Welcome to the Daily Article podcast for Wednesday, November 9th, 2022.

Today's article is written by Dr. Jim Denison and narrated by Chris Elkins of the Denison Forum.

Psalm 122, verse 6 reads, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

As of this morning, Republicans appear to be on track to regain

control of the House of Representatives, though the size of their majority is yet to be known.

Control of the Senate is still to be determined, but several pivotal races are too close to call.

As the leader of a nonpartisan ministry, I'm responding to the midterm elections

with reflections that would be the same, regardless of which party controls which branch of our

governments. As background, let's consider a New Yorker article indicating that reason developed not

to enable us to solve abstract logical problems or even to help draw

conclusions from unfamiliar data. Rather, it developed to resolve the problems posed by living

in collaborative groups. In other words, we tend to make our decisions based on how our group makes theirs. Consequently,

while we're critically aware of the fallacies held by others, we're blind to our own. In addition,

we must rely on the expertise of others for the essentials of life, such as the function of toilets,

as the article illustrates. So we do the same with our opinions, such as the function of toilets, as the article illustrates.

So we do the same with our opinions depending on knowledge of those with whom we already agree.

Further research demonstrates that we experience genuine pleasure, a rush of dopamine,

when we process information that supports our beliefs.

These facts relate directly to voting in a democracy. Once we identify our group, we tend to vote

in ways that advance our group's agenda. We are much more able to see the shortcomings of the

other group's candidates than our own.

We are rewarded psychologically when our side wins and the other side loses.

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