----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Pensinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Why can't you prove that? I think that it is rather self evident, but certainly you could set up an experiment to prove the above.Faith has nothing to do with it, IMO. Cooperative behavior is successful, that's why we are who we are. Saving lives is a manifestation of cooperative behavior.
Right, and raping and pillaging is an example of exploitive behavior. They are both part of human nature. Saving lives is good, raping and pillaging is bad.
Now, I can't prove that; its a matter of faith for me.
What do lies and myths have to do with it?
Because the reason people cooperate is, typically, because they share principals. For example, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The reason people cooperate is because they are more successful when they do. I'm sure that you wouldn't argue that cooperative behavior in any of a number of daily endeavors, from making breakfast to a project at your place of employment, is more successful than uncooperative behavior. Morals are just an extension of this basic principal.
People have sacrificed their lives for these principals. It was not a matter of enlightened self interest. They believed them to be true.
Now, obviously, they cannot be proven empirically. The question is, do you believe they are true, or not?
I think that the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming but why couldn't they be proven? You can't conceive of a series of experiments, given adequate time, that would pit a moral societies against immoral ones? Impractical but not impossible.
Doug
_______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
