http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/19/the-psychological-effects-of-brain-theories/ Neuroscience and psychology news and views. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:54:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://mindhacks.com/2009/12/19/the-psychological-effects-of-brain-theories/#comment-5157 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:43:25 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/the-psychological-effects-of-brain-theories/#comment-5157 A problem I’ve noticed with coverage of this research is that culture is ignored as a mediating factor. Western dualist culture inherently ascribes meaning and ethics to the non-corporeal realm, so when presented with evidence against dualism the most intuitive conclusion for individuals raised in this culture is that meaning and ethics don’t exist. No wonder, then, that such individuals change their behaviour to reflect an absence of ethics. However, this does not mean that cultural rejection of dualism necessitates cultural rejection of ethics. Ethical notions can be derived in absence of non-coporeal souls and deities. Most notable in this regard are the advances in game theory describing how outcomes can be optimized for both the individual and society through cooperative, “non-zero-sum” behaviours. By pursuing similar programmes of research on the coordination of individual and group behaviour, it may be possible to validate many of the cherished ethical notions originally derived in the dualist tradition. I would suggest that individuals sufficiently versed in the products of such research would, in the face of evidence against dualism, persist in behaving “ethically”. We can have our scientific cake and ethically eat it too!

]]>