Since I began this website, several readers have inquired as to where my political affiliations lie. Like anyone, I have my own personal leanings, but I am not a seasoned political operative, professional commentator or Washington insider. I very much doubt that I have some special insight, that other reasonable people do not possess, and as long as I am able to resist, I will endeavor to keep this site outside the political realm.
In the past 15 to 10 years, it seems a growing divisiness has sprung up, conservatives and liberals blasting the other for being complete idiots, buffoons, etc…. One talk radio host screaming that the other side is filled with morons, while another screams the opposite. It reminds me of when, as a small child, I was brought up to believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans were dighted with intelligence and compassion, while the hated Cleveland Browns and their fans dressed in ineptitude and loutishness. Complete idiocy, … and yet, beer bottles can be broken over skulls for false ideals that exist only inside our minds. Lives can be lost over such stupidity.
I could not see it at age seven in Three Rivers stadium, but the tribal nature of our neural network structures must often consign newcomers that we meet, to those who camp with us, or those that oppose us.
How many countless millions have died over petty injustices that exist only within our minds? In many cases, arguments that essentially amount to how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
From the earliest years of our Homo sapien lineage, perhaps ~ 320,000 years ago, there have always been those who respected the past and the status quo, … those with a conservative mindset. And there have always been those ready to eat a new berry, embark on a new path or try a new hunting method, … those with a progressive mindset.
(Courtesy of artist Jim Bowers – 2017)
Neither is 100% correct in all situations. It depends upon the issue, the season, the weather, the abundance of game, the security of the cave the clan currently lives in, etc ….. To continue an old hunting method that only provides diminishing returns or eat a new poisonous berry, is to invite death for the entire clan if not carefully considered. This ancient give and take was essential in Uruk, Jericho, Athens, Rome, Xi’an, Cordoba, Baghdad, Florence, London, … right up to San Jose, Geneva, and Hong Kong today. Those pushing for new paths against those arguing that the old ways should be respected.
The heritability of political outlook has been measured in several twin studies and found to be about ~ 49 to 56%. Obviously there is a very strong biological component that results from natural selection. Conservatives tend to have a slightly larger amygdalae with greater grey matter in the left insula and right entorhinal cortex. Progressives tend to have greater amounts of gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex. Arguing with someone to convince them to see your side of things is likely to fail because their very neural network structure is different.
Just as any automobile needs both an accelerator and a brake pedal to go anywhere, human minds, groups, societies and nations need both a conservative brake and a progressive accelerator. Complex problems cannot be overcome without both in play.
To forget that, is to invite yourself to become closed to ideas that do not agree with your own. Even those that are beneficial. To head to a place of rigidity and the adoption of an inflexible mindset. A place where you end up in the bleachers with a beer bottle in your hand, ready to strike another, and angry that the world has not changed as your side believes it should. Realize the sides are in many ways, illusionary false templates, and endeavor to transcend your neurobiology. Do not be either, …. be better.