I think the neuroscience will hold up. The question is, what is the legal system going to do with it. If they decide that any kind of brain function that determines behavior means the person should be relieved of responsibility for his actions, then it could be disastrous. I think most scientists believe that most of our behavior is deterministic. That doesn’t mean we should leave predators at large.

Are you related to the former attorney general Bork?

I am also very interested in the new research from neuroscience that is coming into the media and now into our judicial system. Like so much that jumps the hurdle from the lab and the scientific journals into the public domain, I wonder how much of the “science” has become junk. I missed the NPR shows but I will see if they are archived on their site. I am thinking of attending a conference for legal professionals in March on the impact of the research.

So thank you for your posts. I plan to return to see how you designed it. Promise I won’t duplicate — but I like how you managed to integrate so many interests.

(As a side note, I think Person may have had a very interesting insight into psychopathology that I am trying to follow further. She notes that the “psychopathic maneuver” that is theorized to stabilize the psychopath’s imbalanced psyche must take place in reality (feedback from a real partner) rather than in fantasy.)