If you read nothing else today, PLEASE READ THIS & SHARE IT/REBLOG IT.
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Sorry if I’ve left any of “my political junkies” off the list. Did my best to tag ya’ll.
This is an excellent article by the cognitive neuroscientist Bobby Azarian. I agree with much of what he says with some caveats, noted below. Since this is a very long article, I’ve tried to summarize Azarian’s main points. [Note. All emphasis in quotes below is mine.]
TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY (TMT). According to Azarian, TMT maintains that “most of human behavior is driven by our subconscious fear of death.”
CULTURAL WORLDVIEWS. To deal with our existential fear of dying, we humans have “created cultural worldviews—like religions, national identities, and political ideologies.” These worldviews provide us with “meaning and purpose” and help us to feel “we all belong to a tribe.”
TRIBALISM. Unfortunately, the downside of tribalism is that we become divided “into in-groups and out-groups, turning fellow humans into spiritual or political enemies.” In times of existential threat (like during a pandemic or recession) “we double-down on our beliefs and try to force them on dissimilar others, and if they resist, we try to punish them.”
RACISM. One “specific type of tribalism” is racism.
THE ALT-RIGHT, TRUMP AND Q. The “Christian-American worldview” of the American Alt-Right “has evolved into the more-extreme philosophical framework outlined by… Donald Trump, Q, and conservative talk show hosts looking to boost ratings.” There is also an interaction between the “influencers” and the Alt-Right/ MAGA base, in which they “coevolve” in the “atmosphere of existential fear, which is enhanced by the fear mongering coming from the top.”
REASON DOESN’T PROVIDE “COMFORT”: The Alt-Right/ MAGA base won’t be reached by “reason alone” because reason won’t “make them feel safe or comforted or inspired.”
THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX. In terms of neuroscience, the prefrontal cortex helps humans to “override” irrational fear, to inhibit “reflexive behavior,” and to respond in a rational, “controlled manner.” This ability to “self-regulate” is called “cognitive control, executive control, or effortful control” [or in my field, “executive function.”]
[Note. Disorders of executive function are actually an area of expertise for me, so I am going to add some information and my perspective to this summary/discussion.]
EXTREMISM AND PREFRONTAL/EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION. Azarian believes that many political extremists suffer from some form of prefrontal dysfunction (or executive dysfunction). This kind of dysfunction is found in alcohol and substance abusers, people with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, people with mental health disorders, those with situational anxiety or depression, people who are developing dementia, and people who have had some form of brain injury, etc.
FREE WILL. Azarian claims that people who suffer from prefrontal/executive dysfunction lack “free will.” IMHO this is a gross oversimplification. In my experience, although it is hard for people with executive dysfunction to control their impulses and refrain from acting on strong emotions, it doesn’t mean it is impossible for them to do so. They just have to put more effort into controlling their impulses than people who don’t have problems with executive function.
IMPLICIT RACIAL BIAS. Even though many people are not aware of having racial biases, there have been numerous studies using “the implicit bias task” and these studies indicate that most people have implicit racial biases on a “subconscious” level. Implicit “bias affects how we process information and perceive the social world around us.”
THE AMYGDALA & THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX. The amygdala alerts us to fear threats to mobilize us for action (think: “fight or flight”) The prefrontal cortex works to determine whether the the threat is real or eminent and helps us to control our fear impulses and to modulate our behaviors so that they are appropriate and effective. Azarian also says,
“Thanks to specific neural regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex, the brain exercises cognitive control, suppressing the tendency toward tribalism.” [emphasis added]
IMPLICIT RACIAL BIAS AND THE FEAR SYSTEM. According to Azarian:
“Brain imaging studies have shown that people who display a stronger implicit bias have a stronger electrical response to black or other-race faces in the amygdala. An exaggerated amygdala response is part of what creates the sudden sensation of feeling scared.” [emphasis added]
So, if you combine implicit racial bias, with “an exaggerated amygdala response” and prefrontal/ executive dysfunction, you have a perfect fear storm waiting for someone like Trump to exploit. Azarian claims that people susceptible to this perfect fear storm who watch right-wing media like Fox News:
“will be more vulnerable to the effects of fear mongering, and if they are given a “call to action” by a tribe leader like Trump or Q, more likely to act aggressively in an effort to push their worldview on others.” [emphasis added]
I think Azarian has a good point here about why certain people seem to be more vulnerable to fear mongering and more likely, when prompted by their leaders to act on fear in militant ways.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON EXTREME RIGHT MAGA/ Q FOLLOWERS. From Azarian’s perspective the extreme Trump/ Q supporters
are not normal supporters, but more akin to cult members who have been radicalized by fear, their fates determined due to a lack of free will—which refers to our ability to override our primitive programming and tribal instincts. They are, in a sense, victims. They have been duped and brainwashed by rigid ideologies almost from the time of birth, and those ideologies have been weaponized by divisive politicians like Donald Trump. [emphasis added]
I can agree with all of the above except the “lack of free will.” As I said previously, I think these people have some free will even though they are not wired to slow down and think things through before they act on their impulses. They have to work harder at exercising their free will–but it is not impossible for them to do so.
I think all of this explains a lot of what we are seeing happening the the extremist right-wing/ MAGA/ Q community. I think that it also explains why the attempts of to try to reason with family members/ friends who have become lost in the Q or Trump conspiracy theories has no impact on changing their minds.
Azarian goes on to suggest some ways of helping these people improve their executive functioning and to change their perspectives. I agree that people can learn how to strengthen their ability to self-regulate and to manage their fear systems–but they have to want to do so and to be prepared for some hard work. Although some of Azarian’s suggestions might be helpful to a few of these people, I don’t think there will ever be widescale buy-in to many of his ideas.
Still, he offers food for thought, and I encourage people to read his suggestions for changing our society.