A New Pharaoh and the Fiscal Cliff. (2012)

“Morsi has to realize for the sake of Egypt’s future that his own brain function is being distorted by the very measures he is introducing to impose “order” on the “mess” of democracy.

Professor Ian Robertson, holder of the Chair in Psychology at Trinity College Dublin
In ‘Where the Brain and Society Meet’, 28 November 2012.

Whatever you think of the current standoff between President Barak Obama and the Republican-led Congress over the budget, what you are witnessing is raw, messy democracy in action.

Contrast this with the behavior of Egypt’s first-ever elected President, Mohamed Morsi. This week by decree he abolished the last “messy” constraint on his presidential power – the possibility of judicial review of his decisions.

What President Morsi has to realize for the sake of Egypt’s future is actually the hardest thing for any human being to appreciate – that his own brain function is being distorted by the very measures he is introducing to impose “order” on the “mess” of democracy.

The neurological effects of unconstrained power on the brain inhibit the very parts of the brain which are crucial for self-awareness – and in particular the outside surface of the frontal lobe of the brain’s right hemisphere.

Access the full blog here: A new Pharaoh and the Fiscal Cliff