I’m trying to watch the testimony and finish a column, but readers keep pointing me to this new study that suggests political differences are rooted in how our brains are wired. My short response to this is that I think it’s unpersuasive from the news accounts I’ve seen, and generally consistent with a line of craptacular nonsense we’ve heard on this score for several years. More later, I’m sure.

Update: From a reader:

Hi Jonah,
God bless Bart Simpson for that brilliant turn of phrase (well, the first time *I* ever heard “craptacular” was on the Simpsons).
Anyway, a few years back I decided to go see a psychiatrist. This was after 9/11, though my depression was more about finding work during the deflation of the technology boom. I’d just had two startups die under me, and was having a lot of self-doubt.
I showed up to see the doctor, and the first thing he did was ask after my political views. Deciding I was conservative, he gave me a long talk about how he was going to free my mind from the shackles of the conservative mindset. According to him I’d be better able to see the possibilities and happiness of life when I acquired a more liberal mindset.
I paid my fee and never returned. For me, that one interview really holed psychiatry below the plimsoll line. “Craptacular nonsense” sums it up perfectly.
Oh, and a couple of years later I’m back at a technology startup, where it looks like we’ll do well.