Why conservatives are happier than liberals NEW YAWK TIMES

[GreyGeek]

....
There is a difference between causation and correlation. For instance, since McDonalds introduced the Big Mac, violent crime has decreased while at the same time sales of the Big Mac have increased. ...

When I was a kid the big scare was Polio. I read a newspaper article that claimed Polio was caused by drinking Coka-Cola, and it gave the statistics and graphs to "prove" it. Coke sales dropped for awhile. Later I found out that the claim that Polio was caused by eating ice cream, soda pop and artificially sweetened food was made by a Dr. Benjamin Sandler in 1949. He warned North Carolinians and the claim is that sugar consumption in that state fell 90%, and so did Polio, by the same percentages. This is related in the book "The Great White Hoax" ("white" referring to sugar). The book goes on to claim that Polio was caused by the vaccinations for Diphtheria and Small Pox, and other vaccinations given at the time.

In recent times, groups apposing vaccinations because they believe that they cause autism have given the cause for the Polio epidemic a different spin, even though the British physician, Dr Andrew Wakefield, later admitted to manufacturing the "data" which he used to support the relationship between the 3-in-1 vaccine and autism. That didn't matter. Jenny McCarthy, whose academic credentials began with a nude Playboy shoot, has made lots of money selling books and appearances about autism. She is single handedly responsible for the deaths of many children, deaths that could have been avoided had the children received the vaccinations.

Now, the new spin is that Polio was caused by DDT and disappeared when its use was outlawed.

http://vactruth.com/2012/06/03/7-tri...s-about-polio/

even though such use of statistics has been thoroughly debunked.

I put these statistical spins in the same category as the "Faces On Mars", the Roswell UFO, UFOs in general, ghosts, alien bodies found on the Moon, End of the World on December 21st, 2012, and other irrational claims whose adherents always blame the government with "covering up the truth".

It's really sad, because these clowns are being used to ridicule anyone who thinks that the Federal government is involved in hiding facts from Americans.

[SteveRiley]

If the bad guy is sitting at home plopped on the couch eating a BigMac he will be too sleepy later to go out to hassle decent law-abiding, celerey eating citizens! lol

But here you're drawing a conclusion from the correlation: namely, that all those additional BigMacs are being purchased by bad guys!

[vw72]

vw72
ummmm I would demur with your assessment of the causation between BigMac sales and violent crime drop.

If the bad guy is sitting at home plopped on the couch eating a BigMac he will be too sleepy later to go out to hassle decent law-abiding, celerey eating citizens! lol

And as to the marriage-> conservative -> happieness, not being connected, there is an old mathematical function, and a philosophical one if that a = b and b = c then a = b and if you run into a tall thin guy and a short chubby guy in a train station and he asks for two tens for a five I'd probably head for the nearest McDonalds and spend the money before you lose it! lol


woodsmoke

I think you meant then a=c. The problem with the confusion society has between causation and correlation can be seen with If it's raining and you don't have an umbrella you will get wet does not mean that if you got wet it is raining and you don't have an umbrella (for instance, you maybe jumped into a pool). Effectively, that is what they are trying to say about conservatives and happiness. It is true that married people are happier than non married people. It is also true that more conservatives are married. However, there is no way to say from that anything about conservatives are happier than liberals. Part of the answer would depend on how many unmarried conservatives there were, too. If there are more unmarried conservatives than unmarried liberals, then one could just as validly claim that conservatives are less happy than liberals. Since conservatives cannot be both more happy and less happy, there is a flaw in the logic. That flaw is because of correlation not causation.

As for bad guy sitting at home eating the big mac, that's flawed, too. Why? Well, to get the big mac, he has to go out to McDonalds, as they don't deliver. So he will still hassle the law abiding celery eating citizen, probably even more so, as he's grumpy because he woke from his slumber and had to go out and get another Big Mac!





But that is my point. Assume a = married people, b=happiness and c=conservatives. We do know that more conservatives are married than liberals. However starting with a=b, just because more "a"s are married does not mean one can say c=b

[vw72]

GG,

We all know that polio was just a scare tactic to get people to let the government inject microchips to track everything we do and enable mind control. Maybe if we had our public schools go back to actually teaching instead of being surrogate parents and athletic trainers, such claims would die before they even start. BTW, you left out about the black helicopters from your list.

[oshunluvr]

How about stupidity? One could argue stupid (or uninformed) people are happier - thus the phrases "Ignorance is bliss" and "Blissfully unaware." Is it a fair conclusion then to call all conservatives stupid or uninformed? Surely if Conservative=Happy and Stupid=Happy, then Conservative=Stupid.

Thankfully, I think most all of us - conservative, liberal, or independant (i.e. actual thinkers ) - can agree that the human condition cannot be distilled to a simple algrebraic equasion.

Personally IMO, our primary schools were originally designed to get young people off the farms and into the factories. Multiplication tables are memorization, not math. Creating robots was the goal. Now there's so much government interference and political correctness most of our primary schools are glorified daycare. The kids that really succeed would have done so regardless of the school (parents, genetics, etc.).


Besides, those helicopters have listening devices and they know what we are doing.

[Qqmike]

Reading the posts, random notes ...

-- vw72 exhibits impeccable skill in logic (and its application). Solid, sound.

-- Woodsmoke is confused about logic.

If a=b, and b=c, then a=c is a transitive property of a certain binary relation (in this case, "=").

But, a ~ b, b ~ c, => a ~ c may or may not, in general, be the case, unless the binary relation "~" satisfies certain properties/assumptions. In general, it is dangerous (read: nonsense) to apply a priori it to human preference or utility orderings.


-- This business of generalization, profiling, stereotypes ... We see it in the news all the time these days, right? "Cops are accused of profiling!" Hell, don't various intelligence agencies pay big bucks for professional profilers? Yes, they do. We all profile. Fine line between that and discrimination or over generalization; and it takes more valid data to substantiate certain conclusions based on just a profile fit.

But that aside (the academic's usual sort of apology), let me jump to my point.

>>> He (or she) kicks **** all over the place, talks about Blacks liberally using the N-word and its antiquated equivalents, doesn't give a **** about the facts or any kind of logic or even about a reasonable sense of fairness in any political debate, has a very large belt buckle, has his kids working on his ranch and will kick their ass if they fall outa line, is not very articulate, has this funny but strange but slightly unsettling smile/grin/side glance about him when speaking out the side of his mouth about things he really knows nothing whatsoever about, and spatters his speech up with a bunch of " ... get the f'n government off my ass" -es.

OK, now you must bet your net wealth on which way you think this fine American votes: conservative/Republican? or liberal/Democrat?

What percent of that "type" of profile (or people in "that" subgroup) will you find voting conservative/Republican/Tea Party ranks? What do YOU see in your experience, at your age, in your travels around America, in your daily routine, about "that" subgroup/profile?

>>> He (or she) is intelligent, well dressed, articulate, not prejudiced, not bigoted in any way, is fairly fair and even in most political matters, et cetera (along these lines).
OK, now you must bet your net wealth on which way you think this fine American votes: conservative/Republican? or liberal/Democrat? ANSWER: It certainly sounds like a liberal! But, impossible to tell; he/she could be of ANY political persuasion. (Have any good studies been done to assess any odds/percentages on this?)

How 'bout that! :-)

[woodsmoke]

There was a guy that was a major poster at Castle Cops, thousands of posts and major numbers of removing malware from people's computers.

Turned out that all along... he was a she!

lol

woodsmoke

[Qqmike]

What!? OK, off-topic then, I can do this and even one-up yours ...

A few months ago, we had a little party at home with some friends. Two female friends, mid 30's, brought a mutual female friend (age about 25) with them as we had been wanting to meet her. I answered the door, there stood the 3 gals, and wow, the new gal was hot. I hugged her and had my eyes on her for some time, flirting tastefully and appropriately. Another gal takes me aside and says, You may wish to know that your new girl friend is actually a guy who is, at this point, actually half a woman. Well, since then we have all become good friends, and you can just imagine the open jokes and double entendres that float through our dinner parties--and "he/she" is the least of the issues, if you get me here.

[SteveRiley]

You sound like one majorly unhappy liberal there, dude.

[Qqmike]

Yeah, you're right, Steve. Things have just been awful. I'm so miserable. I've even thought about stopping all my insightful, profound, well-researched thoughts on the hundreds of issues I usually stay abreast of. Hate to do it, but it may be worth a try. I'll just try plugging into the rockin' Rush Limbaugh scene and try to be one happy White boy. One thing about them conservatives (like my new twang?) is they DO seem to attract all the really unusual and entertaining characters--there's lots to keep my mind off anything important and real and yet be entertained and happy.

[SteveRiley]

One thing about them conservatives (like my new twang?)

s/thing/thang/

Fixed that for ya.

[Qqmike]

Thanks, many thanks, grateful to ya.
;-)

[woodsmoke]

LOL
I just love this place!

woodsmoke

[dibl]

As if there are only two political perspectives in the universe ....

[woodsmoke]

well, we could bring the Whigs and the Houyhnhnms! lol

woodsmoke