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New Research: Tories Have More "Primitive" Brains
Are Dave’s crap politics due to his primitive brain?
It sounds like a reverse case of Social Darwinism, but this recent study at University College London has produced findings which have seriously pissed off right-wingers. The research, which scanned the brains of students of different political persuasions at UCL found a striking and surprising correlation: that people who affiliate themselves with Tory or right-wing politics have a larger amygdalas, a “primitive” part of the brain associated with emotions such as fear. Meanwhile, those of more left wing persuasions generally have a larger ”anterior cingulate”, associated with anticipation, decision-making, and emotions such as courage and optimism. Perhaps this is why so many people keep voting Tory despite their blatant shitness, or why scaremongering the population using a propagandic “war on terror” is effective?
Tongue in cheek aside, while I would definitely argue that lefties are more empathetic, and in general have far better values and ideas than right-wingers, I don’t want to take the research too seriously. Believing in a sort of political pre-destination would lead to us concluding that some people are almost inevitably consigned to the “dark side”, to think and act like Tories or even worse from birth, and that’s just depressing.
Then again, socialists can always use their better-evolved brains to convince those poor Tories of the error in their ways!
and the daily mail publish’s something like this from the other side at least once a year, I know this was kind of tongue in cheek but do we really wish to lower ourself to there level by subscribing to nonsense like this even if we are kidding, politics are not genetic.
I chose the daily mail link because the article has the most detail on the study, but there are a range of newspapers and other outlets which published the story. I first heard about it from a delighted liberal/lefty at work. In as far as the research goes, the correlation that was found was not “nonsense”, and is now being further exmined before being published. The findings do not even mean that politics are genetic: such brain development could come from the environment you grow up in etc. Whatever the truth of the matter, I found the findings interesting nevertheless and don’t think reporting on them should be interpreted as “lowering ourselves”.
Kwality.
I tend to agree with Chris.
I think it’s fine to report on this story for teh lulz, but we need to be clear that this is the kind of ‘politics’ we need to steer far away from.
Weird pseudo-eugenics, phrenology and everything else remotely biologically determinist is a very regressive concept, it’s not something we can ever support or agree with.
Let’s remember that the brain is not hard wired, it has “plasticity” and is moulded by our environment and social conditions and how we use it.
I’m not sure about the quality of the paper, and 1 paper is not really enough to go on in general.
So, even if it was true, its probably because ( I like to think) as a left winger, you would think and read and talk and constantly challenge your beliefs , so these areas would get more “practice” and “strengthen” and become bigger.
And perhaps if you were more closed minded these areas would be less well developed as you would maybe stick to the same answers and thought patterns.
So not because anyone was inherently more or less ” intelligent”.
Kind of like how London taxi drivers have a more developed area in their brain of spacial awareness- because they have to hold a map of a large area in their head and know all the routes, the brain “develops” to fit how it is used.
Peopple did tests on brains and proved this which means its not psuedo science. It is a fact that we are socially constructed and genitically construcvted it is not nonsense to say one group is smarter than the other.
e.g. Artists and creative people during first world war tended to be more affected by shellshock because they thought about things in amore creatrive manner or some other reason it is not a lie to state facts. It is a great evil to attack science and all too often people from left to right manipulate science for their own agendas.
I seem to remember it was a Labour government that came up with the War on Terror.