The medial prefrontal cortex is involved in thinking about other people – at least, most other people. As he puts it, by shutting down the systems that see the homeless person as a fellow human, one doesn’t have to experience the unpleasant pressures of feeling bad about not giving money. In other words, the homeless have become dehumanized: the brain is viewing them more like objects and less like people. Not surprisingly, one is less likely to treat them with consideration. As Harris explains: “if you don’t properly diagnose people as human beings, then the moral rules that are reserved for
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