Download or read book Brains Media and Politics written by Rodolfo Leyva and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-25 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, a number of prominent academics, journalists, and activists were quick to pronounce the demise of neoliberal capitalism and governance. This rather optimistic prediction, however, underestimated the extent to which neoliberalism has shaped the 21st-century world order and become entrenched in our sociopolitical and cognitive fabric. Indeed, 11 years after the crisis, and in spite of the significant levels of socioeconomic inequality, psychological distress, and environmental destruction generated by neoliberal policies and corresponding business and cultural practices, the ideological hegemony of neoliberalism has not been supplanted, nor has it really faced any serious unsettling. How, then, has neoliberalism inflected and shaped our “common-sense” understandings of what is politically, economically, and culturally viable? To help answer this question, this book combines leading theories from sociology, media-communication research, developmental psychology, and cognitive science, and draws on primary evidence from a unique mix of ethnographic, survey, and experimental studies – of young people’s leisure practices and educational experiences, of young adults’ political socialisation processes in relation to exposure to social networking sites, and of the effects of commercial media viewing on material values and support for social welfare. In doing so, it provides a nuanced and robustly empirically tested account of how the conscious and non-conscious cognitive dimensions of people’s subjectivities and everyday social practices become interpellated through and reproductive of neoliberal ideology. As such, this book will appeal to scholars across the social and behavioural sciences with interests in neoliberalism, political engagement, enculturation, social reproduction, and media effects.
Download or read book Your Brain s Politics written by George Lakoff and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At first glance, issues like economic inequality, healthcare, climate change, and abortion seem unrelated. However, when thinking and talking about them, people reliably fall into two camps: conservative and liberal. What explains this divide? Why do conservatives and liberals hold the positions they do? And what is the conceptual nature of those who decide elections, commonly called the "political middle"? The answers are profound. They have to do with how our minds and brains work. Political attitudes are the product of what cognitive scientists call Embodied Cognition — the grounding of abstract thought in everyday world experience. Clashing beliefs about how to run nations largely arise from conflicting beliefs about family life: conservatives endorse a strict father and liberals a nurturant parent model. So-called "middle" voters are not in the middle at all. They are morally biconceptual, divided between both models, and as a result highly susceptible to moral political persuasion. In this brief introduction, Lakoff and Wehling reveal how cognitive science research has advanced our understanding of political thought and language, forcing us to revise common folk theories about the rational voter.
Download or read book Processing Politics written by Doris A. Graber and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-07-15 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How often do we hear that Americans are so ignorant about politics that their civic competence is impaired, and that the media are to blame because they do a dismal job of informing the public? Processing Politics shows that average Americans are far smarter than the critics believe. Integrating a broad range of current research on how people learn (from political science, social psychology, communication, physiology, and artificial intelligence), Doris Graber shows that televised presentations—at their best—actually excel at transmitting information and facilitating learning. She critiques current political offerings in terms of their compatibility with our learning capacities and interests, and she considers the obstacles, both economic and political, that affect the content we receive on the air, on cable, or on the Internet. More and more people rely on information from television and the Internet to make important decisions. Processing Politics offers a sound, well-researched defense of these remarkably versatile media, and challenges us to make them work for us in our democracy.
Download or read book The Political Mind written by George Lakoff and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times best-selling author explains how the physical nature of the brain affects people's political decisions, suggesting that changing one's mind is just as much a physical process as it is a psychological function. By the author of Don't Think of an Elephant! 60,000 first printing.
Download or read book Political Animals written by Rick Shenkman and published by . This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why, when it comes to politics, do we often seem so gullible and uninformed? InPolitical Animals, the bestselling historian and journalist Rick Shenkman reveals the hidden biases at work in all of us when we enter the voting booth. Drawing on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral psychology, he explains that evolution has left us with a brain wired for the Stone Age. While these ancient instincts often work to our advantage in our personal lives, in politics they usually don't. Modern cues set off ancient instinctive responses that prompt us to behave in ways contrary to the good governance of our nation. Shenkman illuminates not only the curious habits of the American voter today but also the ways in which voter biases have shaped American political historyfrom the shark attacks that got Woodrow Wilson elected to the people who still defend Richard Nixon against the Watergate charges. In so doing, Shenkman probes the depths of the human mind to reveal what we must do to fix our floundering democracy.
Download or read book The Political Mind written by George Lakoff and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-05-29 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking scientific examination of the way our brains understand politics from a New York Times bestselling author One of the world 's best-known linguists and cognitive scientists, George Lakoff has a knack for making science make sense for general readers. In his new book, Lakoff spells out what cognitive science has discovered about reason, and reveals that human reason is far more interesting than we thought it was. Reason is physical, mostly unconscious, metaphorical, emotion-laden, and tied to empathy-and there are biological explanations behind our moral and political thought processes. His call for a New Enlightenment is a bold and striking challenge to the cherished beliefs not only of philosophers, but of pundits, pollsters, and political leaders. The Political Mind is a passionate, erudite, and groundbreaking book that will appeal to anyone interested in how the mind works and how we function socially and politically.
Download or read book The Political Brain written by Drew Westen and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2008-05-06 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Political Brain is a groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in determining the political life of the nation. For two decades Drew Westen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, has explored a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" notions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists—and Democratic campaign strategists. The idea of the mind as a cool calculator that makes decisions by weighing the evidence bears no relation to how the brain actually works. When political candidates assume voters dispassionately make decisions based on "the issues," they lose. That's why only one Democrat has been re-elected to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt—and only one Republican has failed in that quest. In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions, a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory, in which logic plays only a supporting role. Westen shows, through a whistle-stop journey through the evolution of the passionate brain and a bravura tour through fifty years of American presidential and national elections, why campaigns succeed and fail. The evidence is overwhelming that three things determine how people vote, in this order: their feelings toward the parties and their principles, their feelings toward the candidates, and, if they haven't decided by then, their feelings toward the candidates' policy positions. Westen turns conventional political analyses on their head, suggesting that the question for Democratic politics isn't so much about moving to the right or the left but about moving the electorate. He shows how it can be done through examples of what candidates have said—or could have said—in debates, speeches, and ads. Westen's discoveries could utterly transform electoral arithmetic, showing how a different view of the mind and brain leads to a different way of talking with voters about issues that have tied the tongues of Democrats for much of forty years—such as abortion, guns, taxes, and race. You can't change the structure of the brain. But you can change the way you appeal to it. And here's how…
Download or read book Your Brain s Politics written by George Lakoff and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At first glance, issues like economic inequality, healthcare, climate change, and abortion seem unrelated. However, when thinking and talking about them, people reliably fall into two camps: conservative and liberal. What explains this divide? Why do conservatives and liberals hold the positions they do? And what is the conceptual nature of those who decide elections, commonly called the "political middle"? The answers are profound. They have to do with how our minds and brains work. Political attitudes are the product of what cognitive scientists call Embodied Cognition — the grounding of abstract thought in everyday world experience. Clashing beliefs about how to run nations largely arise from conflicting beliefs about family life: conservatives endorse a strict father and liberals a nurturant parent model. So-called "middle" voters are not in the middle at all. They are morally biconceptual, divided between both models, and as a result highly susceptible to moral political persuasion. In this brief introduction, Lakoff and Wehling reveal how cognitive science research has advanced our understanding of political thought and language, forcing us to revise common folk theories about the rational voter.
Download or read book The Social Media Mind written by David Amerland and published by New Line Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-04 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like any medium of communication social media has its own tropes which must be mastered in order to use it properly. In The Social Media Mind David Amerland illustrates how Social Media is a game changer. It challenges us to rethink our assumptions on almost every sphere where it is applied. Whether communicating through the web with potential clients, increasing the exposure of a business brand or collaborating with colleagues on shared projects, it demands that we rethink the standard responses which have guided us in the past and come up with new ones, for a new age. In carefully laid out arguments, backed by evidence and examples he answers questions like: Why do some social media marketing campaigns fail and not others?Why is social media so radically different from traditional marketing?How are social media success stories created?How can social media help save costs in business?Why is social media changing so many aspects of our world?What does it take to develop a social media mind?Over the next five years social media is going to change the nature of education, politics, business, science and even the arts. Its imperatives for greater transparency, responsiveness and engagement are behind the trends which are changing our world. This book is key to understanding how to prepare, what to do and how.
Download or read book The Republican Brain written by Chris Mooney and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2012-04-10 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author Chris Mooney uses cutting-edge research to explain the psychology behind why today’s Republicans reject reality—it's just part of who they are. From climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing, as is the denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy and much more. Why won't Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why are they constantly fighting against the facts? Science writer Chris Mooney explores brain scans, polls, and psychology experiments to explain why conservatives today believe more wrong things; appear more likely than Democrats to oppose new ideas and less likely to change their beliefs in the face of new facts; and sometimes respond to compelling evidence by doubling down on their current beliefs. Goes beyond the standard claims about ignorance or corporate malfeasance to discover the real, scientific reasons why Republicans reject the widely accepted findings of mainstream science, economics, and history—as well as many undeniable policy facts (e.g., there were no “death panels” in the health care bill). Explains that the political parties reflect personality traits and psychological needs—with Republicans more wedded to certainty, Democrats to novelty—and this is the root of our divide over reality. Written by the author of The Republican War on Science, which was the first and still the most influential book to look at conservative rejection of scientific evidence. But the rejection of science is just the beginning… Certain to spark discussion and debate, The Republican Brain also promises to add to the lengthy list of persuasive scientific findings that Republicans reject and deny.
Download or read book Social Evolution Political Psychology and the Media in Democracy written by Peter Beattie and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-13 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes why we believe what we believe about politics, and how the answer affects the way democracy functions. It does so by applying social evolution theory to the relationship between the news media and politics, using the United States as its primary example. This includes a critical review and integration of the insights of a broad array of research, from evolutionary theory and political psychology to the political economy of media. The result is an empirically driven political theory on the media’s role in democracy: what role it currently plays, what role it should play, and how it can be reshaped to be more appropriate for its structural role in democracy.
Download or read book Livewired written by David Eagleman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Eagleman renders the secrets of the brain’s adaptability into a truly compelling page-turner.” —Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner “Livewired reads wonderfully like what a book would be if it were written by Oliver Sacks and William Gibson, sitting on Carl Sagan’s front lawn.” —The Wall Street Journal What does drug withdrawal have in common with a broken heart? Why is the enemy of memory not time but other memories? How can a blind person learn to see with her tongue, or a deaf person learn to hear with his skin? Why did many people in the 1980s mistakenly perceive book pages to be slightly red in color? Why is the world’s best archer armless? Might we someday control a robot with our thoughts, just as we do our fingers and toes? Why do we dream at night, and what does that have to do with the rotation of the Earth? The answers to these questions are right behind our eyes. The greatest technology we have ever discovered on our planet is the three-pound organ carried in the vault of the skull. This book is not simply about what the brain is; it is about what it does. The magic of the brain is not found in the parts it’s made of but in the way those parts unceasingly reweave themselves in an electric, living fabric. In Livewired, you will surf the leading edge of neuroscience atop the anecdotes and metaphors that have made David Eagleman one of the best scientific translators of our generation. Covering decades of research to the present day, Livewired also presents new discoveries from Eagleman’s own laboratory, from synesthesia to dreaming to wearable neurotech devices that revolutionize how we think about the senses.
Download or read book Brain and Culture written by Bruce E. Wexler and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008-08-29 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research shows that between birth and early adulthood the brain requires sensory stimulation to develop physically. The nature of the stimulation shapes the connections among neurons that create the neuronal networks necessary for thought and behavior. By changing the cultural environment, each generation shapes the brains of the next. By early adulthood, the neuroplasticity of the brain is greatly reduced, and this leads to a fundamental shift in the relationship between the individual and the environment: during the first part of life, the brain and mind shape themselves to the major recurring features of their environment; by early adulthood, the individual attempts to make the environment conform to the established internal structures of the brain and mind. In Brain and Culture, Bruce Wexler explores the social implications of the close and changing neurobiological relationship between the individual and the environment, with particular attention to the difficulties individuals face in adulthood when the environment changes beyond their ability to maintain the fit between existing internal structure and external reality. These difficulties are evident in bereavement, the meeting of different cultures, the experience of immigrants (in which children of immigrant families are more successful than their parents at the necessary internal transformations), and the phenomenon of interethnic violence. Integrating recent neurobiological research with major experimental findings in cognitive and developmental psychology—with illuminating references to psychoanalysis, literature, anthropology, history, and politics—Wexler presents a wealth of detail to support his arguments. The groundbreaking connections he makes allow for reconceptualization of the effect of cultural change on the brain and provide a new biological base from which to consider such social issues as "culture wars" and ethnic violence.
Download or read book Media Power Media Politics written by Mark J. Rozell and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2008 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Media Power, Media Politics examines the role and influence of the media in every sphere of American potitics. Organized thematically, the book analyzes the retationship among the media and key institutions, potitical actors, and nongovernmental entities, as wall as the role of the new media, media ethics, and foreign policy coverage. Writen clearly and concisely by leading schotars in the field, the chapters serve as broad overviews to the issues, white discussion questions and suggestions for further reading encourage deeper inquiry. Updated throughout, the second edition includes expanded coverage of the evotving role of new media, a new chapter on terrorism and the media, and new pedagogical exercises and featured interviews with journatists, bioggers, and media advisers. Book jacket.
Download or read book The Hype Machine written by Sinan Aral and published by Currency. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark insider’s tour of how social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world in ways both useful and dangerous, with critical insights into the social media trends of the 2020 election and beyond “The book might be described as prophetic. . . . At least two of Aral’s three predictions have come to fruition.”—New York NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY WIRED • LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD Social media connected the world—and gave rise to fake news and increasing polarization. It is paramount, MIT professor Sinan Aral says, that we recognize the outsize effect social media has on us—on our politics, our economy, and even our personal health—in order to steer today’s social technology toward its great promise while avoiding the ways it can pull us apart. Drawing on decades of his own research and business experience, Aral goes under the hood of the most powerful social networks to tackle the critical question of just how much social media actually shapes our choices, for better or worse. He shows how the tech behind social media offers the same set of behavior influencing levers to everyone who hopes to change the way we think and act—from Russian hackers to brand marketers—which is why its consequences affect everything from elections to business, dating to health. Along the way, he covers a wide array of topics, including how network effects fuel Twitter’s and Facebook’s massive growth, the neuroscience of how social media affects our brains, the real consequences of fake news, the power of social ratings, and the impact of social media on our kids. In mapping out strategies for being more thoughtful consumers of social media, The Hype Machine offers the definitive guide to understanding and harnessing for good the technology that has redefined our world overnight.
Download or read book Social Media and Your Brain written by C.G. Prado and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-11-21 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While society has widely condemned the effects on preteens and teens' natural social maturation of digitally enabled communication, such as texting and messaging, and of social media apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat, these forms of communication are adversely affecting everyone, including adults. This book examines how social media and modern communication methods are isolating users socially, jeopardizing their intellectual habits, and, as a result, decreasing their chances of achieving social and professional success. The ubiquitous use of the Internet and social media is changing our society—in some ways, for the worse. Use of social media, the Internet, and other purely digital and less-personal communication methods are distorting the intellectual and social maturation of teens and preteens in particular—those among us who were born into and raised with Internet technology. People's ability to read facial expressions, interpret subtle differences in spoken intonation, and perceive body language is in significant decline due to the use of social media and the Internet largely replacing direct, face-to-face contact with other human beings. This book documents how changes in our daily behavior caused by the proliferation of social media are reshaping individuals' personalities and causing an evolution of the character of our society as a whole. Readers will understand how these important changes came about and how more connectivity all too often leads to more ignorance and less comprehension, and will consider solutions that could counter the negative effects of being "too connected, too often."
Download or read book Politics and the Media written by Jane Hall and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2021-08-04 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The book is well versed in the scholarly literature as well as pop-culture references found in contemporary television shows and movies. But what stands out in the volume’s research is its utilization of interviews conducted by the author that provide a range of perspectives on the media and politics from the vantage points of U.S. senators, journalists, critics, and activists." —Kirkus Reviews "Jane Hall has written a brilliant analysis that is educational, entertaining and important. Her comprehensive and timely book will be required reading for scholars, and will be invaluable for general readers and anyone interested in the relationship between politics and the media." - Kenneth T. Walsh, veteran White House correspondent, adjunct professorial lecturer in communication, and author of 10 books on the presidency including Presidential Leadership in Crisis. "Finally, as current a book as possible incorporating scholarly work on the media and politics and up-to-date examples and suggested exercises that are sure to rivet student interest. From its coverage of a tweeting President constantly assailing the media to trenchant analyses of coverage of the BLM movement, immigration and how the media treats women candidates this book is a must- adopt for Media and Politics classes. It is also an excellent add on for classes on American Politics and Campaigns and Elections." - Karen O’Connor, Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Politics, Founder Women and Politics Institute, American University. "The book is very timely and it has good case studies for students to discuss in class. It has chapters on race- and gender-related issues. You can use it as the main textbook, or you can assign it as supplementary reading material." —Ivy Shen, PhD. Southeast Missouri State University Politics and the Media: Intersections and New Directions examines how media and political institutions interact to shape public thinking and debates around social problems, cultural norms, and policies. From the roles of race and gender in American politics to the 2020 elections and the global coronavirus pandemic, this is an extraordinary moment for politicians, the news media, and democracy itself. Drawing from years of experience as an active political media analyst, an award-winning journalist and professor of politics and the media, Jane Hall explores how media technologies, practices, and formats shape political decision-making; how political forces influence media institutions; and how public opinion and media audiences are formed. Students will gain an understanding of these issues through a combination of scholarship, in-depth interviews, and contemporary case-studies that will help them develop their own views and learn to express them constructively.
