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Using those brains, humans have done something unique. As far as we know, we’re the only system on the planet so complex that we’ve thrown ourselves headlong into the game of deciphering our own programming language. Imagine that your desktop computer began to control its own peripheral devices, removed its own cover and pointed its webcam at its own circuitry.

That’s us.

What we’ve discovered by peering into the skull ranks among the most significant intellectual developments of our species: the recognition that the innumerable facets of our behaviour, thoughts and experience are inseparably yoked to a vast chemical-electrical network called the nervous system. The machinery is utterly alien to us, and yet, somehow, it is us.

The first lesson we learn from studying our own circuitry is shocking: most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control. The vast jungles of neurons operate their own programs. The conscious you – the I that flickers to life when you wake up in the morning – is the smallest bit of what’s transpiring in your brain. Although we are dependent on the functioning of the brain for our inner lives, it runs its own show. Your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot.

Much more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8428793/The-human-brain-turning-our-minds-to-the-law.html

Interesting. I've read a few books on the subject of behavioral economics and neural marketing, and they point to less than fully rational decision making in several areas. However, I think when it comes to overtly criminal behavior, I think most people are able to discern the reasons why it is not a good idea to commit fraud, theft, rape, murder, etc. The current justice system is generally effective for most people.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Only works in the absence of religion. He's also asking you to believe that minds don't exist, that the way we've come to think about our selves in a dualistic fashion, is false. He offers no explanation however, just a plainly stated "fact is" admonishing of our long held beliefs.

Back in the old days of AI we had a grand dream. Every neuron in the brain had a one to one correspondence with some kind of transistor. Each subsequent attempt at a model was some variation thereoff. We eventually settled on a software model, but we didn't understand that the sum was more than its parts. Under the assumption that one word could contain a ton of information, we pushed aside the how and believed that we could magically create intelligence out of a big huge LISP interpreter. We had no idea how wrong we were.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I think you've got it, Kuan. Perhaps we're on the threshold of knowing how wrong we are. That's a serious step.