Is there a 'No surrender' gene?

[Figaroni]

Newton Emerson, Irish News:
"Neuroscientists at Atlanta's prestigious Emory University have found that national identity is stored in a different part of the brain to other beliefs. Further tests showed these beliefs will not be 'sold out' for any reward.
This offers the intriguing possibility of scanning unionists for Britishness to see if it is really a 'false consciousness' after all."

Hey, before you start, I'm only the messenger!

[former wesleyan]

Newton Emerson, Irish News:
"Neuroscientists at Atlanta's prestigious Emory University have found that national identity is stored in a different part of the brain to other beliefs. Further tests showed these beliefs will not be 'sold out' for any reward.
This offers the intriguing possibility of scanning unionists for Britishness to see if it is really a 'false consciousness' after all."

Hey, before you start, I'm only the messenger!

There obviously is. It's intertwined, helix-like , with the " Ireland unfree shall never be at peace " gene.

[Figaroni]

There obviously is. It's intertwined, helix-like , with the " Ireland unfree shall never be at peace " gene.

Bit like the Tiocfaidh Ar La gene then? Interesting to see which one triumphs. Atlanta should get thier scientists over here, probably worth more money to NITB than Rory McIlroy in the long term.

[between the bridges]

Newton Emerson, Irish News:
"Neuroscientists at Atlanta's prestigious Emory University have found that national identity is stored in a different part of the brain to other beliefs. Further tests showed these beliefs will not be 'sold out' for any reward.
This offers the intriguing possibility of scanning unionists for Britishness to see if it is really a 'false consciousness' after all."

Hey, before you start, I'm only the messenger!

hey before i start is there a link?

[Johnny Boy]

To be honest, I think that most of us inherit our basic political beliefs from our parents.

[Figaroni]

hey before i start is there a link?

Unfortunately, you need to subscribe to the Irish News, and as buy it every day, I don't bother. It's only 70p.

[harry_w]

Newton Emerson, Irish News:
"Neuroscientists at Atlanta's prestigious Emory University have found that national identity is stored in a different part of the brain to other beliefs. Further tests showed these beliefs will not be 'sold out' for any reward.
This offers the intriguing possibility of scanning unionists for Britishness to see if it is really a 'false consciousness' after all."

Hey, before you start, I'm only the messenger!

Genetics doesn't actually come into it, it's about mental processing, logic and ethics.

An amusing application of it from Emerson, he probably picked up the story from:

Selling out: why some beliefs are not worth keeping - Science - News - The Independent

The research paper: The price of your soul: neural evidence for the non-utilitarian representation of sacred values
Gregory S. Berns¹,*, Emily Bell^1, C. Monica Capra¹, Michael J. Prietula², Sara Moore1, Brittany Anderson¹, Jeremy Ginges³ and Scott Atran⁴
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 5 March 2012 vol. 367 no. 1589 754-762

Abstract
Sacred values, such as those associated with religious or ethnic identity, underlie many important individual and group decisions in life, and individuals typically resist attempts to trade off their sacred values in exchange for material benefits. Deontological theory suggests that sacred values are processed based on rights and wrongs irrespective of outcomes, while utilitarian theory suggests that they are processed based on costs and benefits of potential outcomes, but which mode of processing an individual naturally uses is unknown. The study of decisions over sacred values is difficult because outcomes cannot typically be realized in a laboratory, and hence little is known about the neural representation and processing of sacred values. We used an experimental paradigm that used integrity as a proxy for sacredness and which paid real money to induce individuals to sell their personal values. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we found that values that people refused to sell (sacred values) were associated with increased activity in the left temporoparietal junction and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, regions previously associated with semantic rule retrieval. This suggests that sacred values affect behaviour through the retrieval and processing of deontic rules and not through a utilitarian evaluation of costs and benefits.

1. Introduction

Sacred values include fundamental religious beliefs, core constructs of national and ethnic identities and moral norms. These values motivate many important individual and group decisions in life. Decisions bounded by them range from purchasing consumer goods such as kosher foods, patronizing Christian businesses, investing in socially responsible mutual funds, to deciding whom to marry. Disagreements over sacred values also contribute to many political and military conflicts and may also underlie some acts of political violence [1,2]. Thus, understanding how sacred values are represented and processed in the human mind has far-reaching implications for policymakers.

By definition, personal sacred values are values for which individuals resist trade-offs with other values, particularly economic or materialistic incentives [3]. The nature of sacred values is, in large part, defined by the way in which individuals engage them in decisions, but virtue theory suggests two very different ways in which sacred values might be processed [4]. Sacred values could be either deontological in nature [5] or they could be utilitarian [6,7]. Deontic processing is defined by an emphasis on rights and wrongs, whereas utilitarian processing is characterized by costs and benefits. Similarly, deontic processing tends to be absolute and independent of outcomes, while utilitarian processing depends on the relative valuation of outcomes. Utility theory has emerged as a normative framework for the latter [8,9], and when applied to decisions over sacred values, suggests that the expectation of consequences for violating these values is a deterrent to certain behaviours [10]. Lexicographic preferences, in which an agent infinitely prefers one thing to another, have also been used to model sacred values within the utilitarian framework [11]. In contrast, the deontic approach suggests that sacred values are derived from rules that circumscribe certain actions independently of expected outcomes or prospects of success, and that we act in accordance with them because they are the right thing to do [3,10].

[...]

Our results complement existing research in sacred values and may have implications for policymakers [1,2], although further research in conditions that emulate policymaking environments will be required to make the case. Economic, foreign and military policies are typically based on utilitarian considerations. More specifically, it is believed that those who challenge a functioning social contract should concede if an adequate trade-off is provided (e.g. sanctions or other incentives). However, when individuals hold some values to be sacred, they fail to make trade-offs, rendering positive or negative incentives ineffective at best. Our results suggest that individuals naturally retrieve sacred values as deontic rules, not as representations of utility, providing the first neurobiological evidence for what has been previously conjectured [3].

I suppose 'loyal to the half crown' would be a dig on deontic grounds.

Legitimacy crises seem the most relevant, like the Irish Home Rule one, especially as it impacted on Ulster unionism and English Conservatives ('For God & Ulster', Ulster Covenant, Volunteers, Larne gun-running). The Irish civil war another.

[Aristodemus]

Genetics doesn't actually come into it, it's about mental processing, logic and ethics.

An amusing application of it from Emerson, he probably picked up the story from:

Selling out: why some beliefs are not worth keeping - Science - News - The Independent

The research paper: The price of your soul: neural evidence for the non-utilitarian representation of sacred values
Gregory S. Berns¹,*, Emily Bell^1, C. Monica Capra¹, Michael J. Prietula², Sara Moore1, Brittany Anderson¹, Jeremy Ginges³ and Scott Atran⁴
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 5 March 2012 vol. 367 no. 1589 754-762

Abstract
Sacred values, such as those associated with religious or ethnic identity, underlie many important individual and group decisions in life, and individuals typically resist attempts to trade off their sacred values in exchange for material benefits. Deontological theory suggests that sacred values are processed based on rights and wrongs irrespective of outcomes, while utilitarian theory suggests that they are processed based on costs and benefits of potential outcomes, but which mode of processing an individual naturally uses is unknown. The study of decisions over sacred values is difficult because outcomes cannot typically be realized in a laboratory, and hence little is known about the neural representation and processing of sacred values. We used an experimental paradigm that used integrity as a proxy for sacredness and which paid real money to induce individuals to sell their personal values. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we found that values that people refused to sell (sacred values) were associated with increased activity in the left temporoparietal junction and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, regions previously associated with semantic rule retrieval. This suggests that sacred values affect behaviour through the retrieval and processing of deontic rules and not through a utilitarian evaluation of costs and benefits.

1. Introduction

Sacred values include fundamental religious beliefs, core constructs of national and ethnic identities and moral norms. These values motivate many important individual and group decisions in life. Decisions bounded by them range from purchasing consumer goods such as kosher foods, patronizing Christian businesses, investing in socially responsible mutual funds, to deciding whom to marry. Disagreements over sacred values also contribute to many political and military conflicts and may also underlie some acts of political violence [1,2]. Thus, understanding how sacred values are represented and processed in the human mind has far-reaching implications for policymakers.

By definition, personal sacred values are values for which individuals resist trade-offs with other values, particularly economic or materialistic incentives [3]. The nature of sacred values is, in large part, defined by the way in which individuals engage them in decisions, but virtue theory suggests two very different ways in which sacred values might be processed [4]. Sacred values could be either deontological in nature [5] or they could be utilitarian [6,7]. Deontic processing is defined by an emphasis on rights and wrongs, whereas utilitarian processing is characterized by costs and benefits. Similarly, deontic processing tends to be absolute and independent of outcomes, while utilitarian processing depends on the relative valuation of outcomes. Utility theory has emerged as a normative framework for the latter [8,9], and when applied to decisions over sacred values, suggests that the expectation of consequences for violating these values is a deterrent to certain behaviours [10]. Lexicographic preferences, in which an agent infinitely prefers one thing to another, have also been used to model sacred values within the utilitarian framework [11]. In contrast, the deontic approach suggests that sacred values are derived from rules that circumscribe certain actions independently of expected outcomes or prospects of success, and that we act in accordance with them because they are the right thing to do [3,10].

[...]

Our results complement existing research in sacred values and may have implications for policymakers [1,2], although further research in conditions that emulate policymaking environments will be required to make the case. Economic, foreign and military policies are typically based on utilitarian considerations. More specifically, it is believed that those who challenge a functioning social contract should concede if an adequate trade-off is provided (e.g. sanctions or other incentives). However, when individuals hold some values to be sacred, they fail to make trade-offs, rendering positive or negative incentives ineffective at best. Our results suggest that individuals naturally retrieve sacred values as deontic rules, not as representations of utility, providing the first neurobiological evidence for what has been previously conjectured [3].

I suppose 'loyal to the half crown' would be a dig on deontic grounds.

Legitimacy crises seem the most relevant, like the Irish Home Rule one, especially as it impacted on Ulster unionism and English Conservatives ('For God & Ulster', Ulster Covenant, Volunteers, Larne gun-running). The Irish civil war another.

Thanks for killing the joke. FFS, when people overanalyse comedy or satire they destroy it.

[harry_w]

Thanks for killing the joke. FFS, when people overanalyse comedy or satire they destroy it.

You're here for lolz?

Emerson's point is still amusing. I can try to keep the politics to a minimum if you like?

[Figaroni]

Thanks for killing the joke. FFS, when people overanalyse comedy or satire they destroy it.

easy on him, there, he probably has the 'analyse this' gene, It's not his fault!
I seem to have the 'drink on a Saturday afternoon gene', It could be worse I could have read all that sober!(What did that mean?)