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Post by connorthompson on May 2, 2016 22:33:19 GMT
One of the articles assigned this week was "Political Orientations Are Correlated with Brain Structure in Young Adults," which claimed that those with different political ideologies also have different structural realities in the brain. For example, those with a more liberal bent exhibited a larger degree of gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex, while those who were more conservative had an increased gray matter volume in the right amygdala. I'm not sure I "buy" this research. I feel like a much larger case study is needed, and if one is to make the argument that liberals and conservatives have different brains it could have negative political and social ramifications. However, I cannot deny the science behind the study. Thus, it brings up the arguments that our politics could in fact be part of our genetic code. I came across this article that outlines the phenomenon pretty well if anyone's interested: www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/opinion/thomas-edsall-how-much-do-our-genes-influence-our-political-beliefs.html. I'm interested to hear your guys' experiences. First, do you believe the study when it says the brains of conservatives and liberals are in fact different? Second, do you guys have any personal experience with your own parents' ideologies to either back up or refute this claim? I know for me, my parents' ideologies had and continue to have a huge influence on my own, but I would argue that one's environment plays a much greater role than one's genetics. Let me know what you think! |
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Post by Emily Leung on May 3, 2016 21:07:42 GMT
I think that environment influences people more than parents from my person experience. My dad has pretty conservative views but growing up in Berkeley, I've grown up pretty liberal. I wonder if environment is what shapes brains as opposed to the political orientation itself, which would make more sense. But I guess if someone is thinking in certain ways all the time, it would make sense that their brains are different than another person who thinks differently from them.
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paola
New Member
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Post by paola on May 3, 2016 21:37:39 GMT
This study was really interesting. I did not know that the physical structure of my brain could play a role in my political views and why I have them. Although it suggests that there is a biological component to the formation of our political views, I strongly believe that one’s sociocultural background and upbringing plays more of a role in the formation of one’s political views. For example, one can have little grey matter in his or her anterior cingulate cortex but because he or she maybe grew up in perhaps a liberal environment, he or she may hold liberal political viewpoints. This is just my personal opinion. Many of my political views come from my morals, which, in turn, come from my upbringing, the environment I was brought up in, and the way my parents raised me.
It’d be interesting to conduct a study on the possible correlation between the similarity of a child’s political views to their parents’ political views and the type of childhood the given child had (i.e. close ties with parents, secluded from parents, etc.). Or - another study - a mapping of different individuals’ grey matter and comparing such observations to the environment they grew up/were born in.
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Post by connorthompson on May 4, 2016 1:05:16 GMT
emilyleung I wholeheartedly agree. I think environment does play greater role than genetics. It all goes back to the famous "nature versus nurture" argument. In my own personal experience, I think it is the parent's who have a large influence on one's environment. I don't think people are born inherently liberal or conservative, it is definitely something to be learned. Just like you, I grew up in an area that influenced my political beliefs, but I don't necessarily abide by everything my area believes (tends to be more conservative both fiscally and morally than I am).
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Post by connorthompson on May 4, 2016 1:08:54 GMT
paola I'm interested in the study you're proposing. Do you think those who develop more close family bonds have a more conservative outlook? At least in my experience, closer families can often be more religious, which in turn can make them more conservative. I come from not a very close family, so maybe this had some sort of an influence in my liberal views? I'm not sure, it's just something interesting to think about. Regarding the gray matter, I'm not sure where the development would begin. It's kind of like a chicken and egg situation. Does the gray matter influence the political belief, or is the political belief that influence the structural development? I'm not sure about this either but it's something cool to think about.
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Post by petekk on May 4, 2016 3:34:46 GMT
I think that brains of conservative and liberal people might be different in a general sense. But when I use the terms liberal and conservative I refer to something more individual rather than political. For example liberal people might be more willing to try new things or take risks while conservative people are more closed to change. But I think political indications of this should be studied further since politics is a complicated area containing many different issues and questions.
As I side note, I don't think our personal experiences with our parents political opinions are a good indicator of the truth in this study since parents contribute both to our nature and nurture.
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Post by connorthompson on May 4, 2016 21:30:23 GMT
petekk I think you're right to talk about liberal and conservative outside of a political context. But do you think that some people are born more inclined to take risks? Are some people born with an innate fear of those who are different than them?
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