Alaska's political scene (Metlakatla: buyer, university, taxes)

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

I'm not making any claims about balance between left and right, I'm saying it's a self-reinforcing mechanism. News organizations reward their target viewers by slanting the news in a way that makes viewers feel like they're right / justified in their opinions, and viewers reward news organizations by patronizing the ones that say what they want to believe is true.

This is quite true. The audience or viewership prefer to hear or view things that reinforce what they believe on. The radio or TV channel presents the listener or viewer with what he or she wants to hear or view.

But it's also true that most of the news media leans left.

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by jdhpa

My college psychology professor told us that people don't gather data and then form an opinion from it - they form an opinion and then go looking for data to support it. Information that re-inforces their preconceived notions is remembered, while anything that goes against their opinions is minimized, rationalized, and ultimately forgotten. After a while the person has years of experience that all points to their own opinions being right Then they wonder how anyone could disagree with them

Yep.

It is called a "schema" in the psychology world.

Harrier wasn't too enthused with taking the psychology class which served as one of his general education classes - he was an electronics major.

However, that is one thing that has stuck with him all these years, the capacity for people to form opinions based on their own experiences and often uninformed biases.

Harrier has to admit that he is guilty of doing so sometime himself, and thanks his psychology teacher for giving him a rationale for checking himself before he sometimes speaks.

Now Harrier is pursuing a history degree and his classes in critical thinking and reasoning have been very helpful.

They aren't much different than electronics theory, either the argument is sound and the circuit is properly constructed, or things go to cr*p.

Harrier firmly believes that history is a science, as is physics.

[williardium]

Originally Posted by Harrier

Yep.

It is called a "schema" in the psychology world.

Harrier wasn't too enthused with taking the psychology class which served as one of his general education classes - he was an electronics major.

However, that is one thing that has stuck with him all these years, the capacity for people to form opinions based on their own experiences and often uninformed biases.

Harrier has to admit that he is guilty of doing so sometime himself, and thanks his psychology teacher for giving him a rationale for checking himself before he sometimes speaks.

Now Harrier is pursuing a history degree and his classes in critical thinking and reasoning have been very helpful.

They aren't much different than electronics theory, either the argument is sound and the circuit is properly constructed, or things go to cr*p.

Harrier firmly believes that history is a science, as is physics.

Did your psychology teacher give you a word for when people refer to themselves in the third-person?

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by williardium

Did your psychology teacher give you a word for when people refer to themselves in the third-person?

Harrier believes that is known as illeism.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Harrier

Harrier believes that is known as illeism.

I wonder if Harrier knows that most universities' history departments lean left and rewrite history like the news media?

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

I wonder if Harrier knows that most universities' history departments lean left and rewrite history like the news media?

Of course.

Harrier will provide a counterbalance to that overarching liberal paradigm once he becomes a qualified historian/teacher.

Harrier is interested in becoming a teacher in Alaska.

SityData once encouraged Harrier to come to Alaska and work as an electronics technician.

[starlite9]

As an American citizen, it is your responsibility to be informed when you go to the voting booth. Not to mention you need to vote. Only about a third of those able to vote in this last Presidential race, Obama won with a narrow margin, but it wasn't a mandate to change America to a social country, triple our national debt and a host of other issues he calls minor issues like running guns, ignoring our Embassy under attack (only the president can order our troops to "Stand Down") cratering health care and so forth, but the blame rests souly on the voter. He was only elected by about 15% of the American voters, that's not a mandate for anyone. I hope people inform themselves and vote this next time and do homework on what all the candidates believe in and look at their history to see if they have a history of doing what they say they will!

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Harrier

Of course.

Harrier will provide a counterbalance to that overarching liberal paradigm once he becomes a qualified historian/teacher.

Harrier is interested in becoming a teacher in Alaska.

SityData once encouraged Harrier to come to Alaska and work as an electronics technician.

Excellent!

[NomadicBear]

Isn't this supposed to be in the politics section?

[Metlakatla]

I wouldn't even bother, NB; I don't know anyone who actually believes that the SNL skit was anything more than a political joke.