According to a new study, the chances are that when you just looked at that picture your brain began firing not in the sections containing logic, but those containing emotion.
Political bias affects brain activity, study finds
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.
"We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and circuits known to be involved in resolving conflicts."
"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."
We all know how the easy it is to come away from a political discussion thinking "how the hell can such an intelligent person believe such garbage". Well it seems like this study sheds some light on how even the smartest people can be tricked by their emotions to illogically ignore facts contrary to their world view.
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.
You can say that again. Some of my best friends, and people I consider logical, rational beings have fallen under the spell of Republican partisan lies. Maybe this is part of the explanation - we are actually addicted to our own party!
This story makes you think, am I being logical or am I too letting my emotions get the best of me? Thought provoking...I'd love to hear everyone's comments