Why your brain might be wired for extremism

Why do some people become radicalised, while others remain resistant to extreme ideas? What makes one mind more vulnerable to harsh doctrines than another? In a world saturated with competing ideologies, it’s tempting to blame it on chance or circumstance. But in her compelling new book, The Ideological Brain, political neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod uncovers a deeper truth: our susceptibility to extremism is shaped by the very architecture of our minds, down to the cellular and genetic level. She explores how our cognitive traits influence ideological thinking, and crucially, why we’re not locked into any one path.

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