Page - 124 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

124 • Cyborg Mind As a result, it is possible to argue that any individual who commits a seri- ous crime is affected by an abnormal and even dysfunctional brain, even if this has not yet been scientifically demonstrated. For example, genetic pre- dispositions or other biological variables may have affected the construction of the networks associated with moral behaviour or may have led to weak control mechanisms for the inhibition of certain actions. In addition, these neuronal dysfunctions may have been caused by environmental conditions, such as an insufficient moral education or deficiencies resulting from a lack of training during brain development. It is also suggested that a brain’s normal dynamics could have been affected by metabolic disturbances.104 This all means that when a person decides to commit a crime, this may just have been the result of the activation state of the brain immediately before the decision was made. Interestingly, Determinism is a position supported by many scientists, including neuroscientists Francis Crick (1916–2004), the British Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, who famously stated: The Astonishing Hypothesis is that ‘You’, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associ- ated molecules. As Lewis Carroll’s Alice might have phrased it: ‘You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.’105 It has even been claimed that the very belief in free will is responsible for much of the world’s misery and is quite immoral.106Interestingly, however, researchers have demonstrated that when people do not believe in free will, they are more inclined to act in antisocial manners. They even found that their disbelief was associated with lenient attitudes towards cheating among tested students. As a result, the study suggested that the public should be encouraged to believe in free will, since, whether or not it actually exists, people seem to act more morally if they believe in it.107 Compatibilism Another position in the free will debate is that of Compatibilism, whereby free will is compatible with Determinism. This position was supported by medieval scholars, such as the Italian St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–74), and by more modern individuals who investigated free will, such as the British philosophers David Hume (1711–76) and Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). However, there is much discussion about the manner in which free will can be compatible with Determinism, and a number of theories exist that will not be examined in this study. This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.