In light of yet another study showing the superiority of “liberal” thinking, a new study shows that people become less racist - and therefore more liberal as they grow older.

Here is the recent crop of other reports coming out of the Universities this year. The results might not surprise you.

Study: Columbia - Problem Solving - Flexibility
Findings:
Two groups were identified by their voter registrations. The two groups, labeled Conservative and Liberal were placed in a focus group and presented with problems that seemed intractable.

For example, each group was posed with a question; if a person who you held in high esteem were proven to be guilty of an action which this person condemned, what would you do?

Conservatives tended to quickly demand that this person “step down” or “resign immediately”. The Liberal control group quickly found solutions that demonstrated creative problem solving skills.

One “liberal” respondent probed ideas such as “ideas that transcend” personal actions. Others found novel ways to find equivilence and justification.

Conclusion:
Conservatives struggle with non-standard solutions to problems. Liberals tend to be creative and willing to explore “flexible” concepts like postmodernism. Their willingness to embrace “greater truths” that are not encumbered by patricharchal “gods” clearly frees them to solve problems better than the rigid “conservative” thinking.

Study: Amherst - Giving
Findings:
Study participants were each given $100 dollars and instructed to perform a charitable act with it. In short order, two distinct groups emerged. One group simply gave the money away to charitable organizations or directly to individuals in need. The other group formed a “collective” and tried to coerce the funds from the other group. As such, they were able to collect a sum greater than each individual’s initial $100. Eighty percent of the participants in this group were able to preserve their own initial investment. Of the $4,300 collected, only 65% was kept for speaking fees and “awareness events”.

Conclusion:
Conservatives struggle with non-standard solutions to problems. Liberals tend to be creative and willing to explore “community” concepts like collectivism, social programs.

Study: Princeton - Self Expression
Findings:
In dealing with day-to-day issues such as transgender rights, global warming and the line at grocery store express lane, two groups were observed and measured by three criteria; coping skills under stress, verbal expression and level of intensity.

Conclusion:
Not suprisingly, the group that self-identified as “liberal” seemed much more motivated and passionate. More creative responses were measured by the “liberal” respondents when told that they had 20 items in a 12 items or less line. The absence of obscenities on the part of the “conservative” group also indicated an inability for “out of the box” thinking. Further, the passion displayed by one liberal subject when berating the Pakistani shop owner about his use of plastic bags displayed initiative that the “conservative” group lacked.

Conservatives struggle with non-standard solutions to problems. Liberals tend to be creative and willing to explore solutions beyond “verbal expression” and into “direct action” such as protests and arson. Conservatives on the other hand constantly relied on the excuse of having a “day job”.

Study: UC Berkeley - Square Pegs
Findings:
In a study of 242 students divided into groups classified as “conservative” or “liberal”, it was consistently shown that conservative leaning students put the round pegs in the round holes and tended to shun the square pegs which wouldn’t fit. Liberal students on the other hand, found creative ways to ram, cram or fist the square pegs into the holes. In fact, it didn’t matter whether the holes themselves were round or square. One enterprising student in the Liberal group actually felt he had no choice but to put the round peg into another round peg.

Conclusion:
Conservatives struggle with non-standard solutions to problems. Liberals tend to be creative and willing to explore alternatives, being unbound by concepts like “squareness” or outmoded thinking paradigms which imply that pegs and holes are somehow complimentary.

Posted by Cranky @ 4:10 pm
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