(Thumbnail image: Nature)
“Scientists say they were able to alter people’s sense of right and wrong with simply magnets. MIT researchers say there appears to be an area right behind the ear that responds to magnetic impulses.” (HLN)
Trying to poison a friend with toxic powder—letting your girlfriend walk over a dangerous bridge. Both are unacceptable actions, right? Not if you have a magnet strapped to your head. New research shows magnets have the power to paralyze your moral compass. ABC News explains.
“If you put magnets near your moral compass, it will actually change your decision making and make you temporarily less moral. ... They described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge that he knew was unsafe and under normal conditions more people would rate that man’s behavior as unacceptable. But after getting this magnetic pulse most people didn’t have any problem with it.”
The so-called moral compass is actually the temporo-parietal junction—an area in the brain just behind the right ear. The New York Daily News says when the area is magnetized, participants discount potential dangers.
“[W]hen the magnetic field was applied, subjects would make judgments based on end results, and not the intent of those involved.”
The Daily Mail points out—the more we learn about the brain—the more complicated things like conscience and spirituality become.
“The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains. …Last year American scientists claimed to have found a "god spot" - a region of the brain that controls religious belief.”
Finally, on Nature.com, a writer says the new findings could inspire the aluminum foil hat crowd to stock up on magnetometers.
“If ever a piece of research were destined to incite paranoid fantasies about dictators inserting chips in our heads to alter and control our behaviour, this is it.”
Writer: Chance Seales
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