neuroscientist explains what's happening with Trump supporters’ brains

What interests me are the four ideas about belief and behaviour. The Dunning-Kruger Effect. Hypersensitivity to Threat. Terror Management Theory. High Attentional Engagement.

What do y'all think of them? If anyone's interested in Real Jedi Mind Tricks see http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/a-neuroscientist-explains-what-may-be-wrong-with-trump-supporters-brains/

I think some of this explains how someone could believe the universe is 6,000 years old and other ridiculous things.

Well it certainly explains a lot.

I have a coworker who says he's going to vote for Trump even though he knows Trump is an idiot. This baffles me. This article helps me make sense of that. I'm guessing that this coworker wants to flip the finger to Washington and so he's willing to vote for such a horrible candidate. I can sympathize with wanting to stick it to the man, but I'd never vote for Trump just to do that. There are so many other ways to rebel against the system.

It truly frightens me that so many people support Trump. I'll just have to hope that the Democrats can rally behind Hillary and manage to outnumber the Trump supporters. I've already decided that I will seriously consider moving to Canada (or perhaps Europe) if Trump is elected. I just think that Trump will do irreparable harm to our country and even to the world. He's such a fear-mongering war hawk. With Trump as president I predict we'll be in another war before the year is over. I don't want to see this happen. We do not need to fight another war against a group like ISIS which represents an ideology. You can't kill ideology as has been clearly evidenced by the failure of the "war on terror."

Let's hope these Trump followers will not be enough to get him elected. I'm hoping that some of the more reasonable Republicans will choose to vote against Trump. Even if they just vote for a third party that could split the Republican vote and give Hillary a good chance.

Oh man this is a flat out funny. Trump supporters must be ignorant or have some sort of cognitive dissonance. Well I guess by this metric Hillary supporters must ignorant or morally bankrupt? Why one might ask?

Lets see had I done with classified information in the military what Hillary did with classified information I would likely STILL be in prision. But its ok to break the law if you " didnt intend to " (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/clinton-broke-federal-rules-email-server-audit-finds-n580131)

Hillary's inept administrations poor handling of the attack at Benghazi got my brothers in uniform killed. (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/republicans-release-their-benghazi-report-rescue-delayed-administration)

The Clinton fund got a ton of money from Russa right around the time Hillary gave the needed signatures to sign over American Uranium rights ( http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?_r=0)

Hillary and all other that try to strip away the second amendment use the EXACT SAME tactics as Trumps crime is on the rise bs when they try to scare people into supporting gun control. (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/gun-violence-prevention/)

So let us see Hillary has been a liar, broke the law, handled things so badly people got killed waiting for help, and has serious doubts about her being corrupt. Then we wonder why there are people that say well Trump cant be worse? While I feel both candidates are awful that doesnt change the fact that we have seen the inept and potentially corrupt nature of the Clintons in office we do not however know what Trump will be like. So I more then get the support for him.

I don't think the article is meant to compare candidates. While I assume he is not a Trump fan, the author is trying to explain Trump's success at gaining support in a completely unprecedented way. We have never seen a presidential candidate like him in our history and his campaign is unique. He has said and done things that have ruined other political careers, and yet he seems immune to these consequences. It leaves the "experts" befuddled. The same can be said about both Clintons, and there are people in academia trying to explain that phenomenon too. They just fit the established "evil politician" mold we're used to, so their behavior is less shocking.

Whether you agree with his politics or not, it makes sense that academia will be studying how and why this campaign and this candidate are shattering many preconceived notions about what gets someone elected. It could change the way politicians speak to their supporters and try to gain new ones.

It is also fair to compare self identified "liberals" to self identified "conservatives" to see if the difference is not merely ideological, but physiological. Trump engages all of us, but in different ways. Understanding how different people are affected in different ways can help us to find out what motivates certain behavior.

Senan wrote: Made some good points.

Eh fair enough I suppose. I just am tired of this election cycles vitriol and use of emotions rather then facts. I also loath Hillary far more then Trump so I am admittedly biased.

Senan wrote: ...the author is trying to explain Trump's success at gaining support in a completely unprecedented way.

LOL, Im sorry Senan but that is total crapola. This is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to skirt the issues and instead go after the voting populace of a particular candidate and insult them for what they are standing for. If this was in any way a fair assessment then the author would be contrasting and comparing Democratic candidates as well. But he is not, hes attacking Republicans for being Republicans and trying to reduce them to blithering idiots that are just wrong about everything they believe because somehow their brains are inferior to a liberal and thus more enlightened brain.

I really do hope that John posted this in the interest of the "scientific Data" and not as an attack on conservatives (Something I'm not convinced of). After all we are here to discuss issues, not to insult people right?

So how exactly are Trump loyalists psychologically or neurologically different from everyone else? What is going on in their brains that makes them so blindly devoted?

• Many of those who support Donald Trump do so because of ignorance — basically they are under-informed or misinformed about the issues at hand.
• [Trump supporters] who lack expertise in some area of knowledge often have a cognitive bias that prevents them from realizing that they lack expertise.
• Essentially, they’re not smart enough to realize they’re dumb.
• Some of us may feel the urge to shake a Trump supporter and say, “Hey! Don’t you realize that [you’re] an idiot?
• Trump taps into the conservative brain that has an exaggerated fear response when faced with stimuli that may be perceived as threatening.
• Trump creates a psychological condition that makes the [conservative] brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric.
• Trump supporters will forgive anything he says. They are happy as long as they are kept entertained.
• [Some conservatives] are supporting Trump to be rebellious or to introduce chaos into the system.

Clinton Broke Federal Rules With Email Server, Audit Finds - http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/clinton-broke-federal-rules-email-server-audit-finds-n580131

"The audit found that the non-compliance over personal email went beyond Clinton, and that former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, also failed to preserve government-related emails when he was secretary of state.

The State Department asked Powell to try to receive relevant emails from his internet provider, but "as of May 2016 the Department has not received a response" from Powell, the audit said.

Indeed, the report's conclusion cites "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" in electronic record-keeping "that go well beyond the tenure of any one secretary of state."

But the findings on Clinton are sure to reverberate through the 2016 presidential campaign, as her spokesman, Brian Fallon, noted in a statement.

"While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the Inspector General documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email," Fallon said."

Republicans Release Their Benghazi Report: Rescue Delayed As Administration Dithered - http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/republicans-release-their-benghazi-report-rescue-delayed-administration

"Republicans summarized what they consider to be "significant new information," including:

-- Despite President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s clear orders to deploy military assets, nothing was sent to Benghazi, and nothing was en route to Libya at the time the last two Americans were killed almost 8 hours after the attacks began.

The report states on page 149: 'When the attacks in Benghazi began, the Defense Department was unprepared to respond. Despite there being a missing U.S. Ambassador, its response—from the start of the attack at 9:42 p.m. in Libya, to the amount of time it took for the forces to actually deploy until late the next morning in Libya—at best illustrates a rusty bureaucratic process not in keeping with the gravity and urgency of the events happening on the ground.'"

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/gun-violence-prevention/

"As president, Hillary will:

Expand background checks to more gun sales—including by closing the gun show and internet sales loopholes—and strengthen the background check system by getting rid of the so-called 'Charleston Loophole.'

Take on the gun lobby by removing the industry’s sweeping legal protection for illegal and irresponsible actions (which makes it almost impossible for people to hold them accountable), and revoking licenses from dealers who break the law.

Keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, other violent criminals, and the severely mentally ill by supporting laws that stop domestic abusers from buying and owning guns, making it a federal crime for someone to intentionally buy a gun for a person prohibited from owning one, and closing the loopholes that allow people suffering from severe mental illness to purchase and own guns. She will also support work to keep military-style weapons off our streets."


Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html

Donald Trump’s Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia - http://time.com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/

Ex-CIA Director: 'No Doubt' Putin Views Trump as 'Unwitting Agent' - http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/ex-cia-director-no-doubt-putin-views-trump-unwitting-agent-n624786

TRUMP AND PUTIN: A LOVE STORY - http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-and-putin-a-love-story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qIQbydyHwc

Disclosure - I've voted since 1978. I've voted in every presidential election starting with 1980. I have voted for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents.

I am interested in the science of the article but I'll say for the record that I don't see the small fingered vulgarian also known as Donald Trump as being a conservative or a Republican. Neither do many many many loyal faithful lifelong Republicans. Should I list them or will googling the matter do?

Let's remember that Libertarian Gary Johnson is a candidate and could be president easier than many believe because they have not considered this. If Gary Johnson Can Win His Home State He Could Be Elected President - https://alibertarianfuture.com/2016-election/gary-johnson-elected-president-home-state-new-mexico/

So my belief that the Cheeto hued Caligula is a monster is not an endorsement of Hillary Clinton. It's not a condemnation of the Republican party or conservatism.

They're literally throwing everything at Trump, so hilarious. Social media shows Trump will win by a landslide, but you never know. I've never voted and could've voted in last two elections, but I might register to vote for Trump.

Do I know exactly what Trump will do? Do I like Trump running off at the mouth? No, but I know Hillary is purely pro-war, pro-debt, pro-political correctness, pro-Wall St, pro-corporate/globalist/international socialism, anti-Constitution/Bill of Rights, a blatant liar, corrupt and dysfunctional in her previous duties in government that should've had her fired at the very least.

She will continue the interventions, meddling, funding and taking money from radicals, being unnecessarily confrontational with Russia via economic/media/proxy wars, propping up the debt based economy, grant amnesty to all illegal immigrants for more votes and supporters of the socialist taking from the middle class and people who really want to work and also lower standards of living by bringing in the absolutely desperate and helpless all at the behest of the international western oligarchy.

That article has good points though, no doubt about that. Trump keeps up that emotional rhetoric and while he is on point with the issues that are and have caused a lot of problems, his method of presenting them does really attract the low information types to capture them before they become truly awake and conscious of how the game is controlled at the very top on a level most people can't even fathom because they think actors are rich, they don't even know about the single family that is worth over $500 trillion.

Trump is a horrible stepping stone because we're in the middle of a total shit storm and I don't think he's going to be able to do much about the issues we face because I'm sure he's also just another puppet. Unfortuantely for me it comes down to having a Republican to ensure the next Supreme Court nominees are pro-2A.