(Editor’s note: Second in a series)
How can we explain the success of this generation’s “He Who Must Not Be Named”?
He has successfully tapped into the “us” against “them” portion of our brain known as the amygdala, and we can’t stop it.
Human brains quickly categorize people into “us” and “them,” a division that happens in milliseconds, influencing perceptions and behaviors. Our brains are deeply wired to make these distinctions along lines of race, gender, age, language and socio-economic status, among other factors.
Internationally-known neuroscientist Professor Robert Sapolsky suggests the human brain’s amygdala is effective in allowing us to make quick judgments about the safety of our surroundings. Humans have descended from those who had to respond instantly to threats in order to survive.
He writes that brain imaging shows that the amygdala makes quick judgments about the trustworthiness of faces, suggesting an automatic, implicit response that is faster than conscious thought. The amygdala processes feelings of anxiety, fear and anger — powerful emotions.
Sapolsky mentions dysfunction in the amygdala — resulting in a lack of empathy, remorse and poor impulse control. These characteristics may sound familiar.
It is incredibly easy to manipulate people as to who counts as a “them” and who counts as an “us.” This fact can help explain the rise of “He Who Must Not Be Named.”
He has tapped into our primal instinct as he denigrates people who have inherent hierarchical differences, often combined with the belief that his race is superior. His targets are mostly people who can’t fight back, such as women, immigrants and people of color. Or anyone who ever investigated or charged him with a crime.
As a powerful German politician did in the 1930s and 1940s, “He Who Must Not Be Named” gives speeches full of false but dramatic dichotomies. Prime among his key points is: “I am the only one who can fix it.” And he seriously, in his narcissistic mind, believes it.
Sapolsky explains that the us-versus-them concept is just part of our social cognition, where we judge and compare people based on emotions, inferences and automatic processes to understand their potential actions and disposition. It is very clear that “He Who Must Not Be Named” has a very powerful us-against-them mindset in every decision he makes. If you are not with him, then you are to be destroyed.
In Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, a man named Adolph convinced most other Germans that the Nordic race was superior to all others and that those who were different — i.e., Jews — must be exterminated. America is a country where every known race, color and creed is represented. Only the Constitution and the Congress can keep us safe together.
We need to invoke the difficult biblical admonition to love others as we love ourselves.
Fred Gault, a local business owner, is a former radio, television and newspaper journalist. He worked at the Chattanooga Times in the 1960s.