What separates people who steal from the public purse and those who give back millions to help others? That moment of choice ... which makes some a sinner and others a saint … consumed Benjamin Libet’s research until his July 23 death at the age of 91. 
Libet’s well respected research points to a smaller window on choices than once observed, according to latimes.com. After 20 years of studying the brain, Libet concluded that instead of a free will, the mind has a free won’t.
Through a series of experiments Libet and his research team observed electrodes imbedded deep in the brains of epilepsy patients - and measured neural circuits stimulated.
He compared how long a signal is required to elicit a response and how long that response took. Electrical stimulus – it turned out - are maintained for at least half a second before people became aware of it. Is that enough time to make choices you can live with?
In the studies Libet observed people press a button or do other activities and measured how long it took them to become aware of the decision to do it.
Surprisingly, it took 300 milliseconds before the patient reported that he or she was aware of the conscious decision to move the finger and 200 milliseconds more before the action actually began.
That full half a second gap before awareness, he found, is sufficient to stop an action. Nevertheless his startling discoveries draw into question … the nature of free will, for individual responsibility and guilt. Do you agree?
Researchers and thinkers still debate the impact Libel’s conclusions, and most agree it raises problems about innocence or guilt. Currently, no one has yet come up with other alternatives however ... to change how we define and hold people accountable for free will.
Concerning his 2004 book Mind Time: The Temporal Factor in Consciousness, neurobiologist Dr. Robert W. Doty of the University of Rochester said Libet’s approach… is almost the only approach yet to yield any credible evidence of how conscious awareness is produced by the brain.
Do Libet’s observations about free will, alter your views about decisions that move some people to give back and others to steal?
This is truly an amazing concept that you bring to light, Ellen. Do you sense that the "free will" comes with the choice to say I won't in your mind rather than allowing yourself to be vacuumed in to temptations? If you're vacuumed in by a thrill, the sensation soon subsides and you want more and greater thrills next time around. It becomes harder to say "I won't" the more dendrites you build in your brain for enjoying the thrill part.
Lots to sort out here!
Posted by: Robyn McMaster | August 27, 2007 7:24 AM | Permalink to Comment