Political diversity could be the result of neurological differences, imply new findings by scientists at New York University. In a simple button-pushing test, those self-identified as liberal were more able to respond to new stimuli than those self-identified as conservative. The scientists think this has a neurological basis:
Brain recordings taken using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology showed that liberals had twice as much activity in a deep region called the anterior cingulate cortex. This area of the brain is thought to act as a mental brake by helping the mind recognize “no-go” situations where it must refrain from the usual course of action.
Oh, I could have lots of fun with this one, especially as General David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are about to “make the case for the White House that America should maintain the current strategy and force levels in Iraq.”
Before you go calling up Bill Richardson for his opinion on the biological basis of political orientation, however, note that it is still an open question whether brain responses influence one’s political views, or the reverse. One scientist (not part of the study team) comments “it would be a leap if researchers claim that there is an underlying biological difference that leads you to a particular political orientation.”
Others speculate on the possibility of predicting political behavior using brain scans. I’ll be on the lookout for vans with strange antennae prowling my neighborhood as we near November. Maybe it’s time to make myself a tin-foil hat.
Per usual, always indebted to your picking through the dumpster loads of info and selecting out the most useful and relevant. But I had to write to say: TIN FOIL HAT. Thank you for the reminder of even the existence of the TIN FOIL HAT.
Now THAT is fascinating.
As if I needed a scientific study to tell me that conservatives were idiots.