Have you heard the expression: "Everything has a price"? But it turns out that different parts of the brain are responsible for pragmatic calculation and moral values in a person. If something goes through the "moral" department, then you cannot force us to change our principles for any money. This was experimentally found out by a group of scientists from Emory University (USA).
During the experiment, neurophysiologists selected 27 women and 16 men. The subjects were asked to rate several judgments. For example, express your opinion about some religious maxims or assess the statements: "I believe that there is nothing reprehensible in child trafficking." Among the proposed judgments were also completely innocent, such as: "I prefer different colors of pills." While the volunteers were speaking, the researchers measured their brain activity with magnetic resonance imaging.
After that, the participants were asked to sign a paper that stated something contrary to their moral convictions - let's say that they supposedly agree that children can be trafficked. In exchange for giving up the principles, the subject was handed a certain amount of money.
And what? If a person put his signature on a document, then those brain areas that, as scientists already knew earlier, are involved, when we calculate the benefit from some business, decide how profitable it can be for us …
But there were those who flatly refused to agree to "make a deal with the devil", despite the fact that it was an empty formality, and it could not have any consequences either for him or for anyone else. At the same time, they noted the excitement of the ventrolateral part of the prefrontal cortex, which is believed to be involved in the formation of abstract thinking, as well as the temporo-parietal adhesion, which is “responsible” for moral choice.
So some of our value attitudes and life principles really have no price: they are controlled by those areas of the brain that are not able to operate with such concepts as gain or loss. And such a person is truly incorruptible.
On the other hand, everyone's moral attitudes are different. Someone, after all, will never harm their neighbor, because they consider it immoral, and someone will even go for murder if they believe that it will improve his life …
By the way, if a person considers it unacceptable for himself to commit antisocial or inhuman acts, this does not mean that he follows his moral dogmas inherent in the brain. For example, we can avoid stealing if we know we will go to jail for it. Or we will not ride the bus like a hare, so as not to fall into the hands of the controller … But, being sure of our impunity, we can cross the line of the law. Believers are often deterred from violating morality by fear of God's punishment.
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That is, there is a pragmatic calculation: “I will not commit a bad deed, because I will be arrested for it, fined, because it is a sin and I will have to burn in fiery hell, and so on …” For others, everything is determined by a free choice: if a person believes that lying, stealing, killing or selling drugs is wrong, then he will not do it, even if he receives guarantees that no retribution - neither human nor divine - will follow …
However, scientists say, it is possible that the situation may change over time, for example, depending on the temporal dynamics, as well as on the circumstances in which the person fell. So, a woman who considers it immoral to engage in prostitution or become someone's kept woman can do it in order to feed her family, the well-being of which is for her a greater moral value than her female honor … True, is there such a "blurring of boundaries" between separate think tanks, remains to be seen.
What are the prospects for this discovery? It is possible that they are quite "rainbow". After all, now a scan on a tomograph can show how much a person values his loved ones, whether he is disposed to adultery, how loyal he is to the management of his company and whether he is not able to “sell his homeland” (sometimes literally - to engage in espionage!) For the appropriate remuneration … Not to mention the investigation of certain crimes … This know-how can be successfully used by directors of large companies, employees of special services and law enforcement agencies.
True, the very method of "checking for morality" may be considered unethical. After all, any of us still must have a choice - whether to make the most secret, which is in our souls, a common property …
IRINA SHLIONSKAYA
