Comments on: Liberals place more value on being funny than conservatives and libertarians.

By: Benjamin David Steele

Benjamin David Steele — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:01:29 +0000

@Michael Anderson: As a liberal intellectual, I feel a need to respond. What I’ve found in my studies is that there is so much more to intellectual understanding than just logic, although I do put a high value on logic. I’ve met a certain kind of intellectual who seems emotionally detached or emotionally unaware. They are good at arguing and maybe even winning arguments, but they seem to confuse winning a debate with being right. Many Christian apologists are great debaters and yet completely wrong about their beliefs. Logic is superficial at best and deceiving at worst without deeper insight or deeper love of knowledge.

From my liberal perspective, I’m less interested in winning debates. I see intellectual discussions as opportunities to learn about and explore new ideas and viewpoints. Sometimes a new idea/view can seem illogical based on certain premises, but by exploring beyond one’s preferred logic can allow for new understandings and a change of one’s premises. If a person is too attached to logical certainty, this can short-circuit the ability to change one’s mind according to new info.

Liberal intellectual probably tend to see less opposition between intellectual logic and intellectual openness, but the priority is put on curiosity. Even seemingly illogical ideas can be worthy of intellectual curiosity, if only to understand why someone would believe such ideas.

By: Ravi

Ravi — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:24:23 +0000

http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/10/colberts-super-pac-launches-first-tv-ad-supporting-rick-parry/

Just wanted to save that link along with this post.

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:00:33 +0000

It is also important to point out that liberals score nearly as highly as libertarians on wanting to be intellectual–but much lower relative to libertarians in the “logical” category. Which shows that liberals talk a good game, but can’t back it up.

By: Guy Smiley

Guy Smiley — Wed, 04 May 2011 21:59:52 +0000

“it is important to note that this does not mean that liberals are indeed funnier, but rather that they place a value on being funny.”
“Conservatives value being responsible, loyal, and honest”

* It is important to note that this does not mean that conservatives are indeed more responsible, loyal, and honest.