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The Row Boat"Had we but world enough, and time..." *
Brain as President9/12/2007 11:05:35I've written little about politics here, but one thing that has fascinated me is the question of the leader's spiritual and secular role in a market democracy. See, for instance, "Decapitating Politics." This is an idea that has been swimming around in my head, somewhat related to decapitating. In my recent work on religion and brain science, I've been thinking a lot about the place of self in the physical brain. And it occurs to me that the sense of self, and its control, is a lot like the President of the United States. That is: he thinks he has a lot of control. People close by treat him with deference, and he can pull strings with pretty much anyone in the world. But how in control is he, really? He can't win a war in one of the poorest countries in the world. He has to direct all of his power at ensuring reelection for himself and his party. He has power, but he has little power about how to exercise it. In the end, his power really seems like an illusion built out of power that is actually distributed much more widely. Just an idea. |
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