Why the Brain Chooses Politics Over Science
Who could blow off the world’s most respected scientists and turn to politicians for advice on surviving the coronavirus? Humans, that’s who.
If supermarket clashes over wearing masks and White House attempts to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci aren’t enough to convince you that the coronavirus crisis has gone political in America, a new study breaks it down.
From March through May, researchers at NYU, Yale, and MIT used geotracking data from 15 million smartphones per day to see who was following epidemiologists’ guidelines for social distancing.
What they observed: While all counties in the U.S. experienced a drop in movement and visiting nonessential services, the counties that had voted for Donald Trump in 2016 exhibited 14% less physical distancing than counties that voted for Hillary Clinton. In turn, reduced physical distancing in pro-Trump counties was associated with subsequently higher Covid-19 infection and fatality growth rates.
How could anyone choose politics over medical experts to make life-and-death health decisions? Science (if you’re into that kind of thing) can explain.
It starts with the way humans are wired to trust, bond, and defend our groups.
