Does Power Cause 'Brain Damage'?

kalibex

Dagobah Resident
Is this article a mainstream attempt to explain away or excuse psychopathic behavior in high places... or might being in a position of power actually cause novel brain function changes?

Was the mirroring response broken? More like anesthetized. None of the participants possessed permanent power. They were college students who had been “primed” to feel potent by recounting an experience in which they had been in charge. The anesthetic would presumably wear off when the feeling did—their brains weren’t structurally damaged after an afternoon in the lab. But if the effect had been long-lasting—say, by dint of having Wall Street analysts whispering their greatness quarter after quarter, board members offering them extra helpings of pay, and Forbes praising them for “doing well while doing good”—they may have what in medicine is known as “functional” changes to the brain.

_https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711_
 
I would suggest that yes, power causes brain damage to normal people but may not cause the same effects in psychopaths.
 
kalibex said:
Is this article a mainstream attempt to explain away or excuse psychopathic behavior in high places... or might being in a position of power actually cause novel brain function changes?

Most likely yes to the latter. For normal people, being in a position of power brings with it a lot of responsibility and concomitant stress. Different people may react somewhat differently to the challenge. If someone is not grounded, especially in virtue, then such a position may cause more distortions in personality and brain damage. I liked this excerpt from the article

But tornadoes, volcanoes, and tsunamis aren’t the only hubris-restraining forces out there. PepsiCo CEO and Chairman Indra Nooyi sometimes tells the story of the day she got the news of her appointment to the company’s board, in 2001. She arrived home percolating in her own sense of importance and vitality, when her mother asked whether, before she delivered her “great news,” she would go out and get some milk. Fuming, Nooyi went out and got it. “Leave that damn crown in the garage” was her mother’s advice when she returned.

Humility - either coming from the self or through the agency of someone close - is a potent antidote to the hubris that comes with power.
 
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