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How Do We Cooperate?
Video

How Do We Cooperate?

World.Minds, 2011

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Scientific

Recommendation

In this cerebral conversation, author and philosopher Rolf Dobelli interviews Ernst Fehr, a pioneer in the discipline of neuroeconomics. While their chat is unwieldy and disjointed, it reveals some captivating insights into this new branch of economics. getAbstract recommends this 23-minute video to anyone interested in fresh research about the brain, economics or human nature.

Summary

Ernst Fehr, a neuroeconomist, studies the brain and human behavior. Specifically, he conducts experiments to examine how changing levels of neural activity in the brain affect “norm compliance.” Fehr employs “transcranial direct current stimulation”; that is, using a cathode and an anode, he applies a current – so gentle that subjects don’t feel it – to the “right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.” If he places the cathode on the area, he can “down-regulate” neural activity; if he places the anode on that spot, he can “up-regulate” neural activity. This manipulation alters subjects’ tendency to comply with social norms.

In ...

About the Speaker

Ernst Fehr is professor of economics at the University of Zurich.