Your Brain Is Hard-Wired to Love Donald Trump

If you’re naturally a little bored by national politics, but still attracted to candidates who lie, shout
and make you a little angry and scared, like many American voters are today, you have evolution—and the brain it created—to thank.

The modern human brain formed during the Pleistocene epoch—a period from about two and a half million to 11,000 years ago when the southern Andes were covered by an ice sheet that extended to Antarctica. Built to rely on instinct over reflection—instincts more suited to hunting saber-toothed cats than making public-policy decisions—our brains have changed very little since. According to Rick Shenkman, the author of Political Animals: Why Our Stone Age Brains Get in the Way of Smart Politics, this goes a long way in explaining the baffling state of politics today. Why do we believe politicians when they lie? Why do we shun nuance and flock to demagogues? Why do many of us never go to the polls? Do we have any hope of changing?

Politico Magazine asked Shenkman these questions and more in an interview that took us from the parable of the lying chimp to why Hillary’s bank reform answers get boos during debates. And who’s running the best stone-age campaign? Donald Trump, of course. But Bernie is up there, too.

Read the interview:
Political Animals Book: Your Brain Is Hard-Wired to Love Donald Trump - POLITICO Magazine