Right and Left - it's how you feel

Nicolas Kristoff has an odd little column on the mental peculiarities of people who strongly identify as 'Liberal' or 'Conservative' in politics. It seems there are some basic personality traits for both types. I am not yet sure what I think of this, but it is interesting.

Studies suggest that conservatives are more often distressed by actions that seem disrespectful of authority, such as slapping Dad. Liberals don’t worry as long as Dad has given permission.

Likewise, conservatives are more likely than liberals to sense contamination or perceive disgust. People who would be disgusted to find that they had accidentally sipped from an acquaintance’s drink are more likely to identify as conservatives.

The upshot is that liberals and conservatives don’t just think differently, they also feel differently. This may even be a result, in part, of divergent neural responses.

I actually display some elements of the conservative type, yet most conservatives find me too left wing, in a wishy-washy sort of way. My ailing colleague Trotsky thinks I am an anarchist at heart. So I would be an anarchist who respects authority. I see myself sort of floating around not so much in the middle but at the margins of both. Very much the way I am about handedness. I am a lefty who does many things right handed without giving it any thought.

though there was that unfortunate incident with the iron designed for right handers the first time I ever attempted to iron my own clothes. Stupid iron.