Does the brain control our 'moral compass'?

Scientists have discovered a real-life 'moral compass' in the brain that controls how we judge other people's behaviour, claims an article in The Daily Mail online (UK). The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanours or good works.

In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral. The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.

While the science may be accurate, this article demonstrates how scientists and journalists alike can extrapolate to a wrong conclusion. A 'moral compass' - we used to call it conscience and spirit - has to reside somewhere. To attack that location magnetically, or by any other means, does not mean that the location controls the behaviour. It means that the container has been distorted, or rendered dysfunctional, thereby distorting the 'compass'. It's a bit like saying that if a can of food has been dented, ipso facto the can must be controlling the contents. Under normal circumstances, the can serves to protects the food and allows it to utlimately do what it was designed to do.