Authoritarian populism and amygdala hijack

Living creatures evolved over 4. 5 billion years with two basic impulses: survival and procreation in response to external threat. Resultantly, the earliest mental faculties that living organisms developed were associated with these two characteristics. These were essentially emotional and visceral responses of fear, anger, aggression, happiness, sadness and disgust. Consciousness and reason arose and developed much later.

Among the larger part of humanity, their first reaction to an external threat, danger and stress is in terms of emotions emanating from the part of the brain called amygdala: it's a flight-or-fight response. The external stimulus, physical or cognitive, impels humans to what is essentially an autonomic, emotional response rather than a rational reaction mainly shown in impulses of fear, anger, aggression and abdication of reason.

At certain times the danger or stress is real and palpable and the part of the primordial brain, the amygdala, responds automatically by release of hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) to counter the threat to existence. But at other moments the danger or stress is unreal and yet there occurs what, in psychological parlance, is called 'amygdala hijack'. The term was first used by psychologist Daniel Goleman in 1955. It brings about more or less the same results in so far as fight-flight-response is concerned i.e. an emotive and impulsive response but it is totally irrational and impulsive.

In a way this is an unnatural psychological response which may go away after the rational parts of the brain i.e. the two frontal lobes, have taken over, analysed the threat or stress and having found it to be unreal and discarded it.

Even though reason and rationality appear to be the predominant traits of human beings as compared to animals and other living creatures, the primordial brain and in particular the amygdella hijack continues to play a disproportionately higher role in the formulation of the thoughts, attitudes and conduct of humans, even though they may not be conscious of the fact.

The human brain has two frontal lobes, both of which are situated at the front of the organ. Reasoning takes place in the frontal lobes. Specifically, the frontal lobes are where a person rationalises situations and makes decisions.

Although the amygdala works automatically, the frontal lobes allow people to process and think about their emotions.

If a threat is not serious, the frontal lobes tend to take control, and most people will respond with a more logical, thought-out reaction. However, if the amygdala takes over in such instances, a fight-or-flight reaction takes over. This is amygdala hijack.

It refers to situations wherein the amygdala hijacks control of a person's ability to respond rationally to a threat. This then leads to the person reacting in an intense, emotional way that may be out of proportion to the situation.

Without the ability to use their frontal lobes, a person is unable to think clearly. Therefore, they are not in control of their responses.

In most instances, if the threat is not linked to serious danger, the person will be able to rationalise it and react in a manner that is appropriate to their situation.

Amygdala hijack takes place when the structure triggers the fight-or-flight reaction when it is not warranted. The person is then unable to come to their own rational conclusion about how to behave

If a person is in genuine danger, everything above is appropriate to their situation. This is when the fight-or-flight response is effective.

However, if the threat or danger is not real or not very high and a person's body still reacts by experiencing everything above, they may be experiencing amygdala hijack.

During amygdala hijack, a person may react in a way that they could regret later. This may include being aggressive, argumentative or violent in a manner that is dramatically out of proportion to the situation.

A few aspects of amygdala hijack are pertinent in modern day political context: amygdelian or emotional reaction takes over the rational response of the two anterior cortexes making reasonable response secondary and subservient to emotional and irrational conduct, thought and behaviour.

Secondly, amygdalian hijack may occur not only due to environmental excitation but emotional responses may also be consciously manipulated and managed by clever persons trained in propaganda, towards contrived and pre-planned directions, with the decisive purpose or intention to create an emotional response at the individual or collective level for a calculated political or social goal .

That is the principle upon which modern day means of 'mind manipulation' and propaganda have arisen as a highly sophisticated science of mental and attitudinal manufacture, with those who are the subjects of this manipulation often barely or scarcely aware of the actors or persons, purposes or ends towards which their conduct and outlooks, moved by emotional slogans and narratives (mostly divorced from reality) are being directed.

Liberal and plural democracy is under particular threat today due to populist authoritarianism, one of whose main psychological tools is to trigger the amygdela hijack of their followers.

The generality of humanity is, in thought and conduct, moved by emotions rather than reason and thus narratives are devised invoking religious passions, misogynism, xenophobia, ultra nationalism and minority discrimination. Dissent and opposition is cast in an elemental mould of cataclysmic political and social struggle and fight to the end between evil and virtue, truth and false forces. Social and political issues assume black and white dimensions with little midway ground for compromise and consensus which are the bedrock of a liberal democracy.

A wave of illiberal authoritarian populism today threatens the world ranging from the US to France, Russia, Hungary and South Asia, posing dire threats to democratic virtues and institutions which are sought to be controlled and led towards crass authoritarianism, one party rule and denial of rights and free pluralism.

Modern tools and means of AI, social media like branding, bots, fake news, etc are being used to create a distorted picture of reality to manufacture consent (Chomsky and Herman: Manufacturing Consent). In their 1988 classic the authors argues that the mass communication media of the US "are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion", by means of the propaganda model of communication.