Thank you so much for this link. I had read of a study (lost the reference) where a very small study (sample group about 10-20) split between those who self-identified as "liberal" or "conservative". They were hooked up with brain monitoring equipment, and asked to make a decision on an investment: high risk/reward or low risk/reward. In…
Thank you so much for this link. I had read of a study (lost the reference) where a very small study (sample group about 10-20) split between those who self-identified as "liberal" or "conservative". They were hooked up with brain monitoring equipment, and asked to make a decision on an investment: high risk/reward or low risk/reward. Interestingly, the answer each participant chose reflected no affiliation with either liberal or conservative, it was a mish-mash.
What was really measured was the area of the brain used in the decision-making process: In conservatives, it was the midbrain, where the amygdala lives and in the liberals, it was the frontal cortex, where complex thought and reasoning live.
I am not an expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but when your primary processing center is the threat assessment department, much of your "daily input" is assessed as danger/no danger, there isn't a lot of room for complex thought. Conversely, if your primary processing center is for complex thought and assessment, you're going to be very slow to respond to a threat as you analyze it.
Note: My interest in this was as a law enforcement trainer, and figuring out ways for people to get out of "flight or fight" and into rational thought as fast as possible balanced with a way to teach complex thinkers to do a quick "threat assessment" before trying to "reason" into a situation.
Thank you so much for this link. I had read of a study (lost the reference) where a very small study (sample group about 10-20) split between those who self-identified as "liberal" or "conservative". They were hooked up with brain monitoring equipment, and asked to make a decision on an investment: high risk/reward or low risk/reward. Interestingly, the answer each participant chose reflected no affiliation with either liberal or conservative, it was a mish-mash.
What was really measured was the area of the brain used in the decision-making process: In conservatives, it was the midbrain, where the amygdala lives and in the liberals, it was the frontal cortex, where complex thought and reasoning live.
I am not an expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but when your primary processing center is the threat assessment department, much of your "daily input" is assessed as danger/no danger, there isn't a lot of room for complex thought. Conversely, if your primary processing center is for complex thought and assessment, you're going to be very slow to respond to a threat as you analyze it.
Note: My interest in this was as a law enforcement trainer, and figuring out ways for people to get out of "flight or fight" and into rational thought as fast as possible balanced with a way to teach complex thinkers to do a quick "threat assessment" before trying to "reason" into a situation.
Ally, I love the training to deal with threats. I seem to remember a Young Shelton episode that dealt with just that issue.