The Mind of MAGA

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   My Esotericposted 6 months ago

   
   Have you ever wondered why masses of otherwise rational people follow demagogues like Hitler and Trump without question?  Most weren't very bad people, so how could they follow an obviously corrupt men? I know I have and never came to a satisfactory answer.  Then I recently read some articles about recent research into that phenomenon.
   
   Coming out of WW II, many researchers asked the question above and ended up able to describe the kind of person who blindly follows flawed leaders (I have published several articles on that subject). But, they never found out WHY.  Now they have.
   
   Remember seeing those news reports of the massive rallies Hitler held and how enthralled everybody was with what he was saying? Well, the answer lies in WHAT he was saying and HOW he was saying it.  He used words and metaphors like "vermin" and "poisoning the blood of Germans" when speaking about the Jews (yes, he used those words as it turns out). He also used the Big Lie (like the 2020 election was rigged). Further, he and his minions repeated them over and over again.  Hitler also lied a lot about big things, possibly such as Jews being murderers and rapists (or similar terminology). Researchers have found that such rhetoric impacts "susceptible" people in a physical way. It actually alters their brain chemistry.
   
   I won't go into detail here, but you can read about it at the link below or in a three part series I am writing (parts 1 and 2 are published and I am still working on part 3).
   
   The short answer is that these words and metaphors sort of "short-circuits" the brain.  Your brain receives input from your senses, in this case your eyes and ears.  The signals then proceed to, among other places, the area of your brain associated with understanding the inputs.
   
   Now, connecting all these areas the brain are neurons which carry electrical signals. When inputs are received, some of these neurons are activated and send signals to other parts of the brain.  Specifically, for our purposes, the areas associated with thinking, emotion, and information processing. 
   
   In unaffected people, when the kind of rhetoric I described above is heard, signals propagate to all these areas of the brain. But in people who are predisposed to the messages those words and metaphors are sending, the signals to the information processing and thinking parts of the brain are suppressed and allowing a direct path to emotions.  Without mitigating signals coming from the processing and thinking parts, then the emotions are allowed to take over.
   
   Worse, with repetition, like with any other habit, these neural pathways become "solidified" or "hard-wired" such that competing information is pushed aside and ignored. Lastly, in order to protect its sanity, when contradictory information is received, the mind struggles to deconflict what they are now programmed to hear and with what they are hearing now (such as this message) and invents ways to reconcile the two while maintaining their programmed response.
   
   Sorry for the long lead in, but there is a lot to unpack to an audience, some of whom are unwilling to hear it.
   
   https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ … s-00108378
   
   I would also recommend the book by Professor Marcel Danesi, Politics, Lies, and Conspiracy Theories.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 6 months ago

   Why did you post this in the forum? It doesn't belong here.

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      My Esotericposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      And why not, shouldn't MAGA be discussed? I have posted a much more detailed analysis elsewhere.

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3. 96

   Rupert Taylorposted 6 months ago

   Yes, but in the topical forum. However, you'll need a shower after reading comments there. This forum is for writers discussing their craft and helping newcomers understanding the needs of the platform.

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      tsmogposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      If you look at the top of the OP you will see it is in . . .
      
      Topical Forums»Education and Science»Medicine & Health Science»Neurology
      
      What is wrong with that?

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   2. 84

      My Esotericposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      OK, now I am confused.  When I am creating a new forum, a list comes up to chose from.  In this case I chose Topical Forums»Education and Science»Medicine & Health Science»Neurology.  I chose that because it fits the topic at hand. This is the way I do most of the forums.  I didn't see anything led me to think this was for writers.

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4. 67

   abwilliamsposted 6 months ago

   Dissect this:
   OH MY GOD!

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5. 92

   Kenna McHughposted 6 months ago

   I hear you, Rupert. These posts have nothing to do with improving the craft of writing. It's twaddle, useless.

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      Kathleen Cochranposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      The reason so often writing that is actually a typical article ends up as a forum is because HubPages removed the comments section for articles. There is no way to get feedback from your readers any more. That was a huge part of what HP started out as and what attracted many of us to this site.

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         Kenna McHughposted 6 months agoin reply to this

         That makes sense. Some Network sites allow comments. There's a list of them floating around the forum.

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6. 68

   Vlado - Val Karasposted 6 months ago

   Everybody's brain -- not "typically" MAGA's is using the same technology of processing reality, so this analysis, per se, doesn't prove anything. Humans are not merely reactive mental automatons, like impressionable kids who can't help but sponge in some information. We are much more complex than that, and conscious choice should never be left out from that equation.
   In my view, people are projecting their personal dissatisfaction with their life on the screen of political arena, basically neglecting their own issues and living the life of the nation instead. And that goes for the hotheads of both camps. Meaning that so many seem to know more about what has to be fixed in White House than in their own house.
   It's like everybody is forgetting that being a true patriot means seeking ways to heal the national spirit and thus make the country strong -- not this insisting on conflict and division, this incessant and truly pathetic badmouthing each other.
   But, as I always say, to each their own -- and this political turmoil will unfold regardless of what I, or you, or they are saying here.
   So maybe Rupert is right, inasmuch as the practical aspect of Forum is to be kept in mind -- helping those beginners who ask for help at least serves some tangible purpose.
   And, by the way, I will not get hooked for further discussion after comments which may be in disagreement with what I said here.

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      My Esotericposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      " impressionable kids " - I would argue that the science shows there definitely is a cohort of adults who act like impressionable kids.  Those are the ones researchers identify as those predisposed to the message they are being given, whether it be by Trump or any other demagogue.  From what I read, it is that predisposition that sets the stage for shutting down, or at least minimizing the signals that reach the thinking and information procession areas of the brain. 
      
      This was the point that a Professor Korzbski from the University of Toronto was trying make when, during a lecture, took out some biscuits and started eating them, He offered them to the students in the front row who also ate them.  Then he revealed they were dog biscuits at which time some or all of the students reacted negatively and two or three actually ran off to the bathroom to throw up. 
      
      That is a great example of suppressing the rational part of the brain and going straight from input to an emotional reaction.
      
      I agree it will all unfold, but I think one must understand what they are witnessing.
      
      I would also appreciate where in Hubpages Forum rules it specificizes what you and Rupert are suggesting.  If they exist, I will abide by them.

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   abwilliamsposted 6 months ago

   Funny Kenna, that's not where my 《unique》brain went. The context of this post reminds me of the lies spread about the Jewish people, which led to their extermination.
   It should be removed for that reason and for that reason alone!!!
   Unbelievable!!

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      Kenna McHughposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      Well, Angie, that is a good reason.

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   My Esotericposted 6 months ago

   Actually, Kenna, what I presented was straight from scientific research.  More over, it makes a lot of sense. It simply describes what happens to the brains, in physical terms, of people who are already predisposed to receive Trumps (or, if we are talking about the 1930s, Hitlers) very divisive rhetoric.
   
   Let me ask. what is the purpose of his repeated use of words like rapists when referring to Mexicans, or "poisoning the blood of our country" when referring to immigrants, or "vermin" when referring to Democrats?  Hitler, in Mein Kampf. wrote "that German blood was being poisoned by Jews."
   
   I offer this as a study on dehumanization employed by Hitler, and now Trump.
   
   https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewc … ontext=etd
   
   There is also this quote from Hitler "Nature is cruel; therefore we are also entitled to be cruel. When I send the flower of German youth into the steel hail of the next war without feeling the slightest regret over the precious German blood that is being spilled, should I not also have the right to eliminate millions of an inferior race that multiplies like vermin? How is that different from when Trump accuses immigrants (or liberals) of being "vermin"?
   
   I also need to point out that IF someone declares something I wrote as a lie, then they need to be specific and point it out.  Otherwise, it is just so much hyperbole.

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      Kenna McHughposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      All due respect, it's bogus. Trying to compare anyone to Hilter is ignorant. Hitler and his cohorts killed millions and millions of people. They performed crazy operations on innocent people, trying to change the color of eyes with dye. One nutcase surgically interchanged legs and arms. Down right evil people they were.

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         My Esotericposted 6 months agoin reply to this

         How is it ignorant? It seems to me it is spot on.  How is relevant that Hitler was much worse than Trump has shown himself to be so far? Isn't it more relevant that they are cut from the same cloth, that they exhibit the same personality characteristics, that Trump mimics, to some degree, Hitler and Putin and other bad authoritarians?
         
         While not matching Hitler in cruelty or the numbers, it is now well established to those not under the Trump spell (the point of this forum), that Trump's policies in some areas and lack of policies in others led to hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans dying from Covid that shouldn't had to. That is true in spite of him giving the go-ahead and resources to produce an effective vaccine that many of his supporters rejected but saved millions of lives once Biden was able to get it into people's arms.
         
         To me, ignoring history is foolish and dangerous.

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         Ken Burgessposted 6 months agoin reply to this

         So true...
         
         They have been comparing Elon Musk to Hitler lately...
         
         There comes a point when you realize that you are not dealing with rational people...
         
         Frighteningly enough, this isn't coming from radical extremists, its coming from people in control of our government and media.

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            My Esotericposted 6 months agoin reply to this

            Musk to Hitler - where is your proof?

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   My Esotericposted 6 months ago

   The whole point of this forum is to show that science has proven why people like MAGA (and those on the extreme left, for that matter) act Irrationally, whether it is willful or not.
   
   I have known for a long time that most Trump supporters are irrational, as one likes to put it.  Take for example:
   
   1. MAGA wants a convicted rapist as President - that is not rational (or Trump has won and they no longer ANY court decision against Trump is rigged.)
   
   2. MAGA wants a one-term, twice impeached, philanderer who is facing 4 criminal trials and multiple civil trials as President - that is not rational
   
   3. MAGA wants a man responsible for hundreds of thousands of needless deaths from Covid due to inaction, ineffective action, or even bad action - that is not rational.

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      Kathleen Cochranposted 6 months agoin reply to this

      The only thing I will add to this discussion is that there is validity to the premise that repetition influences behavior and decision-making. I learned in sales training that most people must see a product or hear a sales pitch six times before they will be convinced to make a purchase. That's why Amazon tracks your search history and ads for those items pop up on your screen repetitively. They know that is how you get someone to act upon your message.

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    Kathleen Cochranposted 6 months ago

    Kenna: Thanks. I'm now on Writing.com and it is much more like HP was in the old days. I'm loving it!

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       Kenna McHughposted 6 months agoin reply to this

       Great!

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