Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Is "Left" Vs. "Right" Hard-coded Into Your Brain?

Posted by Unknown on from the you-are-a-machine dept.

New submitter kyjellyfish writes "Research published in the journal PLOS ONE, suggests that your parents 'Left or 'Right' party affiliations are not the only factor at work shaping a person's political identity. Differences in opinion between 'Lefties' and 'Righties' may reflect specific physiological processes. In research performed over 10 years ago, brain scans showed that London cab drivers' gray matter grew larger to help them store a mental map of the city." From the article: "Other scans have shown that brain regions associated with risk and uncertainty, such as the fear-processing amygdala, differ in structure in liberals and conservatives. And different architecture means different behavior. Liberals tend to seek out novelty and uncertainty, while conservatives exhibit strong changes in attitude to threatening situations. The former are more willing to accept risk, while the latter tends to have more intense physical reactions to threatening stimuli."

6 of 758 comments (clear)

  1. So what the article is saying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    So what the article is saying is that conservatives are pussies. Gotchya.

    1. Re:So what the article is saying... by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, the article says that conservatives are corrupt, authoritarian fascists, and that liberals are drug taking, fuck-anything-that-moves, dirty hippies

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:So what the article is saying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      We like to call ourselves Libertarian.

    3. Re:So what the article is saying... by 2fuf · · Score: 5, Funny

      > I'm glad I don't have a visa...

      So are we :-)

    4. Re:So what the article is saying... by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've never heard of the bucket-filling concept before. It sounds ever so childish.

      It seems like a very dangerous thing, this encouraging kindergarten kids to say nice things about each other. Far better they be trained to use free-speech to be nasty to each other, and defend themselves from the nastiness of others with guns.

  2. Re:Fixed it by coinreturn · · Score: 3, Funny

    You mean small like regulating vaginas, thrusting military might across the globe, building walls along our borders, and building ever more jail cells for victimless crimes?