Altering Moral Beliefs

During Dr. Joe Vukov's discussion of the random aspect of personality traits, he highlighted that there are many traits that we consider to be personal identifiers that, in reality, are due to random chance. He used examples such as political affiliation and favorite sports teams to identify this point. He challenged us to try to think of a personality trait that we believe would not change due to our location, race, or financial status. This allowed us to realize that there are very few, if any, personality traits that are independent to external factors. This finding begs the question of if our personal beliefs, those that we feel very strongly on, are actually personal and unique to us.

One study that Diana Kwon discusses highlights the randomness of personal beliefs through the lens of morality. It is well known that moral behavior can be altered due to the composition of serotonin and dopamine in the brain. Drugs that increase dopamine, such as Levodopa, cause people to be more prone to causing harm to others if it benefits themselves. Drugs that increase serotonin, such as Prozac, cause people to be less prone to harming themselves and others, regardless of reward. The implications of this study show that moral decisions are not as intrinsic as we may have thought. It seems that most moral decisions come down to brain chemistry and the composition of these naturally occurring drugs within the brain. This article also discusses drugs related to trust and racism, showing how they can be reduced or enhanced due to the presence of other drugs. The culmination of this research shows that in a way, moral decisions, although unique to each person, are more or less due to a random composition of drugs that we are born with. This aligns with Dr. Vukov's discussion because it shows that very strong beliefs, such as those arising from morality, are actually more variable than we may believe them to be.

This raises the question of whether or not people should be held accountable for their moral decisions. On one hand, most people have more or less the same composition of brain chemistry that leads to the morality that we demonstrate on a daily basis, in accordance with risk and legal factors. Therefore, one should be held accountable to follow socially accepted behavior and punished when they do not. However, on the other hand, should a person be punished for performing a morally impermissible action in society if it is truly out of their control? If someone was born with more dopamine receptors in the brain, they will be more inclined to make aggressive and self centered decisions, however this is out of their control. They could not choose to have more of these receptors, and therefore should they actually be punished for these actions or should they just be prescribed medication to alter this chemistry?

Kwon, Diana. “Your Inner Angel and Devil Can Be Influenced by Psychiatric Meds.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2016, www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-inner-angel-and-devil-can-be-influenced-by-psychiatric-meds/.