The Brain and the Political Process

Politics is the art of getting people to act without thinking. Mankind’s reptilian brain or “inner lizard” facilitates that task. Truth is not used in politics. Once a notion is registered as the truth with a person’s reptilian brain it is treated as the truth. Lets call these reptilian truths. Once the reptilian brain accepts a notion as true it is treated as such usually for a lifetime. What are some reptilian truths? Here are just a few, but reptilian truths are the root of all political interaction and discourse.

The United States military fights for freedom. Every person needs a college education. Ronald Reagan was a conservative. Mankind is a freedom seeking species. Government is benevolent. Patriotism is a virtue. Politicians run for office because of a desire to serve. Presidents cause economic growth………..The list could get real long but none of these things are true. These kinds of notions are examples of reptilian truths. Reptilian truths determine how people vote.  Some may have been true at one time but none are true today.  Reptilian truths don’t change. A new generation may function in line with more reality based reptilian truths but once established, that is the way it is. Time can change a reptilian truth as new generations take over running the world. For at least forty years the reptilian truth that Roosevelt ended the Great Depression was accepted. Younger generations eventually came along and examined the facts.

The reptilian brain is concerned with survival. In aggregations of people, the reptilian brain takes over so that within a tribe or herd the thinking on big issues is standardized. There would be no peace otherwise. Suppose that in today’s world folks rejected the reptilian truth that the United States military fights for freedom. The country would be in unbelievable turmoil every time a president launched a missile attack on a foreign country.

When the United State was being established, the founding fathers had no idea how the political arena would end up operating. To have a well functioning democracy based system, at least a few citizens have to think with the larger part of their brain. That is not happening. When reptilian brains are all that is used in decision making the process is not much different than the system used by genuine reptiles. Reptiles can’t think. Humans can think but don’t.

A good politician is one who has a well developed intuition with respect to activating the reptilian brains of constituents. Thinking is discouraged. Information is horded. Opinions are managed. Citizens are in fact in charge of government as long as the criteria for reaching decisions is all reptilian truths.