Brain differences - Liberal vs Conservative

[Matt-Chicago]

Since there's been nothing to argue about for so long, saw this article and thought I'd give it a post here.

Basically, this study shows that the brains of liberals are more geared towards understanding complexity, while conservatives are more geared towards fear and anxiety. Makes perfect sense to me

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110411/pl_yblog_theticket/will-president-obama-and-the-house-gop-ever-agree-science-suggests-no

President Obama and House Republicans may have narrowly averted a government shutdown last weekend, but as the two sides prepare to engage in another round of intra-party feuding over budget proposals, a new study suggests that basic brain science might stand in the way of bipartisanship.

Using data from MRI scans, researchers at the University College London found that self-described liberals have a larger anterior cingulate cortex--a gray er of the brain associated with understanding complexity. Meanwhile, self-described conservatives are more likely to have a larger amygdala, an almond-shaped area that is associated with fear and anxiety.

"Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation," lead researcher Ryota Kanai writes of the study in the latest issue of Current Biology. "Our study now links personality traits with specific brain structure."

Observers will notice a familiar name on the report: Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth, who commissioned the report while serving as a guest host of the BBC Radio 4's Today program in London last year. (Neurological sources of stammering don't come into play.)

The study, which was conducted with the help of 90 young adult volunteers, comes on the heels of other research that linked political beliefs to genetic differences between liberals and conservatives. Last year, a joint study by the Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, found there might actually be a so-called "liberal gene" that influences political leanings.

While the London study does find distinct differences between Democrats and Republicans, its authors caution that more research needs to be done on the subject. One unknown is whether people are simply born with their political beliefs or if our brains adjust to life experiences--which is a possibility, Kanai writes.

"It's very unlikely that actual political orientation is directly encoded in these brain regions," he said in a statement accompanying the study. "More work is needed to determine how these brain structures mediate the formation of political attitude."

[Admiral_Aeka]

Since there's been nothing to argue about for so long,

Seems to me ideology would depend much more on how one was brought up than on the size of different brain area. But maybe that's just my anxious self drawing conclusions

[mrjamwin]

I personally think that liberals are the Dark Side/Sith whereas conservatives are the Light Side/Jedi.

[WD-40]

Since there's been nothing to argue about for so long...

You're kidding, right?

Yeeaaahhh....I'm never getting into these discussions again. Have fun guys.

[Duel of Fates]

Next, you will be extolling the virtues of eugenics and how we should weed out the undesirables in our society. I'm with WD on this one. Enjoy yourselves.

[burzerker]

Sounds about right for a pinheaded professor type study result (typically liberal biased). I prefer the view that liberals are more the mother/child type of people. This comes from their feeling the need to take care of the rest of us because we are too stupid to do it ourselves so Nanny state has to come in and do it for us, and the children are the ones who just go ahead and let the Nanny do all the work. The conservatives are the fatherly work our butts off type that have to work hard every day and pay for it and then come home and tell the liberals "no you can't spend 3 times what we are making and continue to survive". I don't knwo where these people come out with liberals being the thinkers.. perhaps they think they are smarter and know how we should run our lives and make sure everyone gets equal shares etc.. but in reality their only answer is spend spend spend, take more money teke more money take more money, not a good way of thinking. The conservatives might be more fearful because we actually look at the consequences of what the nanny state is doing, when you spend more than we bring in then soon the collection agent is going to come in and break someone's thumbs. The conservatives also see the evil in the world and know that you can't talk to crazy people and have that be a viable solution, sometimes we need to go out and kick some leaders butt.

[burzerker]

Here's a few examples showing how liberals are almost exclusively in the fear mongering buisness:
global warming
second hand (and even more absurd, third hand) smoking
trans fats
parents not feeding their kids, or not feeding them "properly" (leading to school lunch programs and now in Chicago you can't even bring your own lunch from home)
heterosexual AIDS epidemic
I could go on for ages. Everything they do is a way to control our lives, what we do , what we eat, what we drive, the temp of our house, forcing us to use poison lightbulbs.. We need to be left to our own decisions on what is best for our own lives, even if we don't make the "best" decision, they can't force us to do what they want.

[Admiral_Aeka]

I just noticed professordread browing our forums... sure enough he's in this section... waiting for an essay

[Matt-Chicago]

Here's a few examples showing how liberals are almost exclusively in the fear mongering buisness:
global warming
second hand (and even more absurd, third hand) smoking
trans fats
parents not feeding their kids, or not feeding them "properly" (leading to school lunch programs and now in Chicago you can't even bring your own lunch from home)
heterosexual AIDS epidemic
I could go on for ages. Everything they do is a way to control our lives, what we do , what we eat, what we drive, the temp of our house, forcing us to use poison lightbulbs.. We need to be left to our own decisions on what is best for our own lives, even if we don't make the "best" decision, they can't force us to do what they want.

Global warming = biggest problem faced by mankind today
Second hand smoke = proven killer, as dangerous as smoking
Trans fats = 2x more dangerous than saturated fat because not only increases bad cholesterol but lowers good
Obesity Epidemic is the #1 health issue facing kids, the country, and the health care system. It's only one school in Chicago (instituted by one principal, not the school district) which bans bringing your lunch, and I do oppose that, but fully support mandating healthy meals in school cafeterias.
AIDS is a hetero epidemic, not nearly as bad in the US as in Africa and elsewhere

So, my point is every example you gave is REAL, TRUE, DANGEROUS, and needs to be addressed as a society - they CAN NOT BE ADDRESSED ONLY BY INDIVIDUALS. We live in a society where the actions of one can affect everyone else, maybe that's too complex for the conservative mind to understand

The nonsense ones are things like gay marriage destroying the country, Christianity being suppressed, Iraq was a threat to the US, Muslims are trying to take over America, etc.

[ProfessorDreadNaught]

I just noticed professordread browing our forums... sure enough he's in this section... waiting for an essay

Thank you for that wonderful introduction.

I don't believe in the Genetics theory. Read the study. It's flawed in size and scope. Same goes for our British friends attempt using a sampling of 90 British university students to represent the diversity of the world's human population. Junk science, quickly clapped together to get funding. Utterly useless other than flamer ammunition.