Friday 25 October 2013

Biological opposition

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/can-your-genes-predict-whether-youll-be-a-conservative-or-a-liberal/280677/

Is political orientation influenced by personality traits? Seems plausible.

Are personality traits influenced by genetic factors? Seems plausible.

Can we conclude that political affiliation is influenced by genetic factors? I suppose, although the causal link the degree of influence could be very weak.

Should this influence how political campaigns operate? Possibly, although the implications might be a little scary if people took the idea too seriously.

Does this mean that it is intrinsically very difficult (perhaps impossible), to see issues from alternative points of view? Possibly, and this is (I feel) an interesting question to contemplate.

How can we effectively communicate with other people if we face biological barriers when trying to empathise with them?

Does this mean that empathy is sometimes impossible, or merely that it can sometimes be a stressful, energy-intensive mental exercise?

Does this raise other issues?

What do you think?

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