The 2008 Election and the Gap Between Our Minds and Our Ideals

This blog entry is an aside having to do with this year's historical election and the 2006 Mountain View Reads Together book choice, Blink. Back in 2006 we ran a Mountain View Reads Together event related to this gap:
http://mvreads.blogspot.com/2006/11/reveal-your-mind-computer-exercise.html

**** On Sunday, November 2, the San Jose Mercury News published an article by Nicholas D. Kristof:
Race in this election exposes the gap between our minds and our ideals

For the past year and a half, a team of psychology professors has been conducting remarkable experiments on how Americans view Barack Obama through the prism of race.

The scholars used a common research technique, the implicit-association test, to measure whether people regarded Obama and other candidates as more foreign or more American. They found that research subjects — particularly when primed to think of Obama as a black candidate — subconsciously considered him less American than either Hillary Clinton or John McCain.

Click here for the entire article.

**** And another article you may find interesting:
Studies Find a Candidate's Looks Matter
by Jeanna Bryner, on livescience.com, published online 10/30/08

Voters look for someone who appears both competent and attractive when choosing a president, at least when the candidate is female, finds a new study.

If true, the reportedly astronomical fees spent on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance could have been right on the money.

"Campaign managers seem to be ahead of the game in understanding that image really matters," said Joan Y. Chiao, a psychologist at Northwestern University in Illinois. "They know that, contrary to popular notions, people are not necessarily using deliberate and rational strategies in deciding whom to vote for, especially when it comes to women."

Click here for the entire article.