HERE HERE MARK..

Roadkill is never a pretty sight

I watched a Nova the other night Genius Apes~ a real dose of humility there for the naked ape~ outlining the differences in why we as a species soared in brain functioning,while the great apes did not. One reason is our in born capacity to want to help each other,to work together.The triangle of learning.

That being said~ the old Popeye line is a good one.

BRILLIANT!  THAT's why people who hate helping others or working together show so little visible brain function. That explains the connection, thanks.

Well, I don't see a lot of THEM moving to the center

Don't follow politics much, do you?   That's *ALL* the Democrats in Congress have been doing lately.

The problem is that moving to the center would *ACTUALLY* entail a leftward shift.  Three-quarters of Americans, for example, want to see a public option in health care reform.  Which way are the D's moving?   Towards what the Repubwhigans want, that's where.

I actually feel that the country needs to move back to the center.  The trouble is that this entails simply ignoring the Repubwhigans for a while and doing what's right for the country as a whole.  When they decide to move back to the center themselves, they can join us over there.

LOL. Love that pic Sioux!

I agree that you have to have your ideals.  The country song, "You've got to stand for something, or you will fall for everything." isn't that far off. 

That being said, in the real world that we all live in, life is lived more in the middle.  This country could make a lot better strides if we came together more than moving to our respective sides.  That goes for the left and the right.  It's nice to have your foundation of ideals, but if you are not willing to be open to new ideas, I think that is a shallow way to live life. Again, that goes for the left and the right.

 Even rocks get picked up and moved around from time to time. 

Some issues are far too complex to be "black" or "white"

outlining the differences in why we as a species soared in brain functioning,

The human/ape brain develops in a kind of doubling pattern (something like nuclear reactions.)  One likely route is that we enjoyed a genetic change which allowed one more "doubling" to occur than the other chimpanzees.  (There's a book "The Third Chimpanzee," written decades ago that lists us as a third species of chimp due to the similarities.)

We wouldn't have room for even one more doubling in the birth canal unless we went to SNL-style Conehead skulls.

(Of course, our aquatic background made us look quite different from our cousins...)

But it's clear our capacity to take care of one another--our liberalism--is the strategy that enabled our species to survive.  T-Rex had a different strategy.  They didn't.

You would have loved it RF~ extensive study on the Bonobos. ;-)

We teach.

That sums up why our brains fire those synapses like they do,according to those science guys current thinking. Apes mimic, we teach and learn.

If I'm reading you correctly, you're saying the hypothesis is that intentionally communicating information to others is what makes us human.

We're Bonobos who Blog.  Now, if we could just get *THEM* to teach *US* about sexual morality...

That's about it rf.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nov...

I also watched that show. Fascinating, especially when applied to human behavior. I think the behavioral evolution of chimps has much to say about our own. There is a culture of monkeys (not chimps) that walk upright when on the ground. The why of it is simple enough; hands and arms are free to gather fallen fruit, which is why they drop to the ground in the first place. Point is, necessity and environment has everything to do with where we came from and what we are now.

I'm waiting for chimps to be observed making an artistic expression. Fashioning a stick for a toy or amusement, leaving behind or adopting a "signature." Evolution has a way "snowballing," so it may happen sooner than researchers anticipate.

Bonobo chimps are obviously evolving to atheistic communists. The should be hunted down and exterminated immediately. 

If there were no middle of the roaders or willingness to compromise, we'd spend all our days drawing lines in the sand and yelling at each other over them, never getting anything productive done. Much like these blogs, now that I think about it....

I don't even know what a "middle-of-the roader" is after reading this, but I assume you are lumping all political moderates or centrists together.  You portray them as a group of mindless zombies or chickens with their heads cut off hopelessly navigating through the political scene (and acting like an Unfrozen caveman lawyer or something).  That is just laughable and indicates a serious lack of understanding about what it means to be a moderate or centrist American.  Motopoet, there are plenty of books and websites that are available (and that I would happily recommend) to clear up the absolute misinformation you spread on this issue.

These same old tired arguments and this "if you are not with us you are against us" mentality is exactly what is WRONG in American politics and this nation in general.  Keep in mind that something like over 40% of the ENTIRE NATION belongs to this "loose group" of people that Motopoet feels compelled to denigrate.  And yes, that would be a larger percentage than those who call themselves liberal or conservative.  Unless a person adheres to a rigid political dogma (oftentimes handed down to them in talking points from their favorite political party, commentator, or website) then their opinions are not to be respected or considered?

Pick up a history book, and you will find that the polarization of politics is a much more recent phenomen in the U.S.  We have a long, healthy history of seeking out compromise.  Moderates have thrived in the U.S. political scene from day one and many of our greatest political figures were avowed political moderates.  The founding fathers, who had labored under the toil of the most blatant political extremism would have be repulsed at the irrationality of the present political scene.  Instead, you have seen a steady decline in political moderation (and sorry baby boomers, but a lot of the blame should be placed on you).  Unfortunately firebrands (Motopoet included) will constantly try to hijack an issue, any issue, so as to try and make it stick to their specific political platform (even when it is akin to fitting a square peg in a round hole) or provide ammunition for some pet issue of theirs.     

And please explain.  How is a moderate not taking a stand on an issue?  Moderates can disagree with a popular stance just as much as the next guy.   By analyzing and examining every issue (without constantly wondering if it will undermine their party platform), I think they are actually more principled in their decision-making.  They do not bring unnecessary baggage to the table.   The position of a moderate might not be as extreme as yours, no doubt, but that does not mean they are not taking a position.  And the most ironic part of this is that sometimes moderates might actually be MORE extreme on a specific issue than liberals or conservatives.  They simply are more moderate on the whole, choosing to seek out common ground and compromise in a general sense (and applying that philosophy to otherwise divisive areas of politics to actually acheive PROGRESS instead of political MORASS).  I have a clear political philosophy, and I never feel like I am somehow "listlessly" sailing along.  Instead, I would argue that those who sit at home and wait for the election book to come from their specific party so they know which candidate to vote for (or which side to take) instead of just freely examining the issues are the misguided ones.  And yes, I would argue that people who espouse Motopoet's ideas usually fall into this category. 

My favorite part of this post is the part where he explains that he is not above changing his mind on an issue.  But if he does, he will only change it to go to the other extreme side on an issue?  People with this mindset deserve it when the New York legislature acts like the political equivalent of the keystone cops.  They deserve the political stagnation in Washington and Sacramento, and they deserve to have their political system revert to a high-stakes stare-down where painfully little work actually ever gets done.  It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that extremists from both sides have brought on the rest of us. 

So, by all means, Bakersfield-nation, read and digest Motopoet's argument.  And if you find it to be the same old played out rhetorical political nonsense that you have spent your entire life listening to, or if you are ready for real change in politics (and not the kind that Obama promises).  Or if you are just tired of having our political system hijacked by the likes of loud and (occasionally) loquacious political outliers and would like to see things ACTUALLY GET DONE (What a concept), then "go to the light," reject this mindset, and embrace political moderation as a majority of voters continue to do.  Our city, county, state, country, and world would be in better shape if we did.

Well said, Cubwin. Well said.

Being a centrist is far from being in the middle. A centrist is on both sides. Left and right. He may be fiscally conservative. But a maniac in bed.
Log cabin Republicans could be an example.
Blue dog Democrats another.
The extremists, right or left, are those that look upon one of a persons many rooms. And paint the whole house the same color.

Being in the middle is many times important. A Judge during a trial may be a good example. A referee another.  

Being in the middle isn’t bad. But it can be wishy washy.  It could cause one opinions to be ignored. That’s why at the end of a trial. The judge makes his stand. And insists on it’s enforcement.

But then so can opinions that are to forceful be ignored. They may be loud enough to be heard. But just get ignored anyway.

It’s the content of the argument that is important. Not the delivery. Not the conviction.

What does this have to do with helping people? I do plenty of that at my own discretion and I don't feel the need to brag about it. Compromising my ideals, beliefs and morals helps no one, especially me, and THAT is what this post was about. Although I did spend a paragraph on politics, this is about my life, not my politics, and I, unlike some, am easily able to distinguish between the two.

What in the world does my sexual prowess and my spending habits have to do with each other? What a bizarre analogy. I'm not talking about being forceful, I'm talking about being true to myself. How can one be truthful to themselves if they are being un truthful to others for the sake of "getting along"? Tha's really what I am trying to say.

True. Some things ARE too complicated to be black and white, but not that many when you think about it. Either you feel one way about an issue, or you feel another. How often do you feel both ways? Those are my "BUTS", and I deal with those as they come along, as I stated originally.

I disagree that America needs to move to the center. That may have been OK in the past when our enemies were well defined and there was a concensus as to what needed to be done to deal with them. When our problems were real and agreed upon and not whipped up in think tanks and Hollywood opinions. America needs to take a stand and stop engaging in global appeasement. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!