[MD] Is ideological thinking hard wired?

[gav]

the only thing that is 'hard-wired' (wow that
mechanistic analogy gives a lot away) in us is the
universal law of reflection: inner = outer; as above,
so below etc. that and love i suppose.
still i don't like the analogy at all: maybe because i
am into 'rage against the machine'?


--- Khaled Alkotob <khaledsa at juno.com> wrote:

> 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.
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