Moral judgments can be altered by magnets

mills:

MIT scientists applied magnetic fields to the right temporo-parietal junction, which has been shown with fMRI imaging to be involved in thinking about “judgements involving other people’s intentions,” and how those intentions alter the morality of their actions. In their experiments…

…the researchers found that when the right TPJ was disrupted, subjects were more likely to judge failed attempts to harm as morally permissible. Therefore, the researchers believe that [magnetic stimulation] interfered with subjects’ ability to interpret others’ intentions, forcing them to rely more on outcome information to make their judgments.”

While fascinating, it’s worth noting that the magnetic stimulation affects just this single aspect of morality, the weighing of intention, a limitation the scientists admit. Indeed, the extremely narrow scope of the experiment problematizes any conclusions one might wish to draw about morality, its sources or bases, and how it functions.

It’s hardly novel that physical interference with the brain can produce exceptional mental phenomena, as discussed by Julian Jaynes and Oliver Sacks and scores of others. It remains to be seen what -if anything- such experiments say about the nature of mind or its reducibility.

Source: mills

353 Notes/ Hide

  1. priyaxrishabh reblogged this from fuckyeahpsychology
  2. the-blind-literatus reblogged this from mills
  3. unanimouslyanonymous reblogged this from mills and added:
    Magnets effect everything
  4. jeeves reblogged this from mills
  5. aahrs reblogged this from mills
  6. newforest reblogged this from mills
  7. bigmagnets reblogged this from mills
  8. projnex reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  9. greynasdire reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    say wha? proofmathisbeautiful:
  10. huliwuxian reblogged this from mills
  11. minsalot reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  12. onceuponatimetherewasthismermaid reblogged this from reinventionoftheprintingpress
  13. livingasana reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    and most psychopaths have high levels of heavy metals in their brain…..interesting.
  14. white-crow reblogged this from fuckyeahpsychology
  15. haibaran reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  16. carondelet reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  17. fortalameda reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  18. particlesoup reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    (everything you believe in is a lie) not really, but i really wanted to say that i wonder what ISEF would have to say...
  19. fuckyeahpsychology reblogged this from mills
  20. thatswhatjennysaid reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    don’t blame the alcohol, blame the magnetic field.
  21. hardwoodpants reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    It’s nice to feel ways about things
  22. agentive reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful and added:
    HI THERE Dr. SAXE! Anyway: these experiments don’t say everything about morality and the brain, not even close. But the...
  23. ichrider reblogged this from proofmathisbeautiful
  24. iwillnotoverthinkthis reblogged this from mills and added:
    This explains a lot
  25. proofmathisbeautiful reblogged this from mills
  26. cstrouseiii reblogged this from mills
  27. mkhall reblogged this from shaunbwilson and added:
    And another step is taken on the road to mind control.
  28. somuchfordepth reblogged this from mills and added:
    take this, haters!
  29. shaunbwilson reblogged this from mills