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If You’re Wondering How This Happened [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-23
Our basic neurobiology hasn’t evolved much in the last 5,000 years. Certainly not since the founding of America when we regularly allowed institutionalized cruelty to be the law of the land.
A person like Trump appeals to the limbic brain where fear can be easily aroused. Fear of the other, fears about safety and security are activated when we feel a threat. My basic theory is that higher brain processing in the neocortex as a default has a minority presence in humans. If a politician can arouse enough fear they can get people to behave in ways that are not ultimately in their best interest. This becomes more palatable by also providing the rationale, some evidence for it. It doesn’t have to be much because remember we are dealing with a default mechanism. This pairing satisfies the more rational portions of the brain that may question their motives. This provides the illusion that it’s rooted in sound logic.
Our security seeking brain is what allowed us to survive for hundreds of thousands of years. The majority of us are also quite tribal by default. Again, this basic instinct helped us survive. We look for leadership within the tribe. The one that historically rose to that position was someone who offered the best chance of safety, protection and ability to thrive. Having enough food and resources (eggs) means we could survive the cold winter.
In our democratic society where the majority rules, arousing the limbic brain is a useful strategy to gain control of the tribe. Those who are less motivated by fear and less tribal are in the minority. Over time we can get desensitized to the fear motivated approach and it doesn’t work as effectively. This means that it must be amplified in a way that the danger message dominates and can be the one most heard. We have that scenario now. The fear based information, which is actually misinformation overwhelms the system.
Fear based thinking makes us easier to control. We can get confused about our reality, disoriented.
In a UCLA study using brain scan technology identified the differences between people who tended to be conservative and liberal. In it they found people who skewed towards being conservative were more security oriented and a greater sense affiliation with their group. They were more likely to feel “disgusted” by deviation from the norms. Less conservative thinking subjects had lower reactions in these areas. Less need for affiliation, more tolerant of aberrations from norms. Not as sensitive to security arousing stimuli. www.uclahealth.org/…
Similar results were also found in another study at the University of Nebraska.
I think and write about the brain’s default tendencies. It is important for us to know so we can begin to question our motivations and behaviors instead of just reacting. I want to be in conscious control of my life and not let my limbic brain and autonomic nervous system run the show. I try to be aware of my unconscious biases and acknowledge they influence me for example. If I don’t pay attention to my tendencies, I’m at their mercy.
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