Although the title about the “link” between brain injury and religious fundamentalism is misleading, the findings seemingly fail to capture the apparent prevalence of a major component of what underlies not just religious fundamentalism, but also conservative fundamentalism. 1/
The study focused on damage to two specific areas of the brain in the prefrontal cortex that are believed to have a role in “openness” and “cognitive flexibility”. 2/
"Cognitive flexibility" refers to a person’s ability to update their beliefs based on new information/evidence. Clearly, this has not only been an issue with religion over the years, but it's also been a problem with conservative politics (e.g. climate change). 3/
While the brain damage “link” may be tenuous, in my view the study properly focuses on the relationship between religious fundamentalism (and conservative fundamentalism) and personality traits/type….or as I’ve previously referred to it: "binary orientation". 4/
In previous threads, I’ve written about the role that the binary orientation of individuals, coupled with the “binary institutional conditioning” of society plays in religious and political tribalism. 5/
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Specifically, I wrote about the role and prevalence of personality traits/types that appear to make people more susceptible to religion’s Us-Versus-Them indoctrination.... which in many cases relies on fear. 11/
For years, Right wing politicians have exploited their constituents’ susceptibility to fear, so it is no coincidence that a large percentage of these constituents are religious fundamentalists. 12/
The above analysis explains why people may gravitate towards religious fundamentalism (and as a corollary, conservative fundamentalism). But there’s a second component: once people are caught in those ideological clutches, why is it so difficult to separate from it? 13/
I addressed this issue in a thread that analyzes Trump’s support from many nuanced angles, including fMRI scans of brain regions showing a potential pain avoidance component to being ostracized from or voluntarily leaving a religious/political “tribe”. 14/
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Perhaps an interesting aside when considering “binary orientation” (lack of openness, lack of cognitive flexibility), religious and conservative fundamentalism, etc.,... is the potential role of evolutionary biology. 20/
Specifically, that from an anatomical standpoint, the greater the distance from the brain stem, the more evolved that brain region (and the species it’s housed in)….with the implication being that the more “open”, and cognitively flexible, the more evolved the brain/person….21/
.....and the more “binary oriented” (“closed minded”/cognitively inflexible) the brain/person, the less evolved it/they may be. I have recently written a thread on the intersection of evolutionary biology, sociopathy, and politics: 22/
