Creating the perfect human?

Hello, Was thinking about this the other night with a friend.

I remember reading somewhere that scientist's have found out what part of the brain causes humans to have "an evil streak" in them. I believe it is on the left side of the brain?

My question is.. Would it be possible to have brain surgery and remove this part of the brain, if all it's doing is processing bad thoughts?

If people could have this done then maybe a few generations down the line, people would be born without the bad part of the brain and they'd be perfect?

Any help would be greatly appreaciated

Thanks

Bad idea and potentially dangerous idea. Watch Clockwork Orange for a scenario.

[edit on 6-10-2006 by sardion2000]

Originally posted by sardion2000
Bad idea and potentially dangerous idea. Watch Clockwork Orange for a scenario.

[edit on 6-10-2006 by sardion2000]

But it could be a great way to stop all the murderers and rapist that plague our streets. I'd love to put my money(taxes) into finding out if this can be done, rather than have them catching a rapist and just putting him in jail to be freed again a few years later.

imho, rape & to an extent murder, can be considered socio-cultural crimes.
if the society tends to focus a lot on sex and death especially in the mass
media, then its only fair to assume that a huge percentage of the members
of that society would have homicidal, as well as carnal thoughts on their minds
most of the time.

e.g.

do u think of sex when you're at work?
don't u often wish that the person causing your problem(s) will just drop dead?

while this might be a gross oversimplification it is a sad fact that the incidence
of murder & rape in certain parts of the third world are very far below those of
the "so-called enlightened" first world.

and as to the topic of mandatory lobotomy for criminals, i'd have to say that it
won't be such a good idea. at the worst, if what the OP thinks will happen comes
true, you'll just end up with a populace that has indeed lesser brain computing capacity
compared to the rest of humanity. and while it hasnt been proven that greater brain mass
equals greater mental capacity/awareness (as far as i'm aware - and thats not saying much),
i wouldnt want to live among simpletons. but thats just me.

p.s.
my apologies for the broad sweeping statements and assumptions;
i'm still getting used to the idea of denying my ignorance.
PEACE.

[edit on 6-10-2006 by toreishi]

Well, cutting out a portion of the brain to stop criminals may sound convenient, but consider the points your putting forth. The hope it seems is that in the short run, the process is neccessary, but in the long run, "we'll grow into it" genetically.

I don't think genetics work that way. Cut off the legs of a former track star...even his kids...and I promise his decendants will MOST ASSUREDLY still have legs at birth. Humanity can become an obsolete species before any measurable evolutionary changes occur due to such an operation.

On a more philosophical note, please define an "evil" thought. Is a soldier or police officer having an "evil" thought when they sight down on their intended target? Is a husband or wife having "evil" thoughts at the height of their love-making?

What happens when the definition of a certain crime changes? THEN which part of the brain do you cut out? How "evil" are you thinking when you speed, or when you run a red light? Lastly, if such a process worked...why wait until a certain someone commits a crime? Just jerk that portion out at birth! Better yet, do it to EVERYBODY! (I do hope you can see where I'm going with this argument...)

Oh..wait a minute...could such an operation actually be used as a DEFENSE?? "Hey, a portion of my brain is gone...what did you EXPECT me to do on the street?"

Don't get me wrong, I DO think they're evil people in the world. And your idea is a novel one for sure, but we have Laws to direct us, and Judges to judge, Lawyers and Prosecutors to try cases, and Juries to hand down verdicts. In spite of its reputation, the system DOES work, even in the most heinous cases. (which you must admit, inspite of the outcome, give the system it's worst rep.)

Want crime to stop?

Consider, as was mentioned, the socio-cultural, and also the socio-economic reasons... of which there are many, and are far too entangled with each other to try and nit-pick... (nor do I have any sort of reasonable understanding of the topics...)

Consider that our educational system does not teach logic or critical thinking... that was are told by some authority figure that murder, or whatever, is wrong, instead of working through the reasons why it's wrong. (Besides that, there are many individual situations where murder is, or rather can be, justified. Few, but they do occur.)

Consider that without that moral compass, without the vaguest idea of short-term and long-term happiness (indeed, an entire society run on 'immediate gratification'!), without a society that has shame instead of punishment... it's really no wonder that people are lookin' in all the wrong places, and doin' all the wrong things. If they don't know any better, or any different, how can we expect them to suddenly understand?

I'd rather they learn self-discipline, they and every other human being. Otherwise, how can we honestly call them 'upright' citizens, if they have not truly corrected their own problems?


Aside from all that, I'm curious as to the long-term effects that such an operation would have on a person. This is, of course, assuming that each emotion, instinct, what-have-you has one specific place that it always takes place in -- which, as far as I know, is not the case. Thus, it leads me to wonder what else would be effected...

Removing a part of the brain won't really help people doing bad things much. I think all it would stop is maybe, random evil things, but by no means create a perfect person.

Toelint is right... you could surgically remove said part of the brain on as many generations as you wanted to, you're still not altering their DNA. Every next generation would still be born with their brains intact.

Oh, and keep in mind, the brain is incredibly complex - slicing out of a chunk of it would have unforseeable implications other than removing "an evil streak."

Lets assume for a second, that we could alter the genome sufficiently to remove that part of the brain in subsequent generations. What constitutes an "evil streak?" Would it remove the ability to process "evil" thoughts altogether? What if they were later faced with a moral problem in which they would need to weigh the good vs the evil. We need our "evil streaks" so that we may measure it against the good. Remove our ability to distinguish the two, and a black/white scenario can emerge, where there's no grey areas, only "acceptable" behavior.