A Tale of Two Connections
stay with me, now
A study:
Using functional MRI scans on normal kids aged 7 to 12, researchers found the parts of the children’s brains that were activated when shown pictures of people in pain,...
Study author...reported that empathy appears to be “hard-wired” into the brains of normal children, as opposed to being solely the result of parental guidance or nurturing.
“Although our study did not tap into explicit moral judgment, perceiving an individual intentionally harming another person is likely to elicit the awareness of moral wrongdoing in the observer,"
See? Humans are innately good. They’re We’re hardwired to be moral, empathic beings. No need for all that religiosity and moralizing. No need, really for all that time wasted parenting.
You who’ve been parents of toddlers and early teens—you all know that, right? Naturally empathic they are.
First conclusion: Is this another O’Bama Oopsie?
The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers...
Hmm… Hard to reckon those two.
But wait—there’s more:
"Consistent with previous functional MRI studies of pain empathy with adults, the perception of other people in pain in children was associated with increased hemodymamic activity in the neural circuits involved in the processing of firsthand experience of pain...,”
... Knowing how the brain responds to pain may help scientists understand the relationship between brain impairments and anti-social behavior, such as bullying...
Seeing pain triggers the same brain circuits as when you experience pain yourself.
So the obvious connection is that organic brain impairment must be present in those displaying “anti-social” behavior, such as bullying, theft, or… perhaps… not following rules that are “good for you and others around you.”
Aye… thar be danger.
Paranoid? Perhaps a tad. But I’ve been around long enough to know that that theory will be thrown against the wall to see if it sticks.
Next entry: Here it comes again...
Previous entry: A Family Affair?
