Saturday, February 26, 2011

Prompt: The Moral Mind and The Brain is an Argument

In "The Moral Mind," Lehrer illustrates some of the ways in which our brains are wired for empathy: "These innate emotions are so powerful that they keep people moral even in the most amoral situations" (179). What situations/contexts are most apt to elicit our moral emotions and corresponding actions? He offers a series of examples of this inherent sympathy/morality--which are most interesting to you? Can you relate to your service experience in any way?
and/or
In the next chapter, "The Brain is an Argument." Lehrer talks about the importance of doubt and the inner dialogue in making decisions and judgments. He writes that although confidence is comforting, the "desire to always be right is a dangerous side-effect of having competing regions inside one's head" (210). As Lehrer illuminates through a variety of stories, feeling sure and acting on certain assumptions can create a dangerous sense of false security. Again, what interests you most here? Why? Can you link to your service experience?

4 comments:

  1. In reading "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer, I was overly drawn to his writing about John Wayne Gacy. I thought long and hard about this man's action and his none remorseful emotions toward killing these young boys. This malicious act had to warrant more than just a superficial sexual desire, but elude a deeper issue one of which might prove that he himself had been hurt in one way or another or possibly by someone else. It has been said time and time again that "hurt people, hurt other people". Gratification of hurtful acts or intentions towards another person is strange and usual behavior, and there is a thin line between sane and insane, but where do we draw the logic in this? John Lehrer put things into great perspective when he said, “Hurting someone else is just another way of getting what he wants, a perfectly reasonable way to satisfy desires. The absence of emotion makes the most basic moral concepts incomprehensible."(172) As we walk along the street, people on our jobs, our neighbors, the postman, family, our co-workers, who are they? There are many people that we entertain but really don't know. We all have desires, but how far will we go to scratch an itch? The act to commit murder is one of the highest ranked no, no's, and why, because once that person is gone you can never bring them back. People that feel no emotions and is not easily moved by another person pain or suffering has to be emotional suppressed and/or a strong candidate for psychoanalysis. Everything goes back to having morals and values about you; I think that this can be particular situation can be seen in my service learning. We have to have emotion towards assisting others that are suffering, not only physically, but are emotionally distraught. To not be emotionally attached to anything is very dangerous and it allows my mind to wonder, how can I help people that are in need of shelter and food, if I don’t feel any remorse for their situation?

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  2. In the reading, "The Brain is an Argument" by Jonah Lehrer, I found it interesting how much of a debate goes on in the brain when trying to come up with a decision. I can recall doing this myself whenever I am at a grocery store, deciding whether I should buy juice or water all the time. It's always hard for me to decide because I believe that I would get my money's worth buying juice because there's a sweetness to it whereas water has no taste and I can get it for free at home, although it is a healthier choice. Therefore, it is true that, "...most of the computation is done at an unconscious, level not a logical level" ( Lehrer 199).

    When scientists Brian Knutson and George Loewenstein designed an experiment measuring their test subject's brain activity when exposed to certain objects and then later measuring the brain activity when they are exposed to the price, it is seen that the subjects liked the objects, therefore their dopamine reward pathway being opened up. However, their brain's backed away when they had seen the price, insula was triggered therefore computing in the mind whether it is worth it or not to purchase a certain item. I found it interesting how much our brain can think so many thoughts. However, coming to a decision is rather difficult because there are so many things to think about in the process. In spite of that, decisions can very much so be made by forcing a settlement (Lehrer 203).

    I can link all of this to my service learning because knowing that I can help a student with their work and assist them to a better life is very rewarding. However, I can see that my first time going into the classroom, I was shy and I did not really want to communicate with the students. Considering my emotional feelings, I went with that most of the time rather than the logical idea of assisting the students.

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  3. Looking at more crucial issues for decision making, there are certain decisions that are made that can be morally correct or incorrect. Connecting to our class reading "In defense of moral ambiguity" by James Rosenberg, the fact that David disobeyed his orders and did not shoot at the Palestinian women, it resulted in one of his friends dying. There is no clarity in what was a right or wrong decision, this decision was ambiguous. Ethical-issue decisions are hard to figure out.

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  4. In the first chapter, the story about John Wayne Gacy, caught my attention and got me thinking. Although he was considered a psycopath, it is extremely hard totry to relate and not know how he could possibly feel no remorse or anything else. As human beings, we get chills just from seeing a horrible image on television about a person being tortured or killed. However, to actually be the person doing the killing and not second think it or feel that uneasiness running through your body is shocking. The idea of nurture versus nature plays a large role in situations like the examples given in the chapters. In the case of the two children reacting to the crying peer, it is understandable that they would react in a tough and violent manner if that is all they know.

    In the second chapter, the decision making process that goes in our heads is fairly reasonable. Everytime I shop, there is that constant battle of if I need the item or if I simply want it and if I should have it. The way our minds work is impressive how one thing will trigger this while another thing will trigger that.

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