In a fascinating blog posted in Politico Magazine just before the recent midterms, two Georgetown University academics review new findings in neuroscience that suggest that being a liberal or conservative may to a large extent be the result of our hardwiring–of basic differences in how liberals’ and conservatives’ brains function.
The blog only mentions a handful of neuroscience articles, but makes for interesting reading. I found myself asking how well the science described how my brain tended to work, my political leanings, and the supposed connection between the two. Second, the post also led me to ask what light brain science sheds on the actual results of the mid-terms, now that they are in hand (and vice versa). At a deeper level, the post also led me to wonder how it might be possible to exercise control over our political leanings if in fact they are, to some degree at least, the direct result of chemical interactions.
