The political mind : why you can't understand 21st-century politics with an 18th-century brain
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In What's the Matter with Kansas?, Thomas Frank pointed out that many people actually vote against their own interests. Here, linguist Lakoff explains why. Human beings are not rational creatures. Ideas, morals, and values do not exist somewhere outside--they exist literally inside the brain, and they take physical shape there. We form particular kinds of narratives in our minds just like we form specific muscle memories such as typing or dancing, and then we fit new information into those narratives. Getting that information out of one narrative and into another--or building a whole new narrative--can be as hard as learning to play the banjo. As long as progressives persist in believing that people use objective reasoning to decide on their politics, the Democrats will continue to lose elections--they must take control of the terms of the debate.--From publisher description.