I’ve been reading a lot of books and articles recently that make their point through academic studies that base their results on tests or polls done with the subects taken from academia–that is, college students. True of both liberal and conservative sociological/political studies.
But the human brain is not fully developted until about the age of 25. That is, the prefrontal cortex, where reasoned judgement is performed, is immature until well into the middle of the third decade.
So what does that say about the validity of these studies?
It’s wierd. Oil prices go down, so gas prices go down, so the public thinks, Great! We’re rich! and it’s better for Obama’s chances of re-election, when actually oil prices are down because the economy (around the world) is tanking, and we’re the opposite of rich and not great at all.
A good Italian word, protagonismo: the desire, the need, the demand, the desease of needing to be the center of the world’s attention.