[MD] Is ideological thinking hard wired?

[Khaled Alkotob]

Well a while back the story was whether or not, charity was hard wired
into us.

now, it's being suggested that our conservative/liberal leanings may be
hard wired too.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/268311.html
Study links political orientation to how brain works
By DENISE GELLENE
Los Angeles Times
Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that
liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives
because of how their brains work.
Scientists at New York University and the University of California-Los
Angeles showed through a simple experiment to be reported today in the
journal Nature Neuroscience that political orientation is related to
differences in how the brain processes information.
Previous psychological studies have found that conservatives tend to be
more structured and persistent in their judgments, whereas liberals are
more open to new experiences. The latest study found those traits are not
confined to political situations but also influence everyday decisions.
The results showed “there are two cognitive styles — a liberal style and
a conservative style,” said UCLA neurologist Marco Iacoboni, who was not
involved in the latest research.
Participants were college students whose politics ranged from “very
liberal” to “very conservative.” Scientists instructed them to tap a
keyboard when an “M” appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from
tapping when they saw a “W.”
“M” appeared four times more frequently than “W,” conditioning
participants to press a key in knee-jerk fashion whenever they saw a
letter.
Each participant was wired to an electroencephalograph that recorded
activity in their anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that
detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more
appropriate response (not pressing the key). Liberals had more brain
activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they saw a “W,”
researchers said. Liberals and conservatives were equally accurate in
recognizing “M.”
Another researcher in the field, Philip Tetlock of the University of
California-Berkeley, said he would be cautious about drawing conclusions
from such neurological studies. Using that kind of evidence, he said,
“it’s hard to distinguish between someone who’s rigid and someone who’s
principled.”
But Mark Pollock, an associate professor of communication at Loyola
University in Chicago, said the study “provides scientific evidence for
conclusions people (studying political rhetoric) have reached
previously.”
Such as?
“A higher tolerance of ambiguity and complexity is typical of people who
are liberal,” he said. “That’s not a surprise. It does, however, suggest
there may be a hereditary and neurological basis for that. It also might
suggest there’s less likelihood of people shifting their political
ideology if it’s hard-wired in there.”
Pollock saw another benefit to the findings: If political attitudes are
tied to neurophysiology, he said, “it would make bashing conservatives —
or liberals — pointless. It’s not as if people are making a choice to see
the world this way or that way. It’s how they’re built.”
The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.