[extropy-chat] The political brain

Lee Corbin lcorbin at tsoft.com
Fri Jul 14 05:46:04 UTC 2006


Steven writes

> I refute [i.e. rebut] the idea that there is
> some kind of emotional attachment to political
[Giulio wrote]
> > ideas formed early in life, that switches reason
> > off when it comes to questioning one's worldview.
> i was raised and held strongly very "conservative"
> views, then as i explored things, i became very
> "liberal".
> my faith is based on constant questioning and
> exploring. i am not, by any accounts unique

*Constant questioning?"  I question that.  In the
first place, it's all a matter of degree (on a 
continuum).  Secondly, the same person can be
inordinately stubborn to new information or to
changing pre-existing beliefs in one area, and
the epitome of rational open-mindedness in another.

I think that it's a tempting trap that too many
fall into to think that they are---as opposed to
the hoi polloi---without biases and almost always
rational. No one is.

Keith wrote
> [Giulio wrote]
> >http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=000CE155-1061-1493-906183414B7F0162
> >
> > This very good article says that when it comes to
> > politics we tend to forget reason and run by
> > emotions: ""Essentially, it appears as if
> > partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until
> > they get the conclusions they want, and then
> > they get massively reinforced for it, with the
> > elimination of negative emotional states and
> > activation of positive ones,"".
> 
> The evolutionary psychology question you want to ask

Thank you!

> is why humans have this trait?  My answer is that it
> is part of the evolved mechanisms leading to wars
> that have been honed since we no longer had predators
> to keep our numbers in check.

You make it sound as though war or tribal conflict were
the only cause. 

On the contrary, humans are receptive to meme systems 
that are powerful perpetuators of survival behavior.
Thus the young are prone to write almost into their
very firmware the wisdom of their parents.  Moreover,
many meme systems emphasize on a meta-level that parents,
traditions, elders, etc., should be respected *only*
because they are such.

This too had, and has, survival value. It is of course
quite remarkable that we are Skinnerian creatures in
Dennett's sense of the genes telling us "do what is 
best as you go along". So we are able to change our
minds, about some things, and in some areas. For example,
it took me until I was past 30 to realize that governments
were basically evil, though perhaps necessary. Yet at age
17 I went from fervent theist to atheist. But my basic
political beliefs, founded on the 20th century contentions
that Communism, Stalin, and liberals were basically evil
haven't changed  :-)

Yes, your main focus is on war.  But inter-tribal conflict
guaranteed the survival of some groups at the expense of
others, and any group that permits some meme such as "we
are really all just individuals and we have no group interest
whatsoever" to gain ascendancy is still asking for extinction.

Lee




More information about the extropy-chat mailing list