aolscalzi links to a facinating article in Discover magazine about the fledgling studies of the neuroscience of moral reasoning.
Excerpt:
Many of the world’s great conflicts may be rooted in such neuronal differences, Greene says, which may explain why the conflicts seem so intractable. “We have people who are talking past each other, thinking the other people are either incredibly dumb or willfully blind to what’s right in front of them,” Greene says. “It’s not just that people disagree, it?s that they have a hard time imagining how anyone could disagree on this point that seems so obvious.” Some people wonder how anyone could possibly tolerate abortion. Others wonder how women could possibly go out in public without covering their faces. The answer may be that their brains simply don’t work the same: Genes, culture, and personal experience have wired their moral circuitry in different patterns.
mrpsyklops
That is a very interesting article. I read it in the hard cover edition. I suppose I’d better surf over to find out if the ‘net offers any additional information. (g)