POST #14: Greene's Evolutionary Psychology
Topic: What is evolutionary psychology and how does it apply to the field of ethics? Explain in depth the thesis of this article and the support offered for it. Next offer your response to what you read.
Greene’s Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology, as proposed by the Joshua Greene, a post-doctoral researcher at Princeton, is the study of how people’s responses to questions and occurrences are shaped by evolution. Utilizing modern technology, the MRI brain imaging, Greene is able to use science as a foundation for the study of the associations among evolution, brain activity, and morality.
According to Greene, moral principles are codes that human ancestors have transformed from their sense of fairness, and they are a product of evolution. Humans use their brains to make moral judgments, and Greene has found the direct correspondence between neuron activities and the making of moral decisions by MRI imaging. As Greene has found in his experiments, “the crackling clusters of neurons” can interpret the so-called moral responses of humans. MRI scans of a person’s brain reflect the person’s decision-making process and results.
Greene identifies that the brain has both intuitive and reasoning networks. One situation or question may trigger one of the networks and a different situation or question may trigger the other. When people’s intuitive networks are activated, they make decisions intuitively. On the other hand, when people’s reasoning networks are activated, they make decisions based on reasoning. However, there are situations and questions that activate both networks, and this is when people become trapped in a moral struggle.
More specifically, Greene proposes that instinctive responses such as a lot of our deeply felt moral convictions are quirks of our evolutionary history. Moral responses based on intuitions are those that make people feel good. There are areas in the brain responsible for emotions known as the posterior cingulated and the precuneus; they are activated when people face personal decisions. Impersonal decisions as well as non-moral questions, on the contrast, trigger a region in the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is vital for logical thinking.
Greene’s studies have offered scientific evidence for the reasons behind human behaviors. The findings of the studies also justify people’s wrongdoings: Criminal or cruel acts are results of an abnormal level of neurotransmitters; and criminal psychopaths show that there are puzzling gaps in perception within the criminal’s brain. In Greene’s view, “evil doesn’t exist on a neuronal level”.
As a reader, I am amazed at Greene’s findings. Similar to the author’s conclusion, I feel that the understanding or believing in Greene’s evolutionary psychology may promote more tolerance. It is interesting to know there is a connection between ethics and science. As the field of neuro-psychology becomes more developed, there may be methods invented to “cure” criminals by fixing the problems with their neurons. Greene’s theories are revolutionary. If his theories were completely accurate, evilness may be viewed as a disease in the future, and by treating the disease there will be no more criminals.
Greene’s Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology, as proposed by the Joshua Greene, a post-doctoral researcher at Princeton, is the study of how people’s responses to questions and occurrences are shaped by evolution. Utilizing modern technology, the MRI brain imaging, Greene is able to use science as a foundation for the study of the associations among evolution, brain activity, and morality.
According to Greene, moral principles are codes that human ancestors have transformed from their sense of fairness, and they are a product of evolution. Humans use their brains to make moral judgments, and Greene has found the direct correspondence between neuron activities and the making of moral decisions by MRI imaging. As Greene has found in his experiments, “the crackling clusters of neurons” can interpret the so-called moral responses of humans. MRI scans of a person’s brain reflect the person’s decision-making process and results.
Greene identifies that the brain has both intuitive and reasoning networks. One situation or question may trigger one of the networks and a different situation or question may trigger the other. When people’s intuitive networks are activated, they make decisions intuitively. On the other hand, when people’s reasoning networks are activated, they make decisions based on reasoning. However, there are situations and questions that activate both networks, and this is when people become trapped in a moral struggle.
More specifically, Greene proposes that instinctive responses such as a lot of our deeply felt moral convictions are quirks of our evolutionary history. Moral responses based on intuitions are those that make people feel good. There are areas in the brain responsible for emotions known as the posterior cingulated and the precuneus; they are activated when people face personal decisions. Impersonal decisions as well as non-moral questions, on the contrast, trigger a region in the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is vital for logical thinking.
Greene’s studies have offered scientific evidence for the reasons behind human behaviors. The findings of the studies also justify people’s wrongdoings: Criminal or cruel acts are results of an abnormal level of neurotransmitters; and criminal psychopaths show that there are puzzling gaps in perception within the criminal’s brain. In Greene’s view, “evil doesn’t exist on a neuronal level”.
As a reader, I am amazed at Greene’s findings. Similar to the author’s conclusion, I feel that the understanding or believing in Greene’s evolutionary psychology may promote more tolerance. It is interesting to know there is a connection between ethics and science. As the field of neuro-psychology becomes more developed, there may be methods invented to “cure” criminals by fixing the problems with their neurons. Greene’s theories are revolutionary. If his theories were completely accurate, evilness may be viewed as a disease in the future, and by treating the disease there will be no more criminals.
posted by Mavis Chao at 5:59 PM
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