> >timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know
> that a steady stream
> >of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break
> the will of the
> >American people. Our own self-doubt will take it
> from there. Bin Laden
> >will recognize that he can topple any American
> administration without
> >setting foot on the homeland.
> >
> >It is said that America's W.W.II generation is its
> 'greatest generation'.
> >But my greatest fear is that it will become known
> as America's
> >'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the
> Great Depression and
> >hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the
> last American generation
> >that understands the meaning of duty, honor and
> sacrifice. It is
> >difficult to admit, but I know these terms are
> spoken with only hollow
> >detachment by many (but not all) in my generation.
> Too many citizens
> >today mistake 'living in America' as 'being an
> American.' But America
> >has always been more of an idea than a place.
> When you sign on, you do
> >more than buy real estate. You accept a set of
> values and responsibilities.
> >
> >This November, my generation, which has been absent
> too long, must grasp
> >the obligation that comes with being an American,
> or fade into the
> >oblivion they may deserve.
> >
> >I believe that 100 years from now historians will
> look back at the
> >election of 2004 and see it as the decisive
> election of our
> >century. Depending on the outcome, they will
> describe it as the moment
> >America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or
> they will describe it as
> >the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the
> greatest generation
> >accepted their burden as caretakers of the City on
> the Hill."
If that really is your daughter, good for her. If it's just some cut and paste from another web site, well, isn't that pandering???
What I think is funny is that if you vote conservatively, you are emotional, and couldn't make a rational decision if your life depended on it. Yet if you lean more liberal you are making an informed decision. Here's a news flash, there are conservative voters who do their homework when it comes to voting, and the libs do their fair share of fear mongering as well.
"our lizard brians"? your ****in' kidding me right? wasn't kennedy spoting off at the mouth three weeks ago about how we' re three times more likely to undure a nuclear war if bush stays in office? communications degrees have almost NOTHING to do with what one know about forign policy(forgive a can't speel today) my sister has one. the liberal media has nothing but utter crap to feed the masses and as it becomes more obvious they're own poles reflect it. every time john kerry opens his mouth i become more convinced(and discusted) he thinks that evryone is stupid just like his buddy hilarry****. i think some some one should juyst shoot that mother****er and his trial lawyer buddy. i don't mean to disrespect ytou as a person-i don't even know you. but this is crap.have a nice day.
Here's all you need to know about arianna huffington:
http://www.americansforfuelefficientcars.org/
Another eco-nazi who if she had her way we wouldn't be able to tow any boats at all.
If that really is your daughter, good for her. If it's just some cut and paste from another web site, well, isn't that pandering???
What I think is funny is that if you vote conservatively, you are emotional, and couldn't make a rational decision if your life depended on it. Yet if you lean more liberal you are making an informed decision. Here's a news flash, there are conservative voters who do their homework when it comes to voting, and the libs do their fair share of fear mongering as well.
Liberal informed decision, voting slogan " Vote for Kerry if you hate Bush" well I guess that is about as rational as a liberal will ever get.
Here's my conservative emotinal response. War has been declared on my country, Do I want a president who changed his position, the last time he was involved in a war? No.
Do I want the corruptable UN in charge of Americas well being? NO
Do I think our government can do a good job of educating children? NO
Do I think our government can provide healthcare, without totally screwing things up? NO
Do I want to support people who don't want to work? NO
Do I want to pay more taxes. NO
Sorry for thinking and showing that you post is BS. but after all I'm an emotinal consevative.
Sorry for thinking and showing that you post is BS. but after all I'm an emotinal consevative.
Are talking to me or the guy that started the thread???
Are talking to me or the guy that started the thread???
You are the one that said conservatives are emotional, and that I don't think things through. When the exact opposite is the way I see it.
Jeanyus Some nice posting there.
Good job Jeanyus
You are the one that said conservatives are emotional, and that I don't think things through. When the exact opposite is the way I see it.
Well then you missed my point there. I was trying to say that most liberals think of themselves as deep thinkers and pigeon hole conservatives as irrational and emmotional.
I was saying that there are quite a few conservative voters (me being one) that do look past all the rehtoric and mud slinging and make an well informed decision.
Read the entire post next time before posting.
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