Scientists at the University of London have found a correlation between political conservatism and having a larger "fear center" in the brain, according to a study that will be published next year. They examined brain scans of two members of Parliament, one Conservative and one Labour (what we in the U.S. would call liberal), and also questioned 90 college students who'd previously been scanned about their political beliefs.
They found that people identifying themselves as conservative in their political beliefs tended to have a larger amygdala, which is the part of your brain that controls fear responses and arousal. But hey, the same people are very popular, also according to science.
When I read this, my first thought was, "Well, that explains a lot." I tend to lean toward the notion that a person's experiences may shape their brain chemistry, not that anyone is hard-wired to only think one way for the rest of his or her entire life. And while, anecdotally, the people I know who don't feel safe without a loaded gun in every room of the house tend to be conservative and the people who have Ph.D's tend to be liberal, it's just too easy to think that an amygdala is the explanation for all our differences. Or that one brain make-up is better than another.
It would also be really condescending for anyone to look at this report and say to themselves, "Oh, well, no wonder x is conservative - his brain is just made that way. Poor dear." For one thing, brain researchers have also found what they call a "liberal gene," that, in the words of the Telegraph, "makes people more likely to seek out less conventional political views." A neurotransmitter does not trump an amygdala.
How about this - let's not use scientific research to score political points. Let's let scientific research do what it's supposed to - namely, tell us something about our amazing world that we didn't know before, and appreciate that difference.
Full disclosure, though: I probably have one of those liberal genes.
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