Brain-damaged people give insights into morality

It seems that certain difficult moral decisions (One scenario involved enemy troops searching for civilians to kill. The people in the study were asked about their willingness to kill their own infant whose crying was drawing the attention of enemy soldiers who would then kill the parent, the baby and people hiding with them.) are largely affected by a part of the brain that helps govern emotions. This article looks into a limited study (50 people) who have damage to that area of their brain and found that they have less of a problem making the choice that saves the most people.

I find this interesting. On one hand, it’s logical to choose the option which could save more people, but on the other hand, is doing something wrong (in the scenario above- killing one’s own child) ever the right choice? Apparently the brain damaged people are more comfortable doing something wrong if the outcome is good. Very Interesting.

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Posted March 21st, 2007 by: Pedro
More Posts in: General