Why the “heart” always wins… | || Satyameva Jayate ||

• Why the “heart” always wins… | || Satyameva Jayate ||

  tags: no_tag

  • the best appeals seize people with something emotionally compelling, lay out the alternatives posed by the candidates and “close the argument” with inspiration or outrage.

    …

    If the other side is trashing you and you say nothing or back down, you cede to your adversaries the neural networks that constitute public opinion. People vote largely with their passions, and if you jam their emotional radar, you prevent them from making emotionally informed decisions.

    …

    Data from thousands of voters surveyed since the late 1940s suggest that voters tend to ask four questions (in this order) that determine how they vote:
    · How do I feel about the candidates’ parties and their principles?
    · How does this candidate make me feel?
    · How do I feel about this candidate’s personal characteristics, such as integrity, leadership and empathy?
    · How do I feel about this candidate’s stands on issues that matter to me?

    Candidates who focus toward the top of this hierarchy and work their way down generally win. They drink from the wellsprings of partisan sentiments, which account for more than 80 percent of votes. They tell emotionally compelling stories about who they are and what they believe in.

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  • Based on my observations in real life, this is not surprising at all. Voting based on rational or logical analysis is vastly over-rated and not backed by facts. Most people do vote based on partisanship, and then rationalize their choice to appear as if the decision was made in a logical manner and theirs was the best choice.