Political divides may be hard-wired in the brain?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070909/hl_afp/scienceneuroscience_070909173324

So is this proof that liberals have a couple crossed wires in the brain?

Answer 1

"Conservatives tend to crave order and structure in their lives, and are more consistent in the way they make decisions. Liberals, by contrast, show a higher tolerance for ambiguity and complexity, and adapt more easily to unexpected circumstances."

Maybe you should have read that part.

Answer 2

My guess is that you won't like this answer, but anyway...

No one has any real evidence of a difference in "hardwiring" between liberals and conservatives, particularly in the region of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex, which is a very small portion. Moreover, studies showing how people USE their brains differently do not provide evidence that our brains are automatically "hardwired" differently.

In short, the article "Homo politicus: brain function of liberals, conservatives differs" is fostering not only a stark overgeneralization of how biology and human behavior are related, researchers themselves report findings that are mere correlational in terms of statistical analysis and methodological design as if some underlying cause and effect relationship exists when there is no such evidence.

Good luck.

Answer 3

"hard wiring in the brain" may offer a theory on why some people think that they can talk the bad man out of killing them and their friends.  I used to think it was just that they sympathized with the communist movement.  Now I realize that some of them may truly believe that they can just 'play nice' with with evil people to get them to change their ways, while they are equally hateful to their political opponents at home.

Imagine if they tried to work things out with conservatives as much as they try to work things out with terroristic regimes abroad!?!