A research study quoted in the 6/21 NY Times claims one’s political/social leanings may be influenced by one’s genes, which “prime people to respond cautiously or openly to the mores of a social group.”

Lemme take the personal-gut-feeling test to this.

For whatever reason, and I’m still trying to figure out why, I’ve got a brain that questions everything. It responds harshly to authority figures (religious, political, cultural) who demand total mindless obedience.

This means I don’t fit in well into tightly-bonded subcultures, whether they be Republicans, Christians, hippies, punks, gamers, etc.

This means I’m disposed toward a belief in total human diversity (not just PC faux-diversity) and personal liberty (not just the corporate power-licentiousness of some Libertarians).

It also means I’m highly wary of any utopian or revolutionary schemes that would lead to a society just as repressed as this one or worse, but merely with different people getting to do the repressing.

My odd li’l mind isn’t as fully focused or analytical as those of some political dreamers, so I don’t view the whole world through a single issue (such as gender, drugs, terror, or stem cells). Hence, I don’t believe every problem in the world will be solved by any one easily-explainable course of action.

I believe life is work. Nothing will ever be perfect, but everything can be better.

And I believe the world should become a more hospitable place for people with nonconformist minds such as my own.