Can a ‘Liberal Gene’ Make You a Party Animal?

Can a ‘Liberal Gene’ Make You a Party Animal? (link)


I was looking up information on the TIME Magazine website for another thread and came across this story about a research study which I found fascinating. I have it here in chit chat rather than political madness because I have a suspicion this is where this story will end up once the flaming and arguing dies down. I like to think I am objective but I am more of a Liberal than a conservative and yet I long for the good old days and small town life depicted in programs like Mayberry RFD and the Capra films. I admit those quaint and simple times may have also been a product of television and not based in a great deal of reality either.

It was a relatively small and limited study but the results were quite curious. Here are a few snippets from the article:

Individuals carrying a particular variant of the D4 gene affecting the neurotransmitter dopamine are more likely to turn out to be liberals, conclude researchers from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University.

This gene variation has already been linked to a personality type driven to seek out new experiences.

To see if this predisposition also fed through into political beliefs, the researchers looked at 2,574 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to find out about their political behavior, civic activity and social networks.

“Ten friends can move a person with two copies of the 7R [variant] almost halfway from being conservative to moderate or from being moderate to liberal,” the study concludes.

This last bit is rather funny but I wonder if there really is some truth to it.
I suppose we could do a friend count! lol

Its authors don’t draw the other obvious inference of their research: that liberals are likely to have more friends than conservatives.

As the midterms draw near, liberal America needs all the friends it can get.

Aint it the truth.
Appreciate your thoughts - outlandish or otherwise.

pretty much sounds like:

'does being a liberal make you more likely to live life with an adventurous and open mind?'

in which case i guess the answer is yes.

there must be a conservative gene that causes inhibition/lack of desire to seek and learn/general boring fartyness

reply to post by newcovenant

A gene for liberalism? :shk:

Somehow, I don’t think nature selects for political affiliation.

Nor do I believe that liberalism is simply the byproduct of a genetically-determined hedonic tendency and sociability, as this seems to imply.

I am greatly persuaded by evolutionary psychology, but I don’t think this particular ‘finding’ is at all trustworthy. It’s either very bad science, or good science misinterpreted and blown out of all proportion by a journalist.

Originally posted by Astyanax
reply to post by newcovenant

 

A gene for liberalism? :shk:

Somehow, I don’t think nature selects for political affiliation.

Nor do I believe that liberalism is simply the byproduct of a genetically-determined hedonic tendency and sociability, as this seems to imply.

I am greatly persuaded by evolutionary psychology, but I don’t think this particular ‘finding’ is at all trustworthy. It’s either very bad science, or good science misinterpreted and blown out of all proportion by a journalist.

It's all bad science isn't it? In fact I think science itself is very bad. I really don't find the results extraordinary or even hard to believe. Star for you anyway.

reply to post by newcovenant

In fact I think science itself is very bad.

Many people do. It debunks their most cherished beliefs, frightens them with its power and makes them feel stupid because they don’t understand it. I suppose they can hardly be blamed for deploring it.

I really don't find the results extraordinary or even hard to believe.

How well up are you in evolutionary biology? Do you have a basis for comparison or are you just going by ‘gut feel’?

Star for you anyway.

Well, it is that time of the year. Have one back, then, and merry Christmas.