[article] Bush supporters less likely to live in this reality.

Hobbes

http://www.alternet.org/election04/20263/

Intresting read. TBH Shows the true power of the media.

Trojan

Hobbes wrote:

http://www.alternet.org/election04/20263/

Intresting read. TBH Shows the true power of the media.

Frightening tunnel vision.

OT: the rest of the articles on that site are excellent too.

sliabh

Before everyone gets up on their high horse to berate Republicans on this, I would say that there is a pretty high level of wilful ignorance in this country as well. There is no end of people out there that have formed completly wrong opinions which no amount of argument can convince them otherwise of. And then they go out and vote based on this.

You just have to listen to the talk radio shows to see what dumb opions people have formed based on junk ideas. And the radio stations filter the worst of it becase they have to watch out for libel. Ride with a Dublin taxi driver to get the best in uninformed drivel. (Last night I was told the port tunnel height was too low because of corruption and we were the laughing stock of Europe on account. Or that the new west link bridge was the most sophisticated one of its kind in the world. Huh?)

Just look at the likes of Michael Lowry and Beverly Cooper-Flynn getting re-elected. Or people voting for Sinn Fein, not knowing or caring that they are linked to organised crime!

I have jokingly suggested in the past that people should be made to a current affairs test before they are allowed to vote. That way you can be sure they have a clue before they made up their minds. But sometimes I think maybe this is something that we really do need to do!

BTW the original site for the survey is:
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Pres_Election_04/html/new_10_21_04.html

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

There is no end of people out there that have formed completly wrong opinions which no amount of argument can convince them otherwise of. And then they go out and vote based on this.

catholics for example.

it's also sad how bloody ignorant so many irish people are about america, though they love to talk about "the damn stupid americans" at every given opportunity.

Manach

catholics for example.
Might I add certain types of moderators as well. This is a political board yet you seem incapable to resist cheap off topic targets. The Catholic voter opinion in America seems to encompass everyone from the Democratic Candidate John Kerry to uber-conservatives such as Patrick Buchanan. It is not possible to lump them into one catagory for your convinence.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

actually i was referring to their religious beliefs, which fly in the face of.. well.. science, common sense.. and logic.

but hey,let's get back on topic.

how many people were surprised by what this article had to say?

Big Ears

Mordeth wrote:

how many people were surprised by what this article had to say?

All of the Bush supporters that took the test anyway , but I certianly wasn't , theres lost of similer polls with similer results .

bonkey

Mordeth wrote:

how many people were surprised by what this article had to say?

The only thing I was surprised with was that it ws so blatantly partisan...and I'm sure that many people will interpret it that Bush supporters are more likely than Kerry supporters to be "in an alternate reality".

Surprisingly, Bill O'Reilly was one of the first people I heard referring to this issue regarding the current election, and he didn't take sides. His problem with both candidates is that neither lives in the real world...and he said (I think) that many supporters of either side also generally refuse to acknowledge reality whenever it intrudes.

But is it surprising? No. Not in the slightest. Is it a Republican phenomonen? Nope. Its not even an American phenomonen.

I can't remember who said it (could have been TLJ in MIB), but while individuals may be smart, people are just plain dumb. This just backs that up.

jc

SkepticOne

bonkey wrote:

The only thing I was surprised with was that it ws so blatantly partisan...and I'm sure that many people will interpret it that Bush supporters are more likely than Kerry supporters to be "in an alternate reality".

Interestingly, the actual report on which this is based is entitled "The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters" link], although it does seem that the Kerry supporters 'reality' is closer to the actual one.

mycroft

Trojan wrote:

Frightening tunnel vision.

My uncle is the retired police chief of pittisburgh, and a hardcore republican.

Once tried to defend Dan Quayles spelling of "potato". He claimed that as a boy he was pretty sure that they spelt it with an "e" at the end.

Now thats denial.

sceptre

bonkey wrote:

I can't remember who said it (could have been TLJ in MIB), but while individuals may be smart, people are just plain dumb.

Aye, 'twas TLJ, though it's a bit older than that (I was using it in college debates a few years before and I robbed it as a point-illustrating technique/audience winner from someone else)

Victor

The roots of the Bush supporters' resistance to information very likely lie in the traumatic experience of 9/11 and equally in the near pitch-perfect leadership that President Bush showed in its immediate wake. This appears to have created a powerful bond between Bush and his supporters – and an idealized image of the President that makes it difficult for his supporters to imagine that he could have made incorrect judgments before the war, that world public opinion would be critical of his policies or that the president could hold foreign policy positions that are at odds with his supporters.

I find this explanation little too charitable. Yes, some people will take their stance based on the above, but many other will base it on bigotry, ignorance and outright stupidity.