David Eagleman's Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain

One of the bigger controversies today is the debate over nature versus nurture. With that debate going on there are many topics that are being researched under it, like serial killers, and what drives them to do what they do. Many scientists are still researching whether or not if serial killers are driven by the way they were raised or if it is a part of their genes.

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

The world we live in, we like to depend on scientific findings to reason our claims. This reaction paper will analyze the findings by Mathew Jones and will critique specific sections on "Genetic Research Summarized" and "The Resulting Concern". Now if we solely depend on genetics to defend or accuse individuals of being a criminal it will not be an efficient strategy in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, although American Criminal Justice upholds the notion of free will, it has been discriminatory towards a marginalized population of the United States itself. So being dependent on such findings there will be a higher probability of wrong people being trialed because then the idea of free will and genetically findings will be in conflict.

Although they have not made any recent discoveries in terms of genetics, neuroscience, on the other hand, seems to strike up some controversy. A recent study shows that there are specific areas of the brain in which there is less activity in criminals than there is in non-criminals, these areas are associated with fear and arousal (Boyd). So basically the biological theory states that there is a different genetic makeup that makes a criminal, a criminal, it is just yet to be found. The next theory that will be introduced is the sociological

Neuroscientist David Eagleman in his nonfiction prose Incognito: The Secret Life of the Brain establishes the argument that conscious cognitive thinking is only a sliver of what our entire mind is able to process and engineer. Eagleman narrates his entire novel, establishing ethos to his explanations, and further proving his observations through experiments and examples. One of the themes that stay current throughout the book is perspective. Because this is an argument, Eagleman talks in the perspective of the common man – the way most readers would understand his literature – because he wants the reader to be convinced in his favor. Although he is a neuroscientist rich in knowledge about the brain, Eagleman gives the reader a more straight-forward

The biological theories are essential to the criminal justice profession so that they won't assume that a person's genetic characteristics cause a person to commit a crime. However, there are born criminals and “these types of criminals are the most dangerous, and can be identified through his or her stigmata or identifying characteristics” (Akers, Sellers, See, & Kieser, 2013, p. 10). Biological theories are the bases for severe criminal behavior mostly found among people who are born with an innate impulse to commit a

First, psychological theory suggests that a person’s environment and past can influence their ability and desire to commit crime while biological theory suggest a person’s DNA makeup could influence their ability to commit crime. “Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of

A “criminal” is defined as “a person relating, involved, or who is being a part of a crime”, (Merriam- Webster, 2015). “A documentary by British journalist Michael Mosley which can be viewed on BBC explores whether violent crimes of murderers are a result of their physical makeup or upbringing” (Dana Dovey, 2015). This Documentary shows how genes in fact play a key role in the criminal mind and how if the subject is placed in different social and/or different environmental circumstances the subject them to different ranges of criminal behavior (Dana Dovey, 2015). A German neurologist Dr. Gergod Roth claims, “that most criminals have a ‘genetic predisposition’ to violence” (Sarah Griffiths, 2014). “When you look at the brain scans of hardened criminals, there are almost always severe shortcomings in the lower forehead part of the brain. There is a case

When looking at criminal activity and the direct connection to the criminal behavior we see that there have been many research trials that have taken place over the history of humankind (Mishra & Lalumiere, 2008). Two of these research areas that have been developed to attempt to understand the causes of criminal behavior are known as biological and psychological perspectives of crime causation. These two sectors have their principles that are held in their theories as a standard scientific understanding of the basics that each evaluation of criminal behavior is built on (Dretske, 2004).

Part I: The book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain is written by David Eagleman who is a neuroscientist. He begins this entire book by raising the question as to whether or not criminal case should rely on certain evidence of the brain. He basically believes that it is possible to view images of the brain and be able to determine if that person will commit a certain crime again or not. He explains why he thinks that this is how courts should sentence criminals based on brain evidence. The book discusses this in detail about what different neurological factors could determine this and how it would be relevant.

Society seems to have a need to identify what the motives are of those who follow a deviant and dangerous path, the criminals in our communities. Although recognizing a motive is critical to bring crime rates down and to help prevent the vulnerable from committing felonies, we also search for answers as to a criminal’s rationale in an effort to humanize them and to justify their actions. There’s a strange kind of fascination around the very idea of criminals and their motives. Human behavior is extremely complicated but, we are predisposed to behave in a specific manner, to a certain extent, our fate has already been sealed. A criminal’s motives are largely attributed to their genetics as criminals cannot simply be manufactured through life

All the biological theories are based on the notion that biological markers foreordain criminal behavior. The core of all these theories is that genetic factors or any abnormalities which are inherited or acquired throughout the life, predispose individuals to the criminal behavior. Lombroso’s theory gave life to probably almost every single biological theory that appeared afterward.

Criminals are born not made is the discussion of this essay, it will explore the theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior. Psychologists have come up with various theories and reasons as to why individuals commit crimes. These theories represent part of the classic psychological debate, nature versus nurture. Are individuals predisposed to becoming a criminal or are they made through their environment. There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behavior, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory,.

Figuring out why people commit crimes is one of the central concerns of criminology. Do most criminals act rationally after weighing the costs of crime? Is society ever to blame for an individual to commit a crime? Do mental diseases or even genetics factor into whether a person will live a life of crime. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to answer these questions. In fact, the number of theories of why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. I explore these questions and much more in the paper that follow.

Biological theories on deviance are the result of looking for answers that are specific to certain individuals, namely, criminals and non-criminals. Theorists in this respect look for pathological factors, idealizing the concept that criminals cannot help but be criminals due to genetic predispositions (Livesey 4). Three major theories have emerged from the biological perspective: Lombroso’s Theory, Sheldon’s Theory of Body Types, and the Y Chromosome Theory. First, Lombroso’s Theory stems from the mid 1800s, a time when individuals traditionally believed, “crime was a characteristic of human nature (Crossman 2014).” This theory, produced by Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso, concludes that criminals are physically different from non-criminals. Some examples of these differences are large ears, a twisted nose, long arms, and asymmetry of the face and head. Lombroso also believed that “tattoos were markings of born criminals because the stood as evidence of both immortality and