AT a recent IKIM workshop on the promulgation of Islamic standards of management, something akin to the ISO 9000, the issue of evaluating moral values also came to the forefront.
It was argued that the major problem of institutionalising religious-inspired standards in organisations is in ensuring that both employees and employers abide by these standards.
The tendency to do this very much depends on the value system of an individual. Often, however, it is difficult to determine this as value is something that is relative, intangible and, therefore at best, qualitative.
Similarly, at the recent Year 2000 Convention of the Management Integrity Committee of the Malaysian Public Service in Penang, the issue of the effectiveness of the 20 year-old policy of inculcating noble values in the public sector was hotly debated.
It was highlighted that one of the problems in determining the effectiveness of these programmes was the lack of moral performance indicators.
Thus 20 years on, no one would dare to vouch with certainty if the morality of public servants was improving. From the impromptu comments and general observations of some of the convention participants, it would seem that it was on the decline.
Across the Pacific and the North American continent in Florida, the Gore and Bush campaigners are still battling.
According to news reports, while one side was demanding for “uniformity and clarity” in the recounting procedure, the other was stipulating that a “full, fair and accurate standard” be established for the recount. Whatever do these euphemisms mean?
In any case, as with values, they are all intangibles. Thus, how do we even begin to quantify them?
It should not be perpetually accepted that what is intangible is automatically immeasurable. For example, to quantify good and bad behaviour a system of values audit needs to be introduced.
Values auditing is not a new idea. Years ago, the science of values or axiology was developed. It is claimed that axiology makes possible the objective measurement of value as accurately as a thermometer measures temperature.
It relies on statistical and mathematical systems to assess the values of our everyday experience.
In psychological studies, various methods of quantifying morality have been described. The use of a scoring system like the Likert scale can give an indication of the extent of the feelings of respondents toward certain statements put forth.
Physiology has also contributed strongly to methods of assessing values. The lie detector kits or physiograph has been in use for several decades. The machine relies on measuring the changes in the heart rate and blood pressure normally associated with guilt feeling.
However, it has been shown that not only have men learnt to lie through their teeth, they can also “cheat” the lie detector. Hence, the efficacy of such a machine does appear suspect in some diagnoses.
Blood circulation to the brain is much less prone to conscious control. Hence, neuroscientists who represent a relatively young field of science, have also chipped in their expertise to help measure hitherto intangible aspects of the human mind.
The motivation of these researchers is two-fold, to understand ourselves better, from how we learn to why we love or hate one another, and to discover ways to prevent or cure many devastating brain disorders.
For instance, using a technique referred to as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that scans the brain over time instead of taking a still picture of it, it has been possible to show the specific parts of the brain most likely involved in triggering romance.
When the subjects were shown photographs of their lovers, different areas of the brain image appeared to light up, indicating higher blood flow, than when they were shown photographs of long-time friends who were the same sex as the lovers.
Thus, in the near future the saying “love is blind” may not hold water anymore. Whosoever is in love shall be able to find out exactly why this is so in a scientific way.
This is actually the latest finding on the visualisation of the working of the brain. Previously considered a mysterious organ, more and more information has been obtained from brain studies using various newly designed and greatly refined diagnostic probes.
And these tools have not only become the windows to the brain but to the mind as well.
MRI provides a high quality three-dimensional image of organs and structures inside the body without X-rays or other radiation. MRI is unsurpassed in anatomical detail and may reveal minute changes that occur with time.
MRI is expected to tell scientists when structural abnormalities first appear in the course of a disease, how they affect subsequent development and precisely how their progression co-relates with mental and emotional aspects of a disorder.
MRI is a modified version that holds great promise to provide insights into how the brain works.
By measuring the chemical and energy changes that occur in the brain, MRI has already provided new information on mood shaping.
In conjunction with the MRI, there is another tool known as positron emission tomography (PET).
This method of measuring brain function is based on the detection of positively charged particles emitted by radioactively labelled substances introduced into the body.
PET scanning produces a three-dimensional image that reflects metabolic and chemical activity in the brain. In this technique, experimenters inject into the bloodstream trace amounts of natural body compounds or specific drugs labelled with a radioactive isotope.
These labelled compounds are taken up in brain tissue in greater concentrations by areas that are more metabolically active. In tissue, these substances, emit positively charged particles called positrons. In turn, positrons emit photons that are detected by the scanning machine.
One PET technique measures the metabolism of glucose, the brain’s fuel, and converts information by computer to a three-dimensional, colour-coded picture of brain activity.
The brightest colour indicates the brain areas most active while subjects are performing specific tasks. So far, PET studies have helped scientists understand more about how drugs affect the brain and what happens during learning, language and certain brain disorders.
All these new developments entail a new concept of measuring what used to be intangibles. If feelings could be measured what about values? Can good and evil thoughts be evaluated? Can altruism and egotism be quantified?
The Quran does spell out such a possibility. God says, “He has created everything and has meted out for it a measure” (Quran 25:2).
Thus, the inspiration is clear. And looking at the tremendous progress of brain imaging techniques in deciphering hitherto intangible aspects of the human thought process, it appears that man is certainly rising up to the divine challenge.