CONSERVATIVE OR LIBERAL, GRAY MATTER MAY DECIDE HOW YOU VOTE

Human Events ^ | 9/25/2012 | David Alan Coia

[lonevoice]

Thanks for the ping!

"Individuals with strong “physiological responses to disgusting images…are more likely to self-identify as conservative…than are individuals with more muted physiological responses to the same images.”

That would explain a lot. In their liberal world, where there are no moral absolutes, very little disgusts them, other than conservatives.

If we're going to have evolutionary divergence, it would be nice if we could give them their own continent to destroy.

[Windflier]

Your brain changes over time, too, of course.

If that's true, then why are my parents, and all of my siblings still Democrats?

[Windflier]

...maybe its not that your brain structure determines your political "predisposition" but that holding certain viewpoints causes the development of certain areas of the brain? The evidence of this study supports that contention equally as well.

Good observation, and I would argue that if there's any correlation between the structure of a person's grey matter and their political persuasion, that it's probably more true that a person's thoughts affect the changing structure of their brain, and not the other way around.

[Makana]

You lost me. You use pronouns with hazy antecedents dilutes whatever point you are attempting to make.

[Tublecane]

I thought “he” would be obvious, since I was responding to your post about Eric Hotter.

“We” is us, that is creepers and conservatives.

“They” is the only one I admit could be confusing because it moves from the true believers to liberals, which I was maintaining are distinct.

[Tublecane]

Whoops, creepers = creepers.

The point, by the way, was in short that true believers don’t apply to the question because it is about liberalism versus conservatism, neither of which fit the type.

[Makana]

Thanks. While I don’t agree, I understand your point.

[Vanders9]

That's a good point too, but I would suggest it might also be more like a positive feedback loop. Your thoughts affect the way your brain develops, which in turn affects your thoughts, which in turn further develops the brain, and so on... After all, that kind of pattern certainly happens in physical biology and in biochemistry.

Maybe if it is a positive feedback loop, that is also the answer to the old "nurture or nature" argument.