[ExI] Science confirms: Politics wrecks your ability to do math

spike spike66 at att.net
Sun Nov 3 19:36:35 UTC 2013


>... On Behalf Of BillK
Subject: [ExI] Science confirms: Politics wrecks your ability to do math

>...Everybody knows that our political views can sometimes get in the way of
thinking clearly. But perhaps we don't realize how bad the problem actually
is. According to a new psychology paper, our political passions can even
undermine our very basic reasoning skills. More specifically, the study
finds that people who are otherwise very good at math may totally flunk a
problem that they would otherwise probably be able to solve, simply because
giving the right answer goes against their political beliefs.

<http://grist.org/politics/science-confirms-politics-wrecks-your-ability-to-
do-math/>
...

>...BillK
----------


Thanks BillK.  If anything, the study grossly understates its case.  We are
witnessing a stunning case of massive failure on the part of American voters
to perform the very most basic form of linear extrapolation.

spike




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