Ethics

Satel on Overusing Neuroscience

By Adam Kolber

Sally Satel has an article at Forbes, see here, on the overuse of neuroscience to explain human behavior.  Here's the introduction:

How did so many smart people fall for Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme? According to the latest pop science, their brain chemistry made them do it. Interviewed about the Madoff mess on National Public Radio in December, Camelia Kuhnen, an assistant professor at the [Kellogg School of Management] and an expert in the new field of neurofinance, declared: "Potential reward will increase activation in the brain's reward center, which will make you take more financial risk."

What an odd explanation. I don't deny that the chemical dopamine surges in the brain when we anticipate pleasure. I'm saying that observations such as professor Kuhnen's tell us no more about behavior than we already know. Namely, that the promise of money makes investors take risks. 

Full post as published by Neuroethics and Law on January 20, 2009 (boomark / email).