A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, said the examination of the brain activity among egoist people showed that those don’t think about the future, which seems very distant.
Researchers said they studied the reflection of future consequences on individuals’ brains, and found that people’s concerns about climate change triggered by global warming are different. Some people are worried, while others consider them too distant to have an impact on their well-being.
With the help of neuro-imaging, the scientists found that people deemed "egotistical" do not use the area of the brain that enables us to look into and imagine the distant future. In "altruistic" individuals, on the other hand, the same area is alive with activity.
Researchers said in the study published in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience that their findings may help psychologists devise exercises that put some areas of the brain to work. These could be used to improve people's ability to project themselves into the future and raise their interest of, for example, the effects of climate change.
The concerns experienced by human beings are built on their values, which determine whether individuals prioritize their personal well-being or put themselves on an equal footing with their peers, the researchers noted.
Tobias Brosch, Psychology professor at UNIGE's Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, said: “The first result we obtained was that for people with egotistical tendencies, the near future is much more worrying than the distant future, which will only come about after they are dead. In altruistic people, this difference disappears, since they see the seriousness as being the same."
“Selfishness makes the brain lazy,” he added.
