Science: Conservatives oppose illegal immigration because they fear spiders or something
posted at 3:56 pm on September 18, 2008 by Allahpundit
A landmark entry in the storied history of scientific studies attempting to “prove” that righties are irrational cowards. Why a landmark? Because for once, believe it or not, the left arguably comes off worse than we do.
I’ll see your irrational coward and raise you an imbecile recklessly indifferent to legitimate threats. The perceived Democratic weakness on national security explained?
The research, led by Rice University political scientist John Alford and published today in the journal Science, attempts to connect the dots between a person’s sensitivity to threatening images–a large spider on someone’s face, a bloodied person and maggot-filled wound–and the strength of their support for conservative or liberal policies…
As evidence, the study found that greater sensitivity to the images was linked to more fervent support for a conservative agenda-including opposition to immigration, gun control, gay marriage, abortion rights and pacifism, and support for military spending, warrantless searches, the Iraq War, school prayer and the truth of the Bible. In other words, on the level of physiological reactions in the conservative mind, illegal immigrants may=spiders=gay marriages=maggot-filled wounds=abortion rights=bloodied faces. Before liberals start cheering, however, they don’t come off much more noble or nuanced. They were less sensitive to the threatening images, and more likely to support open immigration policies, pacifism and gun control. But according to the research, that’s hardly desirable, since it suggests that liberals may display mammal-on-a-hot-rock languor in the face of legitimate threats. “They actually don’t show any difference in physical response between a picture of a spider on someone’s face and a picture of a bunny,” Alford tells NEWSWEEK.
It’s not as half-baked as it sounds when you read through the whole thing. They’re not claiming political orientations are biologically determined, merely that they’re biologically influenced to some unknown extent — a theory that’s been bandied about for years. At base it’s a simple commentary on different people having different threat thresholds, tarted up with sexy analogies comparing Bush’s policies to maggots to draw media attention. Exit question: Is Iran a spider or a bunny?
Blowback
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Wait…being afraid of spiders is a bad thing?
Slublog on September 18, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Here’s how to give liberals a violent response to an image
lodge on September 18, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Does it matter!!??? Kill it, kill it, kill it!!!
Irrational enough?
jimmy the notable on September 18, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I react exactly the same to a picture of a maggot filled wound and a picture of Barack. What does that make me?
TooTall on September 18, 2008 at 4:01 PM
My wife hates spiders.
BadgerHawk on September 18, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Gotta be a bunny. Didn’t Barry O already tell us that Iran is “tiny” and certainly not a threat to us? A little, fuzzy, baby bunny.
AZCoyote on September 18, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Iran? It’s a tiny spider! No, wait. Iran is a gravely threatening bunny.
Jim M. on September 18, 2008 at 4:02 PM
I’m not really sure what to make of this.
Esthier on September 18, 2008 at 4:03 PM
There is a word for people like that.
Sociopath.
flenser on September 18, 2008 at 4:03 PM
I friggin’ hate spiders. Yup, one of those damn things crawled across my pillow one night, so big I could hear it’s feet. I tore my bedroom apart, never found it. I didn’t sleep in that bed that night.
Oh yeah, and about illegal immigration? I think the laws should be enforced. That’s why we have laws, right?
Some people will just never get it.
Geronimo on September 18, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Come again?
“Science” is getting pathetic.
amerpundit on September 18, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!
h/t to Elmer Fudd
Right_of_Attila on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM
It’s a spider who turns into a bunny on receiption of a $200m check, no strings attached.
ninjapirate on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Seems to me that if a thretening image provokes a negative response it is more indicative of a person’s instincts for self preservation. Maybe that’s it. Liberals are really Darwin fodder.
Jim M. on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM
So conservatives view an actual threat (large spider [Tarantula?] on a face) as a threat while liberals view threats as nothing more than bunnies! Real world vs. unreality based. And gee, being armed to counteract those threats.
Iran is a bunny — much like Monty Python’s killer rabbit.
rbj on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM
I meant this
lodge on September 18, 2008 at 4:04 PM
My fear of spiders is totally rational. I mean, LOOK AT THEM!!
artlover on September 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Hmmm, what about reformed Democrats? I was born and raised Democrat and was liberal “minded” until my mid-20s or so. Then, my ship got righted and I’m an arch-conservative now on most economic and social topics.
However, I don’t have anything against gay marriage. So, the equation breaks down. Consequently, I must fear illegal immigration for different reasons.
As an aside: While my nature may be to fear heights and/or falling from heights, I overcame my fears and took up skydiving. Thus, I proved that my “natural” fears could be overcome by reason and determination, thereby proving that humans are not merely reactive animals, but logical and reasoning beings capable of overcoming their instincts. Additionally, I could show that a woman’s natural hesitancy to have an abortion is overcome by rationalization, peer pressure and/or self-centeredness by showing some 40 million examples since the 1970s.
I call shenanigans on this article.
Geministorm on September 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Hey, that bunny was dynamite.
Geronimo on September 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM
“They actually don’t show any difference in physical response between a picture of a spider on someone’s face and a picture of a bunny,”
“They actually don’t show any difference in physical response between a picture of a jihadi cutting off an infidel’s head and a picture of a kitten,”
And these people want to run the country???
Tony737 on September 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM
How about “illegal immigrants” = “illegal immigrants”, and “abortion” = “dead babies”?
I supposes that’s not sufficiently nuanced.
flenser on September 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM
I know a guy at work who is deathly afraid of spiders, even rubber spiders that he knows are fake. He’ll run away in sheer terror. Yet, he’s an Obamabot.
Maybe the difference between conservatives and liberals is a keen awareness of danger. Not mindlessly reacting to it … just aware of it and prepared to deal with it if necessary. Liberals seem to react to danger the way they do in real life, by ignoring it and hoping it’ll go away.
darwin on September 18, 2008 at 4:06 PM
This is what happens when ‘academia’ is restricted to leftist partisans who tolerate no dissent in their ranks: Rank stupidity and ridiculous garbage.
Everyone else in the world sees them for what they are, but they cannot. Inside their closed world, they rot and get crazier each year
Janos Hunyadi on September 18, 2008 at 4:06 PM
I hate spiders. The average life expectancy of a spider caught in my house can be measured in seconds.
CurtZHP on September 18, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Is this relevant?
John on September 18, 2008 at 4:07 PM
My fear of spiders is totally rational. I mean, LOOK AT THEM!! – Art
And it’s Nature’s way of keeping you from getting bit by a POISONOUS animal that could kill you. To NOT fear a poisonous animal or snake is a great way to win a Darwin Award.
Tony737 on September 18, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Apparently the conclusion is that conservatives have a survival instinct and liberals don’t. I can believe that.
Buford on September 18, 2008 at 4:08 PM
The 3 stooges had a show on this very subject…some professors tried to make gentlemen out of them…
right4life on September 18, 2008 at 4:09 PM
According to the study, no one is capable of answering the question, or likely ever was. Yet the question must repeatedly be answered. Ergo, the study is useless.
JiangxiDad on September 18, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Wait, so all those conservatives in the military and law enforcement are just scaredy cats ???? This sounds bogus.
D0WNT0WN on September 18, 2008 at 4:09 PM
McCain must really like spiders.
an_abstraction on September 18, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Bunnys can be dangerous
talking_mouse on September 18, 2008 at 4:11 PM
If so, that’s gotta be trouble for the Dem’s vision of Obama as the second coming of Jimmy Carter …. who was once scared by a bunny. Just sayin’
psrch on September 18, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Science is getting political.
BadgerHawk on September 18, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Who are these Ahnenerbe-like groups doing these studies?
Vashta.Nerada on September 18, 2008 at 4:13 PM
What’s more scary, a scorpian or a spider?
Tony737 on September 18, 2008 at 4:14 PM
I recall as a child being shown a Rorschach image. I told the nice lady it looked like spilled ink – she didn’t seem to like the response.
Can.Utility on September 18, 2008 at 4:15 PM
Just ask Djimmah Car(bomber suppor)ter about his encounter with Bugz!
Since spiders are associated with Satan and evil, I think this shows that conservatives/repubs are sensitive to evil and right and wrong than libs/democrats. I also read a study that whereas conservatives have empathy and mental acuteness to be able to put themselves into the mindset of liberals, liberals lack that basic empathic mental acuity to place themselves in the minds of conservatives. So conservatives can understand the full spectrum of thought but liberals/dems can only understand themselves (maybe).
eaglewingz08 on September 18, 2008 at 4:16 PM
That’s a perfect setup for me Allah, did you and Ed work this up together?!?
Actors:
Tim – John McCain
King Arthur – Barack Obama
Brave Sir Robin – Nancy Pelosi and the DNC
Heh.
I do make myself chuckle sometimes….heh.
Geministorm on September 18, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Iran, Bunny, Jimmy Carter . . .
jdkchem on September 18, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Takl about “junk Science”
Chakra Hammer on September 18, 2008 at 4:17 PM
A phobia is an irrational fear. So I’m not an Obamaphobe, I’m just wary of all Marxists, abortion advocates, the sodomy lobby, Daly Machine thugs, race hucksters, liars, seditionists, megalomaniacs, angry self-loathing feminists, and power hungry Red diaper babies.
It’s perfectly rational, especially when all this comes wrapped up in one power-hungry couple.
Akzed on September 18, 2008 at 4:18 PM
But I do have an irrational fear of Ligers.
Akzed on September 18, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Alternate explanation? –
The world is not supposed to be full of spiders on people’s faces, open wounds full of maggots, or blodied bodies laying around everywhere. It is a person who knows that this is not the way the world should be that shows a distaste/disgust for them.
Which, in turn shows that rather than associating illegals with spiders, conservatives actually have a greater sensitivity to a right order to things, a general sense of the way things should be. Or, to put it more plainly, a greater amount of common sense. Hence, a person who knows that a spider should not be residing on a person’s face and should be removed, may also be more prone to realize that a restoration of a country’s border and the ability to enforce its laws are, in fact, a straightening out of a broken system. Much like removing a spider from your friend’s face, it behooves a conservative to fix what is broken.
Liberals, on the other hand, show the same reaction to a spider on a person’s face as they do to a bunny, leading one to conclude that there really is no “way things should be,” but a world in which most or many situations hold equivalent moral value. There actually is no broken, or, wrong. Only different images of the world as it is. So, if you’ve got a spider on your face, and your friend is a democrat, you are pretty much screwed.
Just thinkin’ out loud.
nailinmyeye on September 18, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Half lion, half tiger.
Akzed on September 18, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Jimmy McGinty: A real man admits his fears. That’s what I’m asking you to do here tonight. Who wants to go first?
Clifford Franklin: I’m afraid of spiders, Coach.
Jimmy: I mean, what scares you on the FIELD?
Clifford: Spiders on the field?
Over30 on September 18, 2008 at 4:19 PM
Proving once and for all that liberalism is a death cult — just like Islam is a death cult. Jim Jones would be proud. Pass the kool-aid, please.
My collie says:
CyberCipher on September 18, 2008 at 4:19 PM
that’s half lion, half tiger, half unicorn.
ligercorn.
bloghooligan on September 18, 2008 at 4:21 PM
That’s one and a half animals.
BadgerHawk on September 18, 2008 at 4:22 PM
So, um, was this done on a grant funded by the taxpayers?
Now that would scare me.
BobK on September 18, 2008 at 4:22 PM
right4life, Ron White said it best: you really CAN’T fix stupid.
MBuck on September 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM
winner
most idiotic survey ever created
Defector01 on September 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM
My theory:
When God was creating the animals, he allowed the angels to design one each. The spider is Lucifer’s contribution.
artlover on September 18, 2008 at 4:26 PM
People get paid for this nonsense?
I need a job like that.
Cody1991 on September 18, 2008 at 4:27 PM
no Badger, it’s not…ever hear of manbearpig?
’nuff said.
bloghooligan on September 18, 2008 at 4:28 PM
…so, science, or the subverted variety which has become the religion of the Left, has determined not only that the proletariat is made up mostly of hillbillies…who have to be “led” the way children are potty-trained…and that NOW those who don’t “come ’round” are not just “slow” but cowardly.
Was this a study which received so much as a centime of public money?
Once again the Left tries to lead the electorate into the bright future of socialism by insulting it.
This shows a serious hole in Leftist logic: if we’re all so thick and useless…why do they even bother?
Puritan1648 on September 18, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Bingo!!
Or, perhaps it just shows a complete lack of empathy or genuine concern for other people.
Lets try putting the spider on a liberal’s face, and see how they react, vs on the face of a conservative.
Liberal: “Get it off of me, get it off!”
Conservative: (Swat!) “Dern spiders.”
iurockhead on September 18, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Finally, a multiple choice exit question. How many tries to we get?
RedWinged Blackbird on September 18, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Show liberals a photo of Sarah Palin holding Trig and the reaction will be exactly the same as seeing a Great White Shark with a seal in it’s jaws.
econavenger on September 18, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Do not underestimate the threat of bunnies! Anya of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” will set you straight.
doppelganglander on September 18, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Small things that could conceivably sneak up on me and do great harm, with, say, poison, have always freaked me out. A tarantula may in fact be harmless, but it looks like something that could be quite harmful. The problem with the liberal mind set is that they trust their theory and judgment that it is harmless.
I’m somewhat similar (though I stated independent rather than Democrat), and I have always been atheist, but I still object to homosexual marriages. Of course, I also object to heterosexual couples that live like homosexual couples (DINKs, etc.).
Count to 10 on September 18, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Come to think of it, most of the liberals I know do not share my level of distaste of spiders (no, I don’t taste them) but I never would have connected that to my position on the proper reading of the second amendment.
Browncoatone on September 18, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Scorpions are worse.
And only partly because the smaller they are, the more deadly their poison.
Count to 10 on September 18, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Should you spray the spider with bug spray and let it die a slow, probably agonizing death, or should you smash into oblivion with one stomp of your foot?
jewells45 on September 18, 2008 at 4:34 PM
…and don’t get me started on people who own lap dogs and dress them up like babies.
Count to 10 on September 18, 2008 at 4:36 PM
Bug spray costs money; cleaning your shoe, not so much.
Count to 10 on September 18, 2008 at 4:37 PM
I deal with Spiders like I do Wolverines and other awesome beasts…
…with a friggin’n shotgun, of course.
pseudonominus on September 18, 2008 at 4:39 PM
In a pinch, I stomp on it; but most times I hose the bugger down with my trusty “Kill-em-all-let-God-sort-em-out” bug spray and perversely watch them curl up.
CurtZHP on September 18, 2008 at 4:40 PM
I hate spiders. Killed one on my back porch this morning. With spray, because it was big and fat enough that if I mushed it, I would have had to look at spider guts.
And, yes, I’m a conservative. I’m really mean.
Connie on September 18, 2008 at 4:42 PM
Of course this is nonsense. Nonsense and non-science too. Moreover and as some one old enough to remember hearing at that time, the song of the same name playing as current, my childhood was filled with “spiders and snakes.” They were my favorite play things!
Nyog_of_the_Bog on September 18, 2008 at 4:43 PM
Hard to say, since I have not read the report, but in practice I think it’s true that hard-left types are more likely to view violent, offensive, or disturbing visual images (as art, movies, etc.) and are therefore a lot less sensitive to viewing disturbing images.
What I’d be looking for in the research is any indication that they’re controlling for the intake of visual material. If not, I suspect the research is useless.
philwynk on September 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
If you zoom in, really close, on a spider, you’ll see that it has hair. And teeth. And legs. Guess what? Bunnies do to! So they’re essentially the same, only one is bigger.
lionheart on September 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
LOL-I am of the “if it’s small I’ll smash it, if it’s big enough to gross me out, I’ll spray it” mentality. Sometimes though, I’ll be nice and scoop it into a paper cup and release it outside if it’s really big.
jewells45 on September 18, 2008 at 4:46 PM
[South Park]It’s coming right at us![/South Park]
Rogue on September 18, 2008 at 4:46 PM
I hope that it is hereditary.
Khaaaaan!Breeeeeeederrrrs!The dining room at my old place had really high ceilings – about 24′. One time there was a BIG UGLY spider way up towards the top. I killed it with my pellet gun. I think I pretty much encapsulate every conservative stereotype right there.
innominatus on September 18, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Is that like Iraqaphobia???
right2bright on September 18, 2008 at 4:51 PM
ummmmm Im not sure what I think of this either.
becki51758 on September 18, 2008 at 4:59 PM
Weird.
And all this time I thought I opposed it cuz it was, you know, illegal.
Professor Blather on September 18, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Isn’t it nice to be studied like animals?
Crickey!
eforhan on September 18, 2008 at 5:03 PM
Only if you’re too afraid of them to do what must be done…
I thought that was a kind of beer…
My summary of the story would be that conservatives have a “friend or foe” detection system that works. Liberals not so much.
taznar on September 18, 2008 at 5:08 PM
It’s not the illegals that bother me. It’s the chupacabras that chase after them.
Fletch54 on September 18, 2008 at 5:12 PM
I like spiders. I have a strict no-kill policy when it comes to spiders because they eat insects.
And any spider large enough to be on my face can easily be thrown off.
Sir Andrew on September 18, 2008 at 5:33 PM
I see spiders as a threat – they bite, and several of us in the house are allergic. I see a bloodied face, I think of danger. I see maggotty wounds as a serious problem.
Now insert in illegal immigration, abortion, terrorism et all – they are threats, they are problems, they represent danger. I think the study is flawed, but I do see some truth in it. And I’m not surprised that a liberal would not have a different physical response to a spider on a face and a bunny. They probably are thinking about how to save the animals at the expense of humanity.
Anna on September 18, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Reminds me of the Voight-Kampff tests in BLADE RUNNER:
Deckard: “Last question. You’re at a banquet. The guests are enjoying raw oysters. The entree consists of boiled dog.”
John the Libertarian on September 18, 2008 at 5:40 PM
It’s search for the Holy Grail day at HotAir.
cobrakai99 on September 18, 2008 at 5:41 PM
I knew there was something wrong with their brains. So they have a hard time figuring out when something is dangerous to them. That actually explains alot.
This goes along with that thing last week about liberals being unable to understand conservative arguements but conservatives being able to restate liberals arguements perfectly…
I think we should declare liberalism a mental defect that makes it impossible for them to function in society. It would just be irreponsible to allow people like that to vote.
petunia on September 18, 2008 at 5:42 PM
I’m sorry but all the spiders of my aquaintance like to sneak up on me and scare me half to death! And then somehow every couple of years I end up with really itchy spider bites! They last for months.
However, My husband found a very large scorpion in the garage. He hates it and thoroughly fumigated… we couldn’t find it again so… who knows… but I looked it up and it was a safe kind that ate other scorpions, the little dangerous kind. So I voted we leave it be. But I was out voted. Or rudely silenced however you want to see it.
petunia on September 18, 2008 at 5:46 PM
I think what you two are describing is called growing up. Some people never do.
petunia on September 18, 2008 at 5:51 PM
I don’t fear spiders. Not that I like having tarantulas crawling all over my face but the small household ones are useful because they eat stuff like mosquitos, and unlike spiders, mosquitoes can cause quite a bit of grief.
Darth Executor on September 18, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Anyone who has seen the movie “Gladiator” knows that filling a wound with maggots actually helps; it cleans out the dead flesh, allowing the wound to heal. The esoteric point of the study, then, would seem to be an endorsement of Bush’s presidency.
msyb on September 18, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Go Rice!
libertytexan on September 18, 2008 at 6:17 PM
I’ve always been conservative, but was silly enough to flirt with voting independent when I was 18(ugh, Anderson, but I didn’t go through with it!). Now I’m very conservative – voted Alan Keyes in the 2000 primary because Bush was too leftish.
I used to live in peace and harmony with spiders, appreciating them for killing “nastier” insects.
But, ya know, they don’t kill that many damn insects. And my bug spray takes out all those other nasties too.
In a pinch, I’ve been known to go after centipedes with hair spray, but my favorite kill method is my propane torch. It can be kinda hard on the woodwork, but I’ve gotten darned accurate. I’ve also got one of those zapper racquets, which are really fun for swatting flies.
ral514 on September 18, 2008 at 6:32 PM
A handy by-product of living in open houses in the third world for a while is that I can now stomp on cockroaches barefoot without much impact on my psyche.
If, however, I actually become a Dem, please shoot me.
TexasDan on September 18, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Also also, I once took out a scorpion (whip scorpion–who even knew these things existed?) with rubbing alchohol and a match. It was in the sink–no good way to mash it.
toast.
TexasDan on September 18, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Wow. I read that, and part of me was wishing for YouTube video. Scorpions scare me to death – we used to have a whole bunch in my yard in Albuquerque when I was a little girl. I never played outside.
Anna on September 18, 2008 at 6:47 PM
Obviously the liberals were operating with high THC levels and God only knows what else. But the conservatives had been tested before the cocktail hour.
This study helps explain a lot of contemporary art. Beauty and the unities aren’t even an issue to liberals, they just need an immense dose of ugly to just wake them up and get their attention.
snaggletoothie on September 18, 2008 at 8:48 PM
shades of Jimmy Carter
MarkTheGreat on September 19, 2008 at 7:09 AM
Is Iran a spider or a bunny?
Iran is Shelob.
I R A Darth Aggie on September 19, 2008 at 12:12 PM