Claude Whitacre and others blogged about a new episode of Through The Wormhole, with Morgan Freeman narrating on the Science Channel. It covered several credible university and government experiments that indicate why humans may naturally be bigots. It was also interesting how we reacted when playing violent video games, and how it affected our sense of fairness. There was also a social experiment, the results of which offer a possible reason "Takers" become ostracized from the accepted flow of society in the U.S., and "Givers" are more involved.
But the best experiments discussed were those that illustrated how Republicans and Democrats initially process information through different parts of the brain, leading to very different initial and lasting viewpoints. No, it does not indicate that one is superior over the other, just different and resolutely so. This is apparent in the polarization present today in politics, religion, climate change, etc.
For videos of Through the Wormhole | Discovery Science see the link below:
http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/through-the-wormhole/are-we-all-bigots/
One video clip illustrates how humans enjoy watching our enemies lose, even if we are not involved. The program provides some indicators of why humans think the way we do.
I2M Web Portal editors suggest here that the above results may be just the beginnings to understanding the confounding polarization present in the U.S. today, i.e., between blacks and whites, Democrats and Republicans, and other pro-con positions like those involving climate-change issues, religion, etc. There will be more on this topic in the future, no doubt.
Resource Portal for I2M Clients, Associates, and Geoscientists
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-