Magnet Affects Moral Reasoning

Researchers at MIT say they’ve been able to affect people’s moral reasoning with magnets. The neuroscientists applied a magnetic field to the scalp of subjects near the the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ). It’s highly active when individuals are faced with determining right from wrong. The magnet appeared to make them more likely to make moral judgments based on end results rather than intentions. In one case, a woman put a spoon of white powder in her friend’s coffee, thinking it’s sugar when it’s really poison. The coffee drinker dies. When people heard this story with the magnet in place, they were less empathetic to the woman and more focused on the result of her action.

Stephen Goforth