脑科学家评论一下吧。
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407121337.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2011) — We all know that people at opposite ends of the political spectrum often really can't see eye to eye. Now, a new report published online on April 7th in Current Biology, reveals that those differences in political orientation are tied to differences in the very structures of our brains.
Individuals who call themselves liberal tend to have larger anterior cingulate cortexes, while those who call themselves conservative have larger amygdalas. Based on what is known about the functions of those two brain regions, the structural differences are consistent with reports showing a greater ability of liberals to cope with conflicting information and a greater ability of conservatives to recognize a threat, the researchers say.
"Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation," said Ryota Kanai of the University College London. "Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure."
Kanai said his study was prompted by reports from others showing greater anterior cingulate cortex response to conflicting information among liberals. "That was the first neuroscientific evidence for biological differences between liberals and conservatives," he explained.
There had also been many prior psychological reports showing that conservatives are more sensitive to threat or anxiety in the face of uncertainty, while liberals tend to be more open to new experiences. Kanai's team suspected that such fundamental differences in personality might show up in the brain.
And, indeed, that's exactly what they found. Kanai says they can't yet say for sure which came first. It's possible that brain structure isn't set in early life, but rather can be shaped over time by our experiences. And, of course, some people have been known to change their views over the course of a lifetime.
It's also true that our political persuasions can fall into many more categories than liberal and conservative. "In principle, our research method can be applied to find brain structure differences in political dimensions other than the simplistic left- versus right-wingers," Kanai said. Perhaps differences in the brain explain why some people really have no interest in politics at all or why some people line up for Macs while others stick with their PCs. All of these tendencies may be related in interesting ways to the peculiarities of our personalities and in turn to the way our brains are put together.
Still, Kanai cautioned against taking the findings too far, citing many uncertainties about how the correlations they see come about.
"It's very unlikely that actual political orientation is directly encoded in these brain regions," he said. "More work is needed to determine how these brain structures mediate the formation of political attitude."
- posted on 05/02/2011
Politics and brain, each alone would be interesting enough to stimulate endless debate, let alone combined together.
And, indeed, that's exactly what they found. Kanai says they can't yet say for sure which came first. It's possible that brain structure isn't set in early life, but rather can be shaped over time by our experiences.
The question of "which came first" was already in my mind even before I finished the article. But I feel brain structure has to come first, as modern politics does not have long enough a history to have any effect on the brain. Unless we could trace this kind of politics back to certain social behaviors of the chimps. Some chimps may be more leaning towards the left as they are more sympathetic with the weak and poor than others, perhaps?
A few questions arise though. If it is the biology that affects the politics, then we should see this trait being inherited through the generations. But isn't it very common for children to have opposite views to their parents?
Also, I was on the right when in China but now on the left when in the US, while there are also those who are always on the right (or left) no matter where. So there may be some more fundamental characteristics that are deeper and more essential than left vs. right on the surface.
" liberals tend to be more open to new experiences. " This is definitely true to me. :-) - posted on 05/03/2011
gz wrote:
Politics and brain, each alone would be interesting enough to stimulate endless debate, let alone combined together.
Neuropolitics, 听过吗?
A few questions arise though. If it is the biology that affects the politics, then we should see this trait being inherited through the generations. But isn't it very common for children to have opposite views to their parents?
Genopolitics, 早有政治学家做了。最出名的一篇论文, 《Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted?》
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=307693
“We test the possibility that political attitudes and behaviors are the result of both environmental and genetic factors. Employing standard methodological approaches in behavioral genetics—specifically, comparisons of the differential correlations of the attitudes of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins—we analyze data drawn from a large sample of twins in the United States, supplemented with findings from twins in Australia. The results indicate that genetics plays an important role in shaping political attitudes and ideologies but a more modest role in forming party identification; as such, they call for finer distinctions in theorizing about the sources of political attitudes. We conclude by urging political scientists to incorporate genetic influences, specifically interactions between genetic heritability and social environment, into models of political attitude formation.”
另一篇,《Two Genes Predict Voter Turnout》:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1927196
"Fowler, Baker, and Dawes (2008) recently showed in two independent studies of twins that voter turnout has very high heritability. Here we investigate two specific genes that may contribute to variation in voting behavior. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we show that individuals with a polymorphism of the MAOA gene are significantly more likely to have voted in the 2004 presidential election. We also find evidence that an association between a polymorphism of the 5HTT gene and voter turnout is moderated by religious attendance. These are the first results ever to link specific genes to political behavior"
Neuropolitics也好,genopolitics也好,有人觉得新鲜有趣,但也有很多政治学家极其讨厌(这两类研究),批评吵架很多。
Also, I was on the right when in China but now on the left when in the US, while there are also those who are always on the right (or left) no matter where. So there may be some more fundamental characteristics that are deeper and more essential than left vs. right on the surface.
转的这个研究有个很大的缺点,就是让自己来说自己是左派还是右派。左右只是个标签而已。你说在中国是“右派”时清楚中国左右的语境吗?中国的政治语境对左右的使用是很混乱的,中国以什么划分左右? - posted on 05/03/2011
有趣,有空学习一下“遗传政治学”或“神经政治学”。:-)
找到这个:
http://www.neuropolitics.org/ 看来左右脑的划分说法很多,左脑理性右脑感性之外,又有一个左脑保守右脑自由一说。其实也不新鲜,不是早有保守派理性,自由派感性一说?还有什么30岁一下不是自由派就没心,30岁以上不是保守派就没脑子什么的。“心”大概就是右脑,“脑”就是左脑。
转的这个研究有个很大的缺点,就是让自己来说自己是左派还是右派。左右只是个标签而已。你说在中国是“右派”时清楚中国左右的语境吗?中国的政治语境对左右的使用是很混乱的,中国以什么划分左右?
划分左右是共党的拿手好戏呀,什么季羡林是中左,钱钟书是中右之类。季大师被官方捧做“国学大师”跟他的中左立场不无关系,不然谁知道他搞的梵文是哪门子国学?(他曾很衷心地说过,什么时候知识分子觉得心情舒畅,党的政策就出偏差了。左得很虔诚不是?不就是说知识分子都有原罪理当挨整嘛!) - Re: Political Views Are Reflected in Brain Structureposted on 05/04/2011
gz wrote:
划分左右是共党的拿手好戏呀,什么季羡林是中左,钱钟书是中右之类。季大师被官方捧做“国学大师”跟他的中左立场不无关系,不然谁知道他搞的梵文是哪门子国学?(他曾很衷心地说过,什么时候知识分子觉得心情舒畅,党的政策就出偏差了。左得很虔诚不是?不就是说知识分子都有原罪理当挨整嘛!)
我的意思是,如果你要量左右,要么拿一个一致的尺子去量,要么限定语境之间的比较,否则讨论左右就丧失了意义。 - posted on 05/04/2011
In the Hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where
their family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in
looking tired and somber.
"I'm afraid I am the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed
the worried faces, "The only hope left for your loved one at this
time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure,
semi-risky, and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves."
The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a
length of time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain
cost?" The Doctor quickly responded, "$5000 for a male brain, and
$200 for a female brain."
The moment turned awkward. Men in the room tried not to smile,
avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked. A
man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question
everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the male brain so much more?"
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and then to the
entire group said, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have
to mark down the price of the female brains, because they've been used. - posted on 05/04/2011
how about a virgin brain then?
gz wrote:
In the Hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where
their family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in
looking tired and somber.
"I'm afraid I am the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed
the worried faces, "The only hope left for your loved one at this
time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure,
semi-risky, and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves."
The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a
length of time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain
cost?" The Doctor quickly responded, "$5000 for a male brain, and
$200 for a female brain."
The moment turned awkward. Men in the room tried not to smile,
avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked. A
man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question
everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the male brain so much more?"
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and then to the
entire group said, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have
to mark down the price of the female brains, because they've been used. - Re: Political Views Are Reflected in Brain Structureposted on 05/04/2011
gz wrote:
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and then to the
entire group said, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have
to mark down the price of the female brains, because they've been used.
呵呵,不动脑子,男人的谦虚都特狡诈。我还以为男人的脑子这么贵,是因为他们是老古董,有活化石的价值。lol - Re: Political Views Are Reflected in Brain Structureposted on 05/04/2011
呵呵,不动脑子,男人的谦虚都特狡诈。我还以为男人的脑子这么贵,是因为他们是老古董,有活化石的价值。lol
浮生早就设想过,女人完成了从猿到人的进化,男猿却没有,当然只有猿脑子。
BTW, 一想到一个美女和一个男猿谈恋爱,就乐不可支 :-)
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