Quotes: Mentalist

Dr. Stutzer:  Your soul is electricity. The essence of your being is a series of rapid electrical impulses. Morality is a binary switch system…

– Mentalist, 1st Season, Episode 10: Red Brick and Ivy

  

Dr. Stutzer:  I will tell you what we are doing here. We’re curing evil. We’re banishing the devil. We have identified as section of the brain that governs moral decision-making. (Pointing to a plastic model of a brain, Dr. Stutzer explains.) This small fold of tissue of the singular gyrus, here in the medial part of the brain, is the source of good and evil. We’ve learned how it works and how to readjust it when it does not work properly. We’ve created what we call a…”morality engine”.

Patrick Jane:   A morality engine?

Dr. Stutzer:  You…are sceptical. Nevertheless, it’s true. We are plumbing the depths of the human soul. Do you know what’s down there? Do you know what the soul is made of?  I think you know. Your soul is electricity. The essence of your being is a series of rapid electrical impulses. Morality is a binary switch system in the brain and we are learning how to control that switch system.

Patrick:  Why lie about it?

Sophie the Psychiatrist:  Pride. Delusion. Greed. You have to understand Lewis Stutzer is a genius. This project is the culmination of his life’s work. I so desperately wanted it to work. We all did. We began to believe the lies we were telling.

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Academic dishonesty is rampant.  Many “experts” support theories even a child knows to be wrong for the sake of ego, funding, and prestige.

After reading my proposal on the theory of human categorization, my adviser said, “I don’t think humans think.  They just respond to external stimuli.”  “But, isn’t it S-I-R?”  (Stimulus – Interpretation/processing – Response).  Don’t we process information in our head, extract meanings, come to a certain conclusion and then respond?  Professor: “No, it’s just S-R.  Well, maybe… there could be the I dimension but, including it will make the formula too messy.  It won’t be science anymore but we would be entering the realm of philosophy.  So take it out.”  Sad.

But, Mentalist is fun!  Wish Tim Kang’s part is bigger.  Simon Baker is cute…  to the point of distraction.