Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Happiness and Rationality
This post on how the brain tends to immitate people that are around you is a must read--it also delves into the well-documented phenomenon that happy people tend to be more rational than those that tend to be angry.
I think, lately, this helps to explain politics a lot. The left tends to be quite angry right now (and hence, often much less thinking and rational--and you know hearing that would just make many lefties more angry). However, many on the right seem to have a positive "the world is not perfect but it's not so bad either" kind of view (now, obviously, there are many, many exceptions to this dichotimy; however, I think overall it stands up well). That's how I approach things. The world is screwed up in a lot of ways (Iran trying to get nukes, for example), but it's also pretty good. But, I know history, so I know things could be worst beyond anything I've every experienced in my life. But, sadly, most people know little or no history...
I think, lately, this helps to explain politics a lot. The left tends to be quite angry right now (and hence, often much less thinking and rational--and you know hearing that would just make many lefties more angry). However, many on the right seem to have a positive "the world is not perfect but it's not so bad either" kind of view (now, obviously, there are many, many exceptions to this dichotimy; however, I think overall it stands up well). That's how I approach things. The world is screwed up in a lot of ways (Iran trying to get nukes, for example), but it's also pretty good. But, I know history, so I know things could be worst beyond anything I've every experienced in my life. But, sadly, most people know little or no history...
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