The heavy and the light

I generally don't dwell on politics here too much, but I stumbled across this TED video that seems entirely too timely, and which honestly shifted the way I think about Conservatives and Liberals. In it, the speaker, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, looks at how Five Moral Values (harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, purity/sanctity) influence both sides and affect their political choices. In addition, he goes on further to explain that these underlying motivators have both healthy and negative side-effects on society. Before concluding that, like many Eastern Relgions suggest, its ultimately balance that is the goal.



Whether or not we currently have balance right now is another matter (and one that both "sides" contest)... but still, really interesting stuff.

And, just to keep things from getting too heavy around here, I thought I'd also post this preview for No Heroics, a British superhero comedy TV series that we will probably never see on this side of the pond. It's got an interesting Office meets Justice League vibe to it.



...OK, so maybe it looks a little dumb. But, you rarely see superheroes in costume on the small screen. And, I still bet that twice as many people watch that preview over the number that watch the "Morality of Politics" one I started this entry off with.

(Oh, and sorry that this blog has just been video clips lately. I swear there is other interesting stuff out there. And I swear I'll post about it someday.)