Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously said, “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” The fact that those in power think of themselves in this way is the biggest problem of power.
Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States. The bank was once involved in a massive fraud. Between 2011 and 2016, Wells Fargo opened nearly 2 million fake bank accounts and credit cards in customers’ names without their knowledge. The customers had no idea these extra accounts existed, yet they were still paying the fees or charges on them.
At that time, the bank’s CEO was John Stumpf. In September 2016, he was called to testify before Congress. His astonishing behaviour there drew widespread attention because he showed neither empathy for the victims nor remorse for his actions. He remained calm throughout. According to researchers, this was not an act by John Stumpf. Rather, prolonged occupancy at the very top of power had caused the part of his brain responsible for understanding others’ feelings, called the “mirroring process”, to stop functioning.
A major criticism against Awami League leaders and activists is that they show no remorse for the killing of over a thousand people during the student-public movements. Now it becomes clear why there is none.
The problem actually lies within the brains of those in power. In 2013, three neuroscientists led by Sukhvinder S Obhi conducted a study titled “Power Changes How the Brain Responds to Others.” The main objective of the research was to examine how power operates at the brain level. The study tested the effect of power on a process called motor resonance. Motor resonance is a phenomenon in which, when we see someone performing an action, the corresponding parts of our brain become active, and we tend to perform the same action ourselves in a similar way. It was observed that this process does not function in people in power.
According to the study, high-power participants demonstrated lower levels of resonance than low-power participants, suggesting reduced mirroring of other people in those with power.
