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- Politicals Dangers Could Grow With The Use Of Oxytocin
Politicals Dangers Could Grow With The Use Of Oxytocin
- By Aydan Corkern
- Published 07/10/2009
- Local Politics
- Unrated
Aydan Corkern
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Oxytocin, a newly isolated trust hormone, is said to promote prosocial approach behavior in human beings. In laymen terms, this means it makes people more willing to approach others.
In research tests, this liquid trust hormone made investors more willing to approach trustees and lay down larger sums of money. While it did not remove free will, those that recieved the hormone were more than twice as likely to not only place trust, but place large amounts of trust and money, into the hands of a complete stranger. Put that hormone in a spray bottle and you would have what amounts to liquid trust. What could you do with that?
While the researchers understand that their findings could be exploited, there is hope that this could be used to treat social phobias as well as autism. In these disorders, approach and trust mechanisms in the brain are flawed.
One journal editorial described his worries best:
"Some may worry about the prospect that political operators will generously spray the crowd with oxytocin at rallies of their candidates," writes Antonio Damasio, MD, a neurology professor and head of the University of Iowa's neurology department.
"The scenario may be rather too close to reality for comfort, but those with such fears should note that current marketing techniques -- for political and other products -- may well exert their effects through the natural release of molecules such as oxytocin in response to well-crafted stimuli. Civic alarm at the prospect of such abuses should have started long before this study, and the authors cannot be blamed for raising it."
"Whatever the beneficial biomedical applications, or the abuses, may turn out to be, Kosfeld et al. have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the role of neuromodulators in human behavior that involves choice," says Damasio.
Outside of possible political sabotage, this stands to be a wonderful took for businessmen and those just looking to advance within their own companies. Car salesmen are jumping all over this new research as a way to attract customers. Imagine that you want to advance in your company. You work hard and your work benifits the team, but the boss just does not notice you. You do not garner the respect or have the bond with others that your advancing coworkers do. This liquid trust hormone could be the answer by giving your body a little extra of a hormone that occurs naturally anyway.
In research tests, this liquid trust hormone made investors more willing to approach trustees and lay down larger sums of money. While it did not remove free will, those that recieved the hormone were more than twice as likely to not only place trust, but place large amounts of trust and money, into the hands of a complete stranger. Put that hormone in a spray bottle and you would have what amounts to liquid trust. What could you do with that?
While the researchers understand that their findings could be exploited, there is hope that this could be used to treat social phobias as well as autism. In these disorders, approach and trust mechanisms in the brain are flawed.
One journal editorial described his worries best:
"Some may worry about the prospect that political operators will generously spray the crowd with oxytocin at rallies of their candidates," writes Antonio Damasio, MD, a neurology professor and head of the University of Iowa's neurology department.
"The scenario may be rather too close to reality for comfort, but those with such fears should note that current marketing techniques -- for political and other products -- may well exert their effects through the natural release of molecules such as oxytocin in response to well-crafted stimuli. Civic alarm at the prospect of such abuses should have started long before this study, and the authors cannot be blamed for raising it."
"Whatever the beneficial biomedical applications, or the abuses, may turn out to be, Kosfeld et al. have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the role of neuromodulators in human behavior that involves choice," says Damasio.
Outside of possible political sabotage, this stands to be a wonderful took for businessmen and those just looking to advance within their own companies. Car salesmen are jumping all over this new research as a way to attract customers. Imagine that you want to advance in your company. You work hard and your work benifits the team, but the boss just does not notice you. You do not garner the respect or have the bond with others that your advancing coworkers do. This liquid trust hormone could be the answer by giving your body a little extra of a hormone that occurs naturally anyway.
