The human brain has developed over millenia. Like a non-stop power plant, the
brain added new structures to basic ones (controlling basic functions
like breathing). The crowning achievement is the cortex, the largest
brain structure, where higher thought and reasoning take place.
Scientists
have learned that sensory input, e.g., sounds, do not have to travel to
the cortex to induce fear. Impulses need only travel to a primitive
brain structure called the amygdala.
When FDR
delivered his first inaugural address, he appealed to reasoning, though
his topic was the fear of a nation shattered by the Great Depression.
Like dictators and demagogues through history, Donald Trump goes
straight for the lower brain with pointed, uncomplicated messages that
require little thought. For example, his nicknamesl for nearly all of
his opponents (Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco, Crooked Hillary) make for
instant recognition and easy identification--and great ratings for
cash-starved cable media. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Trump
echoes right wing talk radio hosts, who offer short, immediate
solutions that fit neatly into a brief format. No exhausting engagement
of the thinking brain required. Fear is our most powerful emotion and
when Donald Trump boasted he knew how to win this election, like ad men
from Madison Avenue, he knew what worked: the low road to the White
House. Hillary Clinton and the Democrats had a long, arduous path to
the thinking brain to overcome the power of fear and other
powerful emotions.
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