Conservatives Have Larger 'Fear Centers' in Their Brains

Brain structure differs in liberals, conservatives: study
Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Everyone knows that liberals and conservatives butt heads when it comes to world views, but scientists have now shown that their brains are actually built differently.

Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology.

"We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala," the study said.

Other research has shown greater brain activity in those areas, according to which political views a person holds, but this is the first study to show a physical difference in size in the same regions.

"Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation," said Ryota Kanai of the University College London, where the research took place.

"Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure."

The study was based on 90 "healthy young adults" who reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to have their brains scanned.

People with a large amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study said.

Liberals are linked to larger anterior cingulate cortexes, a region that "monitor(s) uncertainty and conflicts," it said.

"Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views."

It remains unclear whether the structural differences cause the divergence in political views, or are the effect of them.

But the central issue in determining political views appears to revolve around fear and how it affects a person.

"Our findings are consistent with the proposal that political orientation is associated with psychological processes for managing fear and uncertainty," the study said.



Study: Conservatives Have Larger 'Fear Centers' in Their Brains
British study shows conservatives' brains tend to have larger amygdalas, which responsible for primitive emotions.

Conservatives' brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other "primitive" emotions. At the same time, conservatives' brains were also found to have a smaller anterior cingulate -- the part of the brain responsible for courage and optimism.

OK and a so what's the problem? Sounds about right to me mon.
Describes the entire GOPervert ideology from reefer madness to the lies in Iraq



The Authoritarians (HTML version) - 01/05/11

The Wrecking Crew, on How Conservatives Rule
But the most insidious one, the most insidious scheme for permanence, the one that really strikes me, is the use of deficit spending by the right. OK, now, I don’t have a problem with deficit spending. You know, it’s—liberals have used it for decades very effectively. You know, it’s—if you’re a Keynesian—you know, it’s one of the tools that you use to, say, you know, get the country out of a recession or, you know, build low-income housing, or whatever it is that you want to do with the state, right? So, but the conservatives got into power in the early 1980s, and they’re handed this tool, the big old—you know, the power tool of deficit spending, and I’ll be damned, they run that sucker right into the ground, you know, and pile up the biggest deficit anyone has ever seen, short of, you know, World War II.

What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
They’re just being used – once the nation’s pioneering progressive populists – now are the epicenter of right-wing Republican reactionaries. Kansans in their quest for moral values are basically being used to advance the cause of corporate power.



Bivings Group
The Bivings Group is a PR firm whose clients include Monsanto, a company with a long history of harmful practices impacting the environment and human health.[1][2] [3]. They seem to specialize in the creation of fake grassroots Astroturf supporters for their clients.

An article on the Bivings web site, titled "Viral Marketing: How to Infect the World," originally recommended covert and deceptive Internet activity, "there are some campaigns where it would be undesirable or even disastrous to let the audience know that your organisation is directly involved... it simply is not an intelligent PR move. In cases such as this, it is important to first 'listen' to what is being said online... Once you are plugged into this world, it is possible to make postings to these outlets that present your position as an uninvolved third party... Perhaps the greatest advantage of viral marketing is that your message is placed into a context where it is more likely to be considered seriously.... Sometimes, we win awards. Sometimes only the client knows the precise role we played." After this message was criticized publicly, Bivings removed the offending passages, placing a note at the bottom of the article that states, "Recently edited for clarification." continued...

 

Conservatives without conscience by John W. Dean

Big Lies by Joe Conason
The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth
Publisher Comments:
In Big Lies, Joe Conason rips through the ten most damaging lies perpetrated by the right wing propaganda machine. This scathing, fact-filled analysis debunks it all:

joeconason.com

Perfectly legal by David Cay Johnston
The covert campaign to rig our tax system
to benefit the super rich-- and cheat everybody else.



Bushit Rumcheney Cocktail:Fascist Nationalism and MKULTRA

The Drug Czar is Required by Law to Lie
Most people know that the “drug czar” — the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) — is an advocate for the government position regarding the drug war. But not everyone knows that he and his office are mandated to tell lies as part of their Congressional authorization.

Calvina Fay Prohibition Inc
Drug Free America Foundation,
formerly known as Straight, Inc.
At least 10 children have lost their lives as a result of their participation in a wilderness therapy program (AKA "Brat Camps") who failed them in the worst way imaginable. These are their stories as told through media reports, opinion and commentary.

Anti-Drug Campaigns Dumb Down Vital Message
Calvina Fay is the Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.) From 1976-1985 it was known as Straight, Inc. and had a reputation for abusing kids as a drug rehabilitation program. Mel Sembler and his wife Betty founded Straight, Inc. In 1985 it changed its name to Straight Foundation, Inc. in order to protect its money and its principals from civil suits. In 1995 it was changed again to Drug Free America Foundation. DFAF is a national and international drug policy think tank and provider of services for drug free work places.



Strong corporate profits amid weak economy?



Henry Ford originally made his cars to run on ethanol, so farmers could create their own fuel. (He saw farmers really as his customers originally, since nearly all of us were farmers).

Along comes John D. Rockefeller, who wants people to use oil. He provides money to the anti-alcohol movement in order to make Prohibition a reality, and stop the ethanol fuel industry and promote the use of fossil fuels.
The documentary is called: Fuel.

Al Capone and Watergate were red herrings to divert the countries attention from the Fascist acts of eliminating competition. Booze/Ethanol or Ganja//Hemp.

 

Liberals are OK with uncertainty. Like the uncertainty of how bad the US will fare if it keeps racking up debt. Will we have a depression with 25% unemployment or 60% unemployment? Will we crash and burn in 2018 or 2023?? It's ok, liberals aren't certain what the exact year is.

Liberals are ok with the uncertain, which is great with social policy (Legalize it NOW!). With economics you need to have a clue, and uncertainty is BAD when money is involved.

So yeah, the right wing is stubborn as hell on social issues, but the left wing doesn't understand money for shit. And I'd rather live in a working economy than have weed legalized.

Vote libertarian or center. Have your cake, and eat it too. (but your candidate will loose for sure! This is America. Did you really think it would be that easy?)

Anyone know of an intelligent country I can move to?

 

Libya.

Extremely good climate, excellent economy. They also have a strict No-Bullshit policy.

Great beaches too ...

 

Oh my god, I am so not surprised.

Conservatism is really just fear of change.

 

Debt isn't necessarily a problem. During WW2 we spent more than had been spent by all previous governments in the whole history of the country combined - several times over. The economy soared and broke every economic record in human history- and taxes were as high as 90%.

Conservatism is the fear that somewhere a sick black child might get health care. Conservatives are literally afraid of their own dicks. They even fear their imaginary friend, the stalker god.

It's just fear, paranoia, and hatred of brownskinned people that aren't dead. And jesus. All hate, all jesus, all the time.

This was broken into paragraphs but the Tapatalk app on my phone is glitchy.

 

That was interesting.. I think TheGhost summed it up pretty good: "Conservatism is just fear of change".

 

Really interesting. We all have to change, the effect may be adverse if we do not change with the time.