The Fattest Man ... Ethics vs. Morals

I was reading this story today on ABCnews.com and there was something about it that fascinated me: the anecdotes from men who swear there's no messages coming from their brains to stop eating. As you may or may not know, I've been overweight nearly my entire life and the number one reason is over-eating. I don't know what it is, but if you gave me a bowl of chips, or full package of chocolate chip cookies, I would eat the whole bag, if it weren't for a different part of my brain telling me to stop. When I say a "different" part of my brain, I mean other than the one that says "you're full" or "you've eaten enough." I stop eating when I start thinking of all the weight I'll gain. This message is not coming from the same area of the brain. And forget it if I'm feeling depressed because that takes over the latter message because I'm not feeling worthy of being attractive.

I think there's a lot more to eating control than we've learned yet, and I hope the research these people are conducting will lead to more answers.

... On another note, last night was the first Ethics class of the semester and if there's one thing I want to make sure I avoid, it's confusing ethics with morals, since the Prof (who I happen to adore for her Midwest/Northwest gender-neutral hippie attitude) is adamant that no one ever discuss the topic without understanding the difference. So here's a tip: Morals are the rules we accept for determining right from wrong. Ethics is the study of how we come to accept those rules as our morals.

Tonight is the first Philosophy of Mind class, so I'll have an update on that tomorrow.