Left-wingers and right-wingers not only see the world differently, as Jonathan Haidt explains, they experience the world different. Much of our political orientation comes from our biology.<\/p>\n
I wonder if your politics can change your physiology? <\/p>\n
When I think back over my life, I don’t recall getting offended, but when I push my introspecting, I recall getting upset much more offend when I was experimenting with the Marxist worldview (from ages 19-22). Then racism and blaming the poor would often cause a heartfelt emotional reaction in me, much like what women have. I’d get a major case of the feelz. <\/p>\n
Aside from those three years, I’ve been right-wing. In recent years, I’ve moved further to the right — meaning even more against equality. I’ve come to see conflicts in Darwinian terms — that different forms of life have different interests that often place them in life and death conflicts with other forms of life. Along with a Darwinian worldview comes reduced belief in the capacity for freedom of choice. As one reduces one’s belief in free will, there’s less reason to get upset about other people’s choices. <\/p>\n
So, for me, I find a right-wing perspective leads to me rarely if ever getting offended, while a left-wing point of view led to me constantly getting offended. The feeling of offense triggered changes in my body chemistry while the feeling of being beyond offense creates a feeling of solidity. That’s why I wonder if a worldview might change your physiology down to the cellular level. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Left-wingers and right-wingers not only see the world differently, as Jonathan Haidt explains, they experience the world different. Much of our political orientation comes from our biology. I wonder if your politics can change your physiology? When I think back … Continue reading