From: "Rich Gauszka" 

I'll agree that there are some unable/unwilling  to perceive the
ambiguities involved in the decision for war in Iraq. It's called  *Denial*
 Gary



"Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:439dcacb$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> It only appears irrational to those reacting emotionally because they are
> unable to perceive the things necessary to clear the ambiguities.  It
> could
> well explain BDS that is so prevalent in lefties since 2000.
>
> Gary
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:439dc9e1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> That's the thanks one gets for attempting to find some rationale for
> Bush's
>> irrationality
>>
>>
>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>> news:439dc855$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> > Now we know why lefties nuance things into inaction and are lousy
> leaders.
>> >
>> > Gary
>> >
>> > "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>> > news:439dbb81{at}w3.nls.net...
>> >> 'The brain responds emotionally and often illogically
when forced to
> make
>> >> decisions based on little or conflicting evidence, a new study
> suggests.'
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20051212/sc_space/howambiguitymesseswithourbrai
ns
>> >>
>> >> How Ambiguity Messes with Our Brains
>> >> The brain responds emotionally and often illogically when forced to
> make
>> >> decisions based on little or conflicting evidence, a new study
> suggests.
>> >>
>> >> ambiguous decisions and are different from risky decisions.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In a risky decision, a person is uncertain about the
outcome of their
>> > choice
>> >> but has an idea of the probability of success. In an ambiguous
> decision,
>> >> a
>> >> person is ignorant of both factors.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "Psychologists would say ambiguity is the discomfort
from knowing
>> >> there
>> >> is
>> >> something you don't know that you wish you did,"
said Colin Camerer,
>> >> an
>> >> economist at the California Institute of Technology and the primary
>> >> researcher in the study.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In the experiment, test subjects made ambiguous bets while their
>> >> brains
>> > were
>> >> scanned using a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI).
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In one example, the subjects were given the choice between betting
> money
>> > on
>> >> the chances of drawing a red card from a
"risky" deck that had 20 red
>> > cards
>> >> and 20 black cards-that is, where the probability of
choosing either
>> >> color
>> >> was 50:50-and making the same bet with an
"ambiguous" deck where the
>> >> color
>> >> composition of the cards was unknown.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In most cases, the subjects chose to make the risky bet. Logically,
>> > however,
>> >> both bets would have been equally good because in both cases, the
> chance
>> > of
>> >> pulling a red card on the first draw was 50:50.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> The brain scans revealed that ambiguous wagers were often
accompanied
> by
>> >> activation of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex
(OFC), two areas
>> >> of
>> > the
>> >> brain that are involved in the processing of emotions. In
particular,
> the
>> >> amygdala has been found to be closely associated with fear.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> A correlation between aversion to ambiguous decisions and
activation
>> >> of
>> >> emotional parts of the brain makes sense from an
evolutionary point of
>> > view,
>> >> Camerer said. "Freezing in the face of danger is an
old, emotional
>> > response
>> >> which probably was evolutionarily adaptive in our
ancestral past."
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> In the modern human brain, this translates into a
reluctance to bet on
> or
>> >> against an event if it seems at all ambiguous.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> The finding could help scientists understand how humans
make decisions
> in
>> >> the real world, because the choices people make are often based on
>> >> very
>> >> limited information, Camerer told LiveScience.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "If you think about it, how often do you know the
probability of
>> >> success?"
>> >> he said. "Probably, the situation we modeled with
the risk game is
>> >> more
>> > the
>> >> exception than the rule."
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

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