Archive for August, 2010
The Ethics of Political Research
It is very difficult to enjoy absolute ethics in political research in the present period. This is because when politicians or groups of folks with specific agendas need a research paper to back them up, they end up paying a university, or research group for a specific outcome. Researchers should be very careful when taking such money, and understand that such strings attached to political research could indeed get them in trouble with the scientific community, or cause controversy with peer reviews.
So what is a researcher to do? Should they not take the money, should they not take the work, or should they find another way around it? One solution is that if you want to do political research you should first;
Myers Briggs Personality Type and Political Affiliation
We’ve all come across people who just seem incapable of modifying their perspective based on new data being presented. Most of us still mouth the words that additional education (or indoctrination/propaganda as is often the case) is what is needed since surely this person will turn around if his/her consciousness is sufficiently expanded with additional data backing your perspective. However, all too often deep inside we know that some people are “hopeless”. This conclusion concerning failure of propaganda is reached from all over the political, cultural, and religious spectrum at one point or another. It thus becomes fashionable to outright dismiss “inconvertible” individuals and opposing zealots (on political and religious fringes of any given population) as nuts and crazies.
Personality theory in psychology allows us to better categorize individuals in society without resorting to name calling. Myers-Briggs typology in particular offers a better construct (compared to useless terms like conservative and liberal for example) to predict how an individual will act politically and socially. Myers-Briggs research combined with biology and brain scan techniques also offers us hints at understanding the underlining anatomical basis that predisposes a person to be either a disagreeable radical or a gentle follower.
Ancient Greece – Political System
In 6th century Athens, three groups of inhabitants were created after the changes initiated by Solon. First there were the Pedinoi, i.e. the land-owning aristocrats who lived on their estates like forgotten feudal lords. The second group was the Paralioi, who worked in trade and shipping. Among their ranks, a new class was evolving on the basis of money, which provided all the comforts of life, and would sooner or later inevitably create the craving for power. The third group was called the Diakrioi; they were the many. Among them were shepherds, peasants and freemen: i.e. people who had suffered oppression for centuries, but when they suddenly acquired freedom, were easy prey for demagogues.
Solon never became a tyrant, although the state had given him the rights of a dictator. Perhaps he had a strong sense of personal freedom. But Peisistratos, with his implacable thirst for power, knew how to stir the masses, and managed to gain office by using populist promises, flattering the mob and employing unscrupulous strategems. He went as far as to present a false Athena to the dazzled people to persuade them that he had been sent by heaven, and at the same time introduced an election campaign without restriction.
Can Astrological Predictions About Indian Politics Be Made?
The political future of India is being hotly debated in the current pre-election scenario with questions like “who will form the next government?” and “who will be the next prime minister of India?” being uppermost in everyone’s mind.
The question bothering me, however, is that “Is it really possible to answer such questions based on astrology for a country blessed with political volatility like that of India?” There are at least ten prospective prime ministerial candidates for the upcoming general elections, of which there are a few like Dr. Manmohan Singh, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi who nurture an unexpressed desire for the position. Some of the other possible contenders for the position include Sh. L.K. Advani, Sh. Narendra Modi, Smt. Mayawati, Sh. Sharad Pawar, Sh. Deve Gowda, Sh. Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sh. Ram Vilas Paswan.