I read the abstract of the referenced article, this entire image is Conservative nonsense. The study did not find that liberals had an “atrophied” amygdala. It showed that conservatives have an enlarged right amygdala, due to their overpreparedness for a fear response.Meanwhile, the study found that liberal had a larger anterior cingulate cortex, which is an area of the brain commonly associated with empathy and other higher-order processes like decision-making.
The study provides support for conservatives being scared piss babies who are overly terrified of the world, whereas liberals are empathetic and make better decisions. The fact that this idiot made the entirely wrong conclusion is almost as incredible as it is sad.
That may be because OP had an agenda to push whatever the means, or simply is conservative.
BTW, anybody remembers some other studies similar to this, used to show how certain demographics were basically worse in a biological/genetic sense? Something around 1920-'30…
Phrenology was the pseudoscience that was used to enforce the ideology that white people were superior by looking at the inside of a skull and measuring certain areas and using those measurements to justify racism
Look, psychology in the early 20th century was an absolute mess. There’s a reason we now have stuff like ethics boards, and strict constraints on the kind of studies that can be run.
Yep, there are several studies researching this in various ways. An important thing to point out is that those two portions of the brains are inversely correlated without affecting other portions of the brain like the frontal cortex. So a person can be a good doctor or scientist and also be conservative. So conservatives have high fear responses to people who are different and lack empathy while left leaning people have less fear and increased empathy. Studies also show that brains develop to have an oversized amygdala when they have physical or emotional abuse as growing up or if they have severe lack of resources.
It’s like reading the Muller report, or for that matter, the constitution. Pro-Tip: it helps if you don’t bother to read it at all. That way you can pretend it says whatever you want it to say! Oh yeah, the Bible too - “the worker deserves their wages; don’t be a Karen; nor a pedophile either; be not afraid and instead be kind to everyone you meet, etc.”
yeah, that’s very standard. lotta universities have requirements on undergrads participating in studies. that’s why you often see them as the subjects.
It’s certainly fair to criticize, and it would be interesting to see if the study’s findings hold true for a broader population, but finding test subjects is tough. you take what you can get.
I read the abstract of the referenced article, this entire image is Conservative nonsense. The study did not find that liberals had an “atrophied” amygdala. It showed that conservatives have an enlarged right amygdala, due to their overpreparedness for a fear response.Meanwhile, the study found that liberal had a larger anterior cingulate cortex, which is an area of the brain commonly associated with empathy and other higher-order processes like decision-making.
The study provides support for conservatives being scared piss babies who are overly terrified of the world, whereas liberals are empathetic and make better decisions. The fact that this idiot made the entirely wrong conclusion is almost as incredible as it is sad.
That may be because OP had an agenda to push whatever the means, or simply is conservative.
BTW, anybody remembers some other studies similar to this, used to show how certain demographics were basically worse in a biological/genetic sense? Something around 1920-'30…
Phrenology was the pseudoscience that was used to enforce the ideology that white people were superior by looking at the inside of a skull and measuring certain areas and using those measurements to justify racism
Look, psychology in the early 20th century was an absolute mess. There’s a reason we now have stuff like ethics boards, and strict constraints on the kind of studies that can be run.
Before that psychology was pure mad science.
Yep, there are several studies researching this in various ways. An important thing to point out is that those two portions of the brains are inversely correlated without affecting other portions of the brain like the frontal cortex. So a person can be a good doctor or scientist and also be conservative. So conservatives have high fear responses to people who are different and lack empathy while left leaning people have less fear and increased empathy. Studies also show that brains develop to have an oversized amygdala when they have physical or emotional abuse as growing up or if they have severe lack of resources.
And in reality, it’s just the newest version of phrenology bullshit.
A phrenologist feels and interprets the size of Walt’s asshole.
It’s like reading the Muller report, or for that matter, the constitution. Pro-Tip: it helps if you don’t bother to read it at all. That way you can pretend it says whatever you want it to say! Oh yeah, the Bible too - “the worker deserves their wages; don’t be a Karen; nor a pedophile either; be not afraid and instead be kind to everyone you meet, etc.”
Thanks for going the extra mile.
It seems that they only conducted the study on students?
yeah, that’s very standard. lotta universities have requirements on undergrads participating in studies. that’s why you often see them as the subjects.
It’s certainly fair to criticize, and it would be interesting to see if the study’s findings hold true for a broader population, but finding test subjects is tough. you take what you can get.