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solarbirdNo, this isn't a funny entry; instead, it's rather alarming. It's like I've had this deep, deep fear about how things might really work for a very, very long time, and now I've found someone doing a bunch of neurobio to discover that my deep fear was exactly right; that it is literally true that rational thought is not significantly involved, and it's not significantly involved at the biological level. (ETA: Yes, I very much want to see the original study. Also, if you're curious, I've looked up the primary author; he seems to be legitimate, at first glance.)
Crap.
Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study Finds
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 24 January 2006
10:03 am ET
Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.
And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view.
Researchers asked staunch party members from both sides to evaluate information that threatened their preferred candidate prior to the 2004 Presidential election. The subjects' brains were monitored while they pondered.
[...]
Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained.
The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making. [Emphasis added]
"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged," Westen said. "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."
Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning.
[More here]
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Crap.
Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study Finds
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 24 January 2006
10:03 am ET
Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.
And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view.
Researchers asked staunch party members from both sides to evaluate information that threatened their preferred candidate prior to the 2004 Presidential election. The subjects' brains were monitored while they pondered.
[...]
Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained.
The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making. [Emphasis added]
"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged," Westen said. "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."
Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning.
[More here]
