BIOLOGY OF POLITICS
Back in 1813, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to John Adams. In the letter between the two former U.S. presidents, Jefferson shared a theory. He believed the two political parties which then existed in the United States, had existed all throughout time. He also claimed a person’s political party of choice reflected their attitude and character.
While it was just a theory at the time, modern science is now proving it to be true. Recent experiments have been proving thatconservatives and liberals have different instinctual physical reactions. They also have no control over these reactions. When shown disturbing images, conservatives displayed more moistening of the sweat glands. This is known as a sympathetic nervous system reaction.
Then a group of liberals and conservatives were shown a four panel card. This card included one pleasant image and three disturbing images. There were shocking differences here too. The results spoke for themselves. They showed the conservatives focused their eyes more quickly to the disturbing images. They also looked at them for much longer.
The point here though, is not that liberals and conservatives react to things differently. The point is that a person’s biology – their genetics, hormones, personalities, and brain structures – has a strongcorrelation with their political orientation.
If this is true, then a person can’t be blamed for their political orientation, nor should they be persecuted for it. Similar to how gay and straight people don’t choose to be gay or straight, neither do liberals or conservatives. It’s something beyond their control.
Instead of thinking poorly of people with a different political orientation than us, we might take a different approach and simply accept it as a reality. That person has no more control over their political orientation than they do over their natural hair color.
The real question is: will people be able to accept the fact that others simply will not be able to agree with them, due to their biological makeup? If so, it could greatly reduce hatred, fighting, and war in our world. It would be a step toward greater tolerance and peace.
