Our New President - President Donald Trump

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It is not about logic, or genuine concern for other people. They want to hurt people who do things they find disgusting.

First, let's take a look at the liberal brain. Studies have found that, on average, the brains of liberals have greater volume in a region known as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This area has been linked to several functions, including conflict detection, which enables us to regulate our behavior by identifying discrepancies between instinctual, habit-driven impulses and our actual intentions. So whether you're swerving to dodge a deer that's abruptly run onto the road, or halting before eating that one rotten grape from the fruit bowl, you can thank your ACC for its conflict detection capabilities.

Beyond its greater size, the ACC of the liberal brain also fires more frequently while detecting these differences between instinct and intention. In a political context, this may enable liberals to approach policy issues with greater sensitivity to when their habitual tendencies are ill suited for addressing the issue at hand.

The conservative brain, on the other hand, has greater volume in a region called the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure implicated in emotional and fear-based learning. In one study, researchers found that when conservatives hear shocking noise stimuli, such as a blast of white noise, they exhibit more fearful instinctual reactions as measured by blink response, an indicator of amygdala activity. These findings have led some to speculate that larger and more sensitive amygdalae in conservatives may cause them to be more driven by fear and emotional rewards.

In another study, researchers investigated the emotional differences between the two groups and found that when faced with risky decision-making, the amygdalae of Republicans fire at a greater rate than those of Democrats. This suggests that Republicans might be relatively more influenced by emotions in their decision-making process. What's more, a study found that conservatives were aroused to a greater extent than liberals when shown disturbing images, such as those depicting infested wounds. Simply put, it appears that the conservative brain is more sensitive to stimuli that carry emotional weight.

An article on a number of studies on brain structure and political affiliation. I should note that none of these studies, as far as I am aware, could determine cause and effect. It's notable that political preference tends to group geographically so I suspect a person raised in a conservative environment would more likely be conservative, and a person raised in a liberal environment, would more likely be liberal. However I believe there is also some degree of intentional grouping. I believe liberals from more conservative environments are more likely to gravitate towards liberal environments, and conservatives from liberal environments are more likely to gravitate towards conservative environments.

The general takeaway from the argument is that among those who consider themselves conservative, you find a greater number of people who have an emotional basis and among those who consider themselves liberal, you find a greater number of people who have a more analytical basis.



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