Morality decline due to technology advances.

I found this article while researching the effect of electromagnetic fields on bacteria. I had researched it's effect on humans a while back and read a similar but much more condensed article. This is more complete. My question is whether the technology we are creating is making us more irrational. I believe it is effecting certain parts of the brains and requires us to take medications to balance the resulting chemistry. I know what we eat can effect our brains but also know it is not the only thing that is causing problems today. This article may have been posted somewhere before but I don't actually know how to effectively use the search function. That keeps me from making threads that may have already have been made, limiting my threads to specialized studies.

news.discovery.com... It looks

It looks like these energy fields could result in a perpetual mess in thinking if done long term. These fields are created by cooling fans in computers and in anything with a motor. The fields around wiring has effects on the brain also. It's not unusual that not much testing would be done on these things because of the amount of these things used in society today. This testing is a threat to the form of Capitalism we have today.

You might want to have the title say: "DUE" to. I know the EMF got you.

ricky,
star/flag for the article. Very interesting. However, why, may I ask, did you put it in this forum? What is your link to the forum's subject matter? (I don't mean "source link", I mean in your head and thought process.)

Morality, to my knowledge, is a thing both learned and innate. A person's judgment isn't fully mature until the mid 20s, if t ever matures at all. It is very possible that electronics alter the brain's function, and that is certainly worth exploring.

But the article does not mention anything about it being "as opposed to" religion.

While the subjects read the story, the scientists applied a magnetic field using a method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. The magnetic fields created confusion in the neurons that make up the RTPJ, said Young, causing them to fire off electrical pulses chaotically.

The confusion in the brain made it harder for subjects to interpret the boyfriend's intent, said Young, and instead made the subjects focus solely on the situation's outcome. The effect was temporary and safe.

When no magnetic field was applied, the subjects focused more on the boyfriend's good intentions, rather than a bad outcome. When a magnetic field was applied to the RTPJ, the subjects consistently focused on a bad outcome, rather than the intention, and rated the story as more morally objectionable.

Sorry, I don't get the point you're trying to make by putting it in the Religion forum. I am very keen and try to keep up to date with neuroscience and brain study, so I appreciate the article all the same. But it doesn't mention anything about religion. It just says that by magnetism they can "alter" a person's sense of intent as regards to outcome.

Can you elaborate a bit, please?
Thanks
~wild

I would agree with that articles...technology has allowed us to see so much and experience so much more but not necessarily for the greater good...internet is fantastic but should a ten year old be able to see a beheading on the web...being constantly bombarded by images of sex at a young age, being able to download music at a whim but also being able to download pirated software at a whim is the consequence of having that ability...I think you could go on and on...anyone remember the Hunt for Red October...rated R...this movie today would be pg-13 giving the level of violence and language..times are a changing...

reply to post by wildtimes

I wasn't sure where to put this. Morality is a basis of most religions so I guess I stuck it there. I'm more of a researcher than a publicist I guess, sometimes I overthink things that are simple. I am pretty good at complex thinking though but this makes me awkward a little when dealing with regular people. I've spent many years trying to fit into society and have learned to mingle in. It's funny how you always desire what you can't have.

reply to post by MagnumOpus


Can I still do that? I messed up and am too reliant on error correction now so if it doesn't have a squiggly red line under it I assume it's right.

Update, I guess I can change things. All fixed. Thanks for the heads up.

reply to post by chrismarco

Some of what your speaking of is depersonalization that is being allowed to change our society. A kid playing a video kickboxing or war game starts to think that hitting and shooting others doesn't have consequences. I'm not saying all kids will be influenced but if five percent of kids are than these five percent can cause a lot of problems in society. A person who robs twenty homes and camps effects twenty peoples lives. I think these games with violent tendencies should be banned. Maybe the government allows it because they are looking for desensitized people to run their drones. Who knows.

I think government has long been aware of this and has used it in various settings for their purposes. Whether or not this is being done on a large scale is questionable though I have to wonder if all the cell phone towers that are everywhere could not be used in this way.
Technology affects our minds in far more ways than just simple magnetism can; all our electronic gadgets are crippling us in critical ways and alienating us from real people. They shorten our attention span, alter our language and thought patterns and much more.
I could rail on for pages but suffice to say I agree wholeheartedly with the premise of your OP, and that we need to watch out for the effects technology is having upon us.

reply to post by rickymouse

I am pretty good at complex thinking though but this makes me awkward a little when dealing with regular people. I've spent many years trying to fit into society and have learned to mingle in. It's funny how you always desire what you can't have.

Totally feel ya', sib!
Anyway, what is your mental link to the religious or faith or theology part of it?

reply to post by wildtimes


I don't know, religion always stresses morals even though they often don't practice what they preach.

Morality decline due to technology advances?

No…….

Religious decline due to science & higher cognitive brains that produce rational reasoning (in most of us anyway)

EG: We are growing up and not scared by the boogie man anymore.

Mickierocksman

They say it is a "morality" decline, but who's idea of morality are we talking about here? There are many different opinions from many different places and religions around the world.

My idea of "good" is "promoting well-being" and "evil" would be "not promoting well-being". So, not caring for yourself and others would be "bad", while caring for your self and others would be considered "good".

If we are going by this simple definition, I would agree that technology declines morality, since it is through understand that we can learn to care about each other more, and it is through technology that we can save people and extend the human life-span.


I'm also aware that it can cause pollution and weapons (for increased violence and wars), but I guess many things have positive and negative effects.

reply to post by rickymouse

The article talks about magnetic fields having an effect on the observers "perception" of viewed events. It doesn't mention the viewer being "corrupted" morally, only that their subjective assessment of what someone else's intention was or is, shifts a bit.

What worries me about it is that some sinister power-monger could devise a way to manipulate people's perception so that they (the power-monger) can do whatever they want and be seen as "moral" when in reality what they've done is not.

It's sort of like forced biofeedback or drug-induced "alteration of subjective experience," which same phenomenon can be organic (disease or chemical imbalance in the brain), due to brain injury, or brainwashing, or psychotic, abusive indoctrination and manipula--------
Oh, wait! Then we'd be talking about many types of religious dogma and preaching, wouldn't we?!! touche!
(And military brainwashing, and subliminal mind control, and domestic abuse, and corporate spin, and media lies, and politicians...and...)
never mind....carry on. Good call.

reply to post by wildtimes


The interesting thing about the article is that it made the subjects think the worst of the situation based on the outcome without considering all of the evidence. This kind of thing could be used to steer people to do irrational things and actually control the outcome of a situation. An electromagnetic field could be generated in an area and could be used to create chaos and deceit to get people to think a certain way. It could be timingly generated in court to get jurors to vote a certain way. The possibilities on it's corrupted use is great. Just because someone has proved the existence recently doesn't mean that certain groups of individuals have not understood this for a long time.

People don't understand the tactics employed by those in power. They don't realize that some people have been studying these things for a long time. Some stuff has been incorporated into our society for a long time. It's not a conspiracy it is a way of life. Not all of these tactics are bad, many are good for society. I'm not worried about their use but like to know of their existance. I'm sure a good quality tinfoil hat will protect us.