Live and ERN

Have you heard of ERN, Error-Related Negativity? It's what bums you out (er, lowers your dopamine level) when you get an answer wrong on a test, make a mistake, transgress.

Have you ever noticed that some people don't seem to feel bad when they err? A great trait...to an extent. But, what if they don't seem to be bothered -- and it hurts them and you.

Beating oneself up too much is neurotic, but don't we all need a little neurosis to nudge us in the right direction sometimes?

Some folks don't flinch, whimper or whine, but are absolutely fine with failing. They would prefer to win, sure, but if they don't, they show nothing because they feel nothing. It's on to the next activity, business as usual. You could call it resilient...or really low in ERN...or something else.

Well, not surprisingly, in adolescent males, empathy and this ERN don't go together, but risk-taking does.

Psychopaths have been shown to be low ERN, never learning squat from their mistakes since they simply don't make them feel bad.

Political Parting

I'm all for reaching across the aisle and all, but I swear sometimes I think Dems and Repubs are just too plain, damn different to coexist. 

Enter neuroscience, discovering that, yes, left-wing brains are different from right-wing ones. To wit, a study out of Northwestern U.:

"Content analysis of 12 key scenes in life stories showed that conservatives, as predicted, tended to depict authority figures as strict enforcers of moral rules and to identify lessons in self-discipline. By contrast, liberals were more likely to identify lessons learned regarding empathy and openness...." HMMM

A country divided indeed.