Ashley Hofsommer
January 20, 2008
David Brooks
New York Times
"Alexander Todorov of Princeton has found that he can predict 70 percent of political races just by measuring peoples’ snap judgments of candidates’ faces." After reading this statement I must say a slight chill ran up my back. Is this the truth. The entire article covers what most Americans already assume, that we make decisions on impulse and emotion. He explains that often political analysts trust primaries to aid in the decisions Americans will make on who to vote for. According to the author however many Americans don't even take into account who is winning what primary or what the latest polls say. Most Americans make a decision based on what they see in the first few seconds of an interview or television appearance. Later, of course, they come up with rational reasons for their choice oblivious to the fact that none of their reasoning has anything to do with their original decision.
Another thing the author says may play a part in the decision of voters is the fact that many humans are anti-change. They like what is normal and cling to anything that evokes any familiarity with the past. Personally I don't plan on voting for the person that reminds me of my high school prom king or my kinder garden teacher, but according to him most people vote leaning toward these tendencies.
I found the article intriguing, but slightly insulting. He ends the article with a call to other editors to take care in the analyzing of the current race for the presidency. I don't recall being covered in wool this morning when I woke up and I don't understand why he thinks that intelligent people would be so swayed by what one editor says. I guess according to him, however, he and other editors are shepards in charge of guiding us sheep in intelligent decision making.
Would you like to form your own opinion? The link is below!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/opinion/18brooks.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1200852016-XWBGZnIZS1SaYg75Zs8G4g
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6 comments:
Wow,that was eye-opening! It is amazing to me that we, as American citizens can be viewed as so apathetic about our choices for the next leader of our country. While first impressions are important, it would seem that more thought would be put into this important choice. Great article, and I liked your insight!
That was really interesting. I can't believe that we might pick our next president on if he reminds us of our prom king. I can see where the author is coming from on that we are anti-change and very impulsive, but I would need some scientific evidence on the first impression theory the author mentioned.
I think this article is very relevant to today's society. It is scary how many people are so set on their opinion's with nothing rational to back it up. It is scary that one might pick our next leader based not on their value to America but rather than how they feel towards them.
This is a very good article. You make first impressions of someone based on the first fifteen seconds upon meeting them. That's why first impressions are so important. If you hear something about a candidate or see them for the first time, whether your opinion if favorable and negative depends on if they have your vote.
This article was great. While I agree, it is a bit insulting to hear the generalization that most people cling to what is normal and make snap judgments based on first impressions, it is a bit eye-opening. Psychologically it seems plausible, but I don't think that anyone wants to see themselves as followers who automatically make judgments to those who do not seem familiar. I really enjoyed the article and I also really enjoyed the critique. Well done!
This is a really good article! The activity we did in class on Wednesday was a great example of this. Many of the groups had already chosen if they liked or disliked the candidates they chose to do their project on; however, when Stephanie asked what our candidates supported the answers were not very researched! It seems that we do this too!!!
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