The voices told me to do it
4 March 2010
If a psychopath’s brain is wired up to respond differently to stimulus, are they still fully responsible for their crimes? They can’t be rehabilitated if that’s the case.
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Interesting article. By definition, psychopathy (an “extreme” form of antisocial personality disorder) are those people who do not conform to the law and the standards we have agreed upon as a society. Furthermore, the prevalence of psychopathy in the general population is low. While neuroscience is making great strides, we still don’t know what exactly it means that someone has less grey matter or that one part of the brain uses more or less oxygen. (Example: The brain cyst described in the article doesn’t necessarily mean anything; there are “normal” people with cysts in the their brains.)
Whoever figures out consciousness and can explain the mind/brain divide will win the Nobel Prize. Human behavior may not be as simple as changes in brain chemistry.
(But you already knew all of this.)
Comment by Maria — 5 March 2010 @ 3:03 pm
> But you already knew all of this.
Ah, but you actually articulated it, and well.
Comment by Andrea — 5 March 2010 @ 3:13 pm