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A brain surgeon begins an anterior cingulotomy by drilling a small hole into a patient's skull. The surgeon then inserts a tiny blade, cutting a path through brain tissue, then inserts a probe past sensitive nerves and bundles of blood vessels until it reaches a specific cluster of neural connections, a kind of switchboard linking emotional triggers to cognitive tasks. With the probe in place, the surgeon fires up a laser, burning away tissue until the beam has hollowed out about half a teaspoon of grey matter.
This is the shape of modern psychosurgery: Ablating parts of the brain to treat mental illnesses. Which might remind you of that maligned procedure, the lobotomy. But psychosurgeries are different. And not just because the ethics are better today; because the procedures actually work. Removing parts of a person's brain is always a dicey proposition. But for people who are mentally ill, when pills and psychiatry offer no solace, the laser-tipped probe can be a welcome relief.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Friday June 26 2015, @11:27PM
already committed multiple violent acts against others for no discernible reason and is facing an adult life as a prisoner, which choice are the parents and/or child more likely to go for? Inevitable imprisonment, or behavior modification through brain surgery? Some will of course choose the latter. And then we'll see what we'll see. And argue endlessly about whether it was "right" or not.
i think a better route would be to prevent them from existing in the first place. at the risk of supporting eugenics, i think that we should test people for genetic risk factors of psychopathy and ensure their possible future offspring do not have these traits. yes, various genetic markers have been identified that need to be eliminated. [wikipedia.org] unfortunately, if we dont understand our own genetic code we risk making a mistake beyond anything humanity has done so far.
so the real question is should humanity take a bold leap into an uncertain future or continue to allow natural selection in society which results in seemingly endless tragedy?