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Forum Post: Hey left-brain libertarian types

Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 12, 2011, 6:07 p.m. EST by looselyhuman (3117)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Check out this short lecture by Iain McGilchrist, author of the acclaimed neuroscience/anthropology work "The Master and his Emissary" about the divided brain and its impact on our individual and social development.

http://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain.html

Let me know your thoughts. So many of our moral arguments come down to the "perfect" reason that seems to underly your positions, and the intuitive/emotional opposition from us on the progressive side of things...

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” ~Albert Einstein

6 Comments

6 Comments


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[-] 1 points by sickmint79 (516) from Grayslake, IL 12 years ago

i just watched this, i'm a libertarian, i'm not sure what you are trying to say about my beliefs.

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 12 years ago

Fair enough. I've read the book and so the video is probably not as helpful without that sort of context. Check out this review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/02/1

Overall, my position is that most of the arguments I get from libertarians are like those I get from engineers and mathemeticians. They focus on the elegance of the decontextualized abstract ideas of perfect liberty and Austrian economics, and on moral arguments that are rigid and absolute and divorced from the suffering of others, etc...

The real-world impact and outcome of the thinking is apparently of secondary importance. Further the intuitive sense that these ideas are self-serving and might be mistaken as greed and similar are also lost on you guys. IMO.

[-] 1 points by sickmint79 (516) from Grayslake, IL 12 years ago

i'm a practical libertarian. i'm starting to believe anyone registered for any party is probably too ideological. at least if they are in mine they are thinking slightly better though. ;) ;)

i have never needed perfection to work for my arguments and yield to sensible government regulations or interventions - which seem to be in the minority.

i don't think my general objections to things like UHC or "free" college education have anything to do with how brains are structured though.

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 12 years ago

Ok, that's totally fair and you're probably not my target audience. I'm a practical libertarian in a sense also. I want as much liberty as is possible while not detracting terribly from the general welfare. I think it's a balance and I'm open to debate on the nature of that balance. I was more looking for those that do argue such things as perfect liberty and strict adherence to government only, without exception, protecting property rights and personal (and corporate, by extension) liberties, etc.

[-] 1 points by sickmint79 (516) from Grayslake, IL 12 years ago

i think few people really think you can get to that in the real world. i think you can usually get a libertarian to admit we need food stamps, or keep the program around until it no longer would be needed (which would be a date of never) - as ideological as Ron Lawl is i think even he plans to achieve his goals through phases, and if we only ever got to phase 3 of a 4 phase plan, hey, it is still closer and probably better than where it started.

[-] -1 points by journey4word (214) 12 years ago

Barack Obama has reportedly started holding a weekly séance in the Oval Office. So far, he has only managed to channel Jimmy Carter.