Conclusion

Abstract

The main goal of this conclusion is to show how the new brain sciences are so affected by neoliberal ideology that we can consider many of them to be political theories masquerading as scientific discoveries. Just as neoliberalism stresses the role of the private individual adapting to an unequal social system, neuroliberalism focuses on how evolution has preprogrammed us to pursue our self-interest by trying to outcompete others. In this context, capitalist markets are seen as natural structures dedicated to sorting out winners and losers in a cultural form of evolutionary selection. Likewise, meritocracy can be viewed as the liberal version of this naturalized competitive order where people are rewarded for their learned or natural talents instead of their inherited wealth.