It is still premature to conclude oxytocin as a molecular resulting in the mammalian moral behavior. Morality, yet an abstract psychosocial factor, cannot be strictly defined by any scientific definition, as there is no empirical measure to quantify it. This is almost impossible to set numerical values or any nominal scales on its degree; nor it can be defined as a binomial parameter, i.e., yes or no event; nor there is a threshold level which can be used as a cut off for its occurrence. From all what Paul was trying to point out, oxytocin can likely be an effector derived from a moral behavior dynamics. No mention of prior psychosocial and emotional measures which contribute to the general behavior traits of the subjects undertaking the oxytocin trials, making the conclusion of oxytocin as a moral agent rather weak.
I agree with you. Paul's training is basically in economics, earning his PhD in economics, and is currently a professor in economics at UCSD. This public talk of his stems from a scientific report in Hormones and Behavior published recently. I have read the methodology of his report and found that he really had missed out on the background info of psychosocial and emotive factors that I think are quite critical to arrive in some definitive conclusion.
Physiologically, hypothalamic emission of oxytocin surges during uterine contraction during labor, and during breastfeeding, as oxytocin is needed for milk granules secreted from the alveolar glandular cells, and contraction of mammary smooth muscle. If oxytocin can induce charitable behavior, it would be expected that nursing mothers would be one of the most charitable, if not the most charitable, group in any population. But postpartum depression and stress disorders are obviously more apparent in them.
哦，我讀的是他的另一篇論文，就是Empathy triggers oxytocin then oxytocin boosts up generosity，是因為他lecture裡面說到了empathy的作用，我就去看了摘要而已。我感覺是因果關係不明確，他的假說（他說證明了）是empathy->oxytocin->generosity，但是首先什麼導致empathy？難道不是比較generous的人才會容易有empathy？雞和蛋蛋和雞有點轉圈兒了。當然，沒有多花時間去琢磨，你講的他的背景就比較有意思了。
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