Focus of this argument

George Lakoff, The Political Mind

Chapters

Cognitive  policy is necessary for change, is in essence Lakoff's argument.

"A cognitive policy is the policy of getting an idea into normal public discourse, which requires creating a change in the brains of millions of people."

p. 169.

"Consider fMRI (functional magnetic resonance Imaging) experiments, which provide what are portrayed in the popular literature as pictures of the brain. They are not pictures of the brain, They are pictures of something else, which is informative and important, but not the brain itself."

p. 195.

Critique of the "rational actor" approach to policy, governance and models of human responsiveness

pp. 209-221.

 "Metaphors have entailments; they map source domain reasoning to target domains. If one is not careful,"but they will have effects"."

"According to the old Enlightenment reason, rationality is supposed to be logical and literal (rational). It is suppose to have no metaphors. When metaphors are used they may be hidden by the Old Enlightenment view of rationality."

"But "rationality" defined in this way has severe limits."

p. 212.

"From the perspective of neuroscience, it is not clear what personality and psychological needs are."

"Is personality defined by a collection of narratives that you live out? Or by a worldview specified by frames and metaphors, determining how you experience?"

"whatever "traits" are neurally?"

"Can you tell "personality" from "worldview"?"

p. 199.

Intolerance of ambiguity as a conservative personality trait

"need for authoritarianism and dogmatism."

"a need for closure (to avoid uncertainty), regulatory focus(to cultivate discipline). . . .a higher personal need for order, structure & closure."

p. 198

"Metaphors cannot be seen or touched, but they create massive effects, and political intimidation is one such effect

p. 130

"The biology of empathy allows us to comprehend our connections to each pother, to other living things, and to the physical world that supports life"

p. 120

It is not strictly a sensory world

Images created by the experience, in the mind shape behavior,

"Language has systemic effects,"

p. 234

"How  can a mere word, a sequence of sounds, accomplish this [triggering a set of unconscious reactions that link different frames]?

A sign activates a frame element, which activates a whole, often complex frame, which activates the system the frame is embedded in."

P. 235.

""Narrative is the name of an circuit that activates an Event Structure schema (X-schema) that both defines a structure and can operate in time."

p. 235

George Lakoff, The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientist"s Guide to your Brain and Politics. Penguin, (2008-2009)