http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/in...conservatives/
Intriguing. I dont fully buy the theory pressed by the article but it does proffer an interesting query: is there a correlation between heightened activity in certain areas of the brain that determine analytical or defensive responses and ones outlook on social intercourse and ultimately ones political philosophy?
As appealing as the supposition is I am highly skeptical. The relative nature of politics is in constant flux. Robert Anton Wilson stated "??It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.?" As the article states the notions of terms such as liberal and conservative are vaguely definable and not static. Such limited studies as cited by this article are ultimately inconclusive. They do not account for any independent coincidental development between brain functioning in certain areas and behavioural patterns. They do not account for adaptibily in social interaction. The main study cited is only an incidental and singularly temporal survey of politically self identified individuals and does not account for any philosphical changes or reconsideration over any amount of time. The study does not account for consider the conditions in which the brain activity was conducted or any tangential unrelated issues the subjects were navigating at the time. It does not detail the stimuli used to activate the brainwaves of the subjects either. Were they all subject to the same conditions? This study does not also differentiate between people that are economically conservative or liberal while conversely socially conservative or liberal. It does not consider varying degrees of mentioned political philosophies or even philosophies or parties that combine elements of both or are vastly removed from such a yinyang accounting of reality.
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