Gazzaniga brings a new dimension to
the debate on universal ethics in this excerpt. I found his inclusion of the
trolley problem especially interesting. I did a research project in ninth grade
on evolutionary psychology so this was not my first experience with this
ethical dilemma. As Gazzaniga explains, “Most people claim they won’t throw a
nearby person in front of the trolley. At the same time, they will pull a
switch and divert the train to another track, which will spare the five people
even though the switched train will run into and kill a single person.” There
have been countless books written on the subject, and a real life situation even
occurred in San Francisco with a cable car. In my own research I took the
problem a step further and created a survey with questions that were different
variations on the trolley problem. They included variables such as whether or
not you knew that person (family member, friend, etc.) and how long you had to
make the decision.
My results supported the author’s
claim that while people have trouble explaining why they made their decisions,
they tend to favor preservation of people who are close to them either
emotionally or simply physically. These findings support that humans most
likely do have a universal ethical code but it is derived from evolutionary
instincts and impulses in the brain that help us survive rather that from a deity
or general human sense of what is “right”. As humans our brains have been
programmed over thousands of years to respond to the plight of others because
in general if we help others they will be more likely to help us. Scientists and
philosophers may still be far from finding out the full truth behind human
ethics, but I believe that evolution and our brain activity will play a huge
role in finding out.
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