And no, this article isn't saying you are born republican or democrat. your brain changes as you develop. If you're raised a certain way, your brain develops to continue living that way.
The amygdala is part of the area of the brain associated with emotions. The amygdala is important for formation of emotional memories and learning, such as fear conditioning, as well as memory consolidation. Emotions significantly impact how we process events; when we encounter something and have a strong emotional reaction—either positive or negative—that memory is strengthened.
Persons with a larger or more active amygdala tend to have stronger emotional reactions to objects and events, and process information initially through that pathway. They would be more likely swayed towards a belief if it touched them on an emotional level.
If you get down to the bare bones of the two parties, liberalism is all about change, adaptability. conservatism is all about stability, keeping things the same.
when faced with an ambiguous situation, conservatives would tend to process the information initially with a strong emotional response. This would make them less likely to lean towards change, and more likely to prefer stability. Stability means more predictability, which means more expected outcomes, and less of a trigger for anxiety.
Liberals, though, tend toward unpredictability. They don’t mind change, and in fact, they prefer it. They seek it out. This personality type would likely choose “change” over “stability” just because they tend to be more novelty-seeking by nature. The fact that they have a more prominent ACC helps them to deal with radically changing situations, still find the salient points, all without the emotion getting in the way. These individuals are the compartmentalizers, the logic-driven ones, while the conservatives are the ones driven by emotion and empathy.
This is going to be way too long but I figured it's actually super interesting. i just read an article which discussed a few studies where they performed MRIs on a bunch of young adults, (scanning their brains) and they found a connection between brain structure and political affiliation.
one study found an increase in activity in the ACC correlates with liberalism, and an increased volume of the right (feeling side) amygdala.
the other study found an increase in gray matter in the ACC correlates with liberalism.
(copied from the article):
The ACC has a variety of functions in the brain, including error detection, conflict monitoring, and evaluating or weighing different competing choices. It’s also very important for both emotion regulation and cognitive control (often referred to as ‘executive functioning’)—controlling the level of emotional arousal or response to an emotional event (keeping it in check), as to allow your cognitive processes to work most effectively.
Those with the ability to maintain low emotional arousal and have high cognitive control are generally better at handling conflict in the moment, plus tend to be the least permanently affected by trauma in the long term. They tend to be more adaptable to changing situations (or have a higher tolerance for complexity), and have what we call cognitive flexibility.
deletedabout 9 years
Also how is Ellen a mysogonyst against trans women. Genuine question. The only thing I can remember off the top of my head was her questioning cait Jenner for not being pro gay marriage
pros: Loves everyone and everyone loves them. Is nice to look at. Beautiful fur. They could run the U.S. probably better than anyone, honestly.
cons: poop in the oval office.
deletedabout 9 years
this thread went downhill fast after i left. I care about racism/sexism/whathaveyou, but believe it or not there are other issues in the world as well. I'm not going to say they're more or less important, and I'm fine discussing them...but I find it kind of hard without an actual proposed solution is on the table. Anyone and their mom can find a problem with the world. Changing social norms is a little more of a challenge if you ask me
