3/25/2007

Brain damages can damage moral thinking

Current scientific theories tell us there are two parts of brain responsible for human moral judgement. One part of our brain gives us calculations (example: do what's necessary to save people from a fire), and another part gives us emotions (don't kill women and babies), and we balance the two inputs .... unless brain damage wipes out the emotional input.


Commen sense says brain damage can change moral thinking, now I have found a scientific research to support this commen sense. In a recent small-scale study, when presented with moral dilemmas, people with damage to a specific part of the brain were 2-3 times more willing to kill than were normal people.

4 comments:

NYC Lawyerista said...

There was a similar report in the New York Times in March 2007, reporting, I believe, on the military's testing of sleep deprived soldiers. The test found that it took sleep deprived soldiers longer to make a morally sound decision, if they were able to make it at all.

The Unadorned said...

Hi
Greetings from India.

Criminality is essentially an acquired thing: Why should one kill; how should one kill; how would one get away from the punishment... It's like persuading oneself: not all those who kill are caught; people kill more than me and compared to them I'm nothing; this is the last time I'm going to kill and thereafter with the money I'll get I will not have to do so again; if I don't kill him somebody will kill me; I can keep my family happy by killing one from other's family; and so on.

So, criminality is basically circumstantial or acquired. The researches with their statistical interpretations are just not convincing!

Thanks
Nanda
http://remixoforchid.blogspot.com

Alyssa said...

It's rather thought provoking - the brain is a fantastic organ. Thanks, Alyssa

Anonymous said...

Normal doesn't exist. It's a figment of everyones imagination. Everyone is different. Everyone thinks they are normal. Therefore there are billions of versions of normal.