Would it be moral to have the pleasure centers of the brain artificially stimulated?

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Rats will forgo everything to receive a stimulation of their pleasure centers… they will work to receive this stimulation until they drop dead!

Humans have these pleasure centers too, and the stimulation of these pleasures centers will also result in great pleasure.

My question is whether artificially stimulating our pleasure centers would be moral (whose brain is it anyway?)? Imagine the potential for abuse! (But maybe that pleasure will be what we are to be experiencing in the World-to-Come?)

I find this to be thought provoking, and I suspect that the government would quickly outlaw any device that may be developed for this purpose. I also have to wonder to what degree these pleasure centers may be hypo-sensitive in depressed people.
 
Robert_Sock said:
Rats will forgo everything to receive a stimulation of their pleasure centers… they will work to receive this stimulation until they drop dead!

Humans have these pleasure centers too, and the stimulation of these pleasures centers will also result in great pleasure.

My question is whether artificially stimulating our pleasure centers would be moral (whose brain is it anyway?)? Imagine the potential for abuse! (But maybe that pleasure will be what we are to be experiencing in the World-to-Come?)

I find this to be thought provoking, and I suspect that the government would quickly outlaw any device that may be developed for this purpose. I also have to wonder to what degree these pleasure centers may be hypo-sensitive in depressed people.
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I recall that in science fiction author Larry Niven’s novel “Ringworld” the lead character is addicted to this very kind of electronic stimulation to the brain. It sounds too seedy to be considered ethical.
 
Robert_Sock said:
Rats will forgo everything to receive a stimulation of their pleasure centers… they will work to receive this stimulation until they drop dead!

Humans have these pleasure centers too, and the stimulation of these pleasures centers will also result in great pleasure.

My question is whether artificially stimulating our pleasure centers would be moral (whose brain is it anyway?)? Imagine the potential for abuse! (But maybe that pleasure will be what we are to be experiencing in the World-to-Come?)

I find this to be thought provoking, and I suspect that the government would quickly outlaw any device that may be developed for this purpose. I also have to wonder to what degree these pleasure centers may be hypo-sensitive in depressed people.
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That would be very addictive I guess so I wouldn’t touch it unless I can control my need.
 
Well, people with ADHD who take adderall and similar medications do that. The use of the ward pleasure center is not very scientific. It is usually referred to as reward pathways of the brain and certain distinctions can be made therein.

We should not look to drugs or anything artificial as an end in itself to stimulate pleasure centers. The presence of disease or illness makes use of these legitimate to the degree that they restore normal function and health. God gave us “pleasure” as we refer to it in layman’s terms to be an encouragement to fulfillment of certain life giving actions that humans need to undertake, ie. procreation and eating. These must be done within the boundaries of human reason and within the law Gods has established that we follow, which are in in our best interest.
 
Drugs, porn, gambling and other addictive substances or behaviors already artificially stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain way beyond their intended levels. Studies have shown that such repeated and strong stimulation wreaks incalculable damage to the addict’s brain, some of it irreparable. MRI scans have shown no calculable difference between a cocaine addict’s brain and a porn addict’s brain --both have serious damage to the prefrontal cortex.

I can’t think that “removing the middle-man” of drugs, porn, etc. and just risking the brain damage direct would make it any less immoral.
 
Pat_Payne said:
Drugs, porn, gambling and other addictive substances or behaviors already artificially stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain way beyond their intended levels. Studies have shown that such repeated and strong stimulation wreaks incalculable damage to the addict’s brain, some of it irreparable. MRI scans have shown no calculable difference between a cocaine addict’s brain and a porn addict’s brain --both have serious damage to the prefrontal cortex.

I can’t think that “removing the middle-man” of drugs, porn, etc. and just risking the brain damage direct would make it any less immoral.
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What you say interesting.
 
Robert_Sock said:
My question is whether artificially stimulating our pleasure centers would be moral (whose brain is it anyway?)?
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No, not for the purpose of receiving pleasure alone anyhow. The fact that this seems to have no rational end makes it wrong intrinsically, and the fact that it will potentially weaken the person’s will over time makes it wrong prudentially.

The Church seems traditionally against anything that is done for the sole purpose of temporal pleasure, without at least some implicit alternative purpose.
 
I would hope someone would provide some scientific evidence regarding this. That said, it may be possible to assist people in depressed states by stimulating certain parts of the brain. Since I don’t want to provide false hope, or link to any medical devices, or experiments, I’ll just leave it at that.

Artificial stimulation without medical/psychological benefit or need would be immoral. And more so if the “treatment” resulted in permanent damage.

Ed
 
Dranu said:
No, not for the purpose of receiving pleasure alone anyhow. The fact that this seems to have no rational end makes it wrong intrinsically, and the fact that it will potentially weaken the person’s will over time makes it wrong prudentially.

The Church seems traditionally against anything that is done for the sole purpose of temporal pleasure, without at least some implicit alternative purpose.
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Yes, no matter its pleasure, it’s bound to be a lower-ordered compared to the supernatural pleasures emanating from the Holy Spirit. To be honest, I would like to experience it just to know what it’s like.
 
Robert_Sock said:
Yes, no matter its pleasure, it’s bound to be a lower-ordered compared to the supernatural pleasures emanating from the Holy Spirit. To be honest, I would like to experience it just to know what it’s like.
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Not me, as it would involve drilling into the skull to fix electrodes permanently into the head (as done with the rodents, and fictionally to Niven’s protagonist).

Having holes drilled into one’s head is IMNAAHO, too high a risk to take for pleasure seeking.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
Not me, as it would involve drilling into the skull to fix electrodes permanently into the head (as done with the rodents, and fictionally to Niven’s protagonist).

Having holes drilled into one’s head is IMNAAHO, too high a risk to take for pleasure seeking.

ICXC NIKA
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I’m sure that somebody could come-up with a non-invasive method, such as maybe a drug that has no serious side-effects except to stimulate the pleasure centers.
 
Transcranial Magnetic Stimululation (TMS) is used in the treatment of depression and primarily for treatment resistant depression.

It does not directly stimulate the reward centers of the brain but promotes certain regions of the cortex to function more normally. This is not direct stimulation of the pleasure centers however, though it often is able to lift depression which indirectly often involves an impaired ability to experience pleasure from normal activities.
 
Robert_Sock said:
Rats will forgo everything to receive a stimulation of their pleasure centers… they will work to receive this stimulation until they drop dead!

Humans have these pleasure centers too, and the stimulation of these pleasures centers will also result in great pleasure.

My question is whether artificially stimulating our pleasure centers would be moral (whose brain is it anyway?)? Imagine the potential for abuse! (But maybe that pleasure will be what we are to be experiencing in the World-to-Come?)

I find this to be thought provoking, and I suspect that the government would quickly outlaw any device that may be developed for this purpose. I also have to wonder to what degree these pleasure centers may be hypo-sensitive in depressed people.
Click to expand...
I think it would be wrong from a Christian perspective because it would ruin our chances of illumination through encountering God. Any bliss it caused would only be a mirage. Speaking from experience, I believe strange waters and drugs ultimately lead nowhere. But you’re right, at some point it’s going to happen. In the future, electro-cranial stimulation will be yet another trap and pitfall on the path.
 
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