Comment by LargeWu
4 days ago
A complicating factor when talking about rationality and propensity towards either left- or right-wing authoritarian impulses is brain structure, according to a recently publish study.
"Young adults who scored higher on right-wing authoritarianism had less gray matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in social reasoning. Meanwhile, those who endorsed more extreme forms of left-wing authoritarianism showed reduced cortical thickness in the right anterior insula, a brain area tied to empathy and emotion regulation."
Not only is it tribalism, it's also individuals fundamental anatomy. This seems like a very challenging problem if the people you are hoping to convince are hardwired against your message.
https://www.psypost.org/authoritarian-attitudes-linked-to-al... (layperson's summary)
https://www.ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-4522(25)00304... (actual study)
Exactly. The problem is largely due to biology. Someone might try to change this at some point for future "better" humans (eugenics of a sort), but basically impossible to change in existing adults.