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This study more or less explains all our political problems. In short, people who consider themselves conservative, has a larger amygdala, the fear center, then people who consider themselves liberals.
THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. Being afraid of things is a good evolutionary tool that helps survival.
It also explains why conservatives are more likely to feel fear/hate/anger against people that is not like them, fear of the unknown, and fear of change.
This part is important -
"There is a big unknown underlying these findings. Supposing that the size of one's amygdala really does increase the likelihood of being a conservative, is the size of the amygdala determined at birth, or does it perhaps increase with frightening childhood experiences, such as authoritarian parenting and corporal punishment?
Similarly, one might ask whether the gray matter difference is affected by exposure to educational challenge, social diversity, or childhood cognitive enrichment."
-https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-human-beast/201104/conservatives-big-fear-brain-study-finds
And this pretty much sums it all up -
"Meanwhile, the neuro-scientific fact of two very different political creatures helps clarify much of the political antics of modern democracies.
Most societies are divided into a party that wants change (the more liberal party) and one that is afraid of change (the conservatives). The liberal party is generally more intellectual and the conservative party is more anti-intellectual.
The conservative party is big on national defense and magnifies our perception of threat, whether of foreign aggressors, immigrants, terrorists, or invading ideologies like Communism. To a conservative, the world really is a frightening place.
Given that their brains are so different, it is hardly surprising that liberals and conservatives should spend so much time talking across each other and never achieving real dialogue or consensus."
THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. Being afraid of things is a good evolutionary tool that helps survival.
It also explains why conservatives are more likely to feel fear/hate/anger against people that is not like them, fear of the unknown, and fear of change.
This part is important -
"There is a big unknown underlying these findings. Supposing that the size of one's amygdala really does increase the likelihood of being a conservative, is the size of the amygdala determined at birth, or does it perhaps increase with frightening childhood experiences, such as authoritarian parenting and corporal punishment?
Similarly, one might ask whether the gray matter difference is affected by exposure to educational challenge, social diversity, or childhood cognitive enrichment."
-https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-human-beast/201104/conservatives-big-fear-brain-study-finds
And this pretty much sums it all up -
"Meanwhile, the neuro-scientific fact of two very different political creatures helps clarify much of the political antics of modern democracies.
Most societies are divided into a party that wants change (the more liberal party) and one that is afraid of change (the conservatives). The liberal party is generally more intellectual and the conservative party is more anti-intellectual.
The conservative party is big on national defense and magnifies our perception of threat, whether of foreign aggressors, immigrants, terrorists, or invading ideologies like Communism. To a conservative, the world really is a frightening place.
Given that their brains are so different, it is hardly surprising that liberals and conservatives should spend so much time talking across each other and never achieving real dialogue or consensus."
