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Medical researchers were able to disrupt the moral judgments of test subjects by subjecting the part of the brain responsible for such decisions to magnetic forces:
For their experiment, the scientists had 20 subjects read several dozen different stories about people with good or bad intentions that resulted in a variety of outcomes.
One typical story was about a boyfriend who leads his girlfriend across a bridge. In some versions, the boyfriend harmlessly walked his girlfriend across the bridge with no ill effect. In other cases, the boyfriend intentionally led the girlfriend along so she would break her ankle. The subjects used a seven point scale — one being forbidden and seven completely permissible — to record whether they through the situation was morally acceptable or not.
While the subjects read the story, the scientists applied a magnetic field using a method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. The magnetic fields created confusion in the neurons that make up the RTPJ, said Young, causing them to fire off electrical pulses chaotically.
Link via Alphecca | Image: NASA
Add this to the list of social ills blamed on web 2.0 social networking sites Twitter and Facebook: they could harm your moral values!
Today’s fast-paced media could be making us indifferent to human suffering and should allow time for us to reflect, according to researchers.
They found that emotions linked to moral sense are slow to respond to news and events and have failed to keep up with the modern world.
In the time it takes to fully reflect on a story of anguish and suffering, the news bulletin has already moved on or the next Twitter update is already being read.
As activities such as reading books and meeting friends, where people can define their morals, are taken over by news snippets and fast-moving social networking, the problem could become widespread, researchers warn.
Children could be particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing.
"If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality," said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, from the University of Southern California, and one of the researchers.
