Lakoff is back!

Publishers Weekly:

Lakoff (Don't Think of an Elephant) harnesses cognitive science to rally progressive politicians and voters by positing that conservatives have framed the debate on vital issues more effectively than liberals. According to his research, conservatives comprehend that most brain functioning is grounded not in logical reasoning but in emotionalism-as a result, huge portions of the citizenry accept the Republican framing of the "war in Iraq" and "supporting the troops" rather than liberal appeals and phrasing of "the occupation in Iraq" and "squandering tax money." George W. Bush won the presidency by concocting a "redemption narrative," persuading tens of millions of voters that his past moral and business shortcomings should be viewed as a prelude to pulling himself up, rather than as disqualifying behavior. While sections of the book employ technical scientific terminology, the author masterfully makes his research comprehensible to nonspecialists. His conclusion-that if citizens and policy-makers better understand brain functioning, hope exists to ameliorate global warming and other societal disasters in the making-will be of vital importance and interest to all readers.

BuzzFlash:

Reinforces Drew Westin's The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation (Hardcover) and Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter with Kansas." In short, us progressives and liberals often glory in our rationality and logic, while the role of emotion in elections, as the Republicans learned decades ago, is a key factor for many Americans. Yet Democrats and progressives often believe that the merits of an issue or a candidate is sufficient to win. Uh, it doesn't work that way all the time, and particularly with voters who are misinformed and feel anxious about their safety or the future of the country.


About the Author:

George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Rockridge Institute, a think tank in Berkeley. He is author of Don’t Think of an Elephant!, Moral Politics, Whose Freedom?, and coauthor of Thinking Points: A Progressive’s Handbook, as well as many books and articles on cognitive science and linguistics.