Could the 10 year illness be afflicting Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan? (2013)

“Power and success are two of the biggest brain-changing drugs known to mankind and no human being’s brain can survive unchanged such large infusions of these two drugs. Erdoğan’s response to this week’s demonstrations in Turkey show that he may not be an exception.

Professor Ian Robertson, holder of the Chair in Psychology at Trinity College Dublin
June 9, 2013

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan has held power for 10 years, during which period his country has experienced unprecedented economic growth and international prestige.

Power and success are two of the biggest brain-changing drugs known to mankind, however, and no human being’s brain can survive unchanged such large infusions of these two drugs. Erdoğan’s response to this week’s demonstrations in Turkey show that he may not be an exception.

Power’s effects on the brain have many similarities to those of drugs like cocaine: both significantly change brain function by increasing the chemical messenger dopamine’s activity in the brain’s reward network. These changes also affect the cortex  and alter thinking, making people more confident, bolder – and even smarter.

But these same changes also make people egocentric, less self-critical, less anxious and less able to detect errors and dangers. All of these conspire to make leaders impatient with the “messiness” of opposition and contradictory opinions, which we can see clearly in Prime Minister Erdoğan’s  intransigent and aggressive response to the demonstrators, including his infamous claim that “there is an evil called twitter” and that “social media is the evil called upon societies”.

The neurological effects of unconstrained power on the brain also inhibit the very parts of the brain which are crucial for self-awareness and what Erdoğan has to realize for the sake of Turkey’s future is actually the hardest thing for any human being to appreciate – that his own judgment is being distorted by 10 long years in power.

Read the full blog here: Could the 10 year illness be afflicting Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan?