How about consistently protecting a handicapped member of the group throughout that person's life? Even to the point of having a full time caretaker almost. I don't know of any social animals that do that.
There's evidence that this goes way back, at least the Neolithic era. Recently there was a report of finding a neolithic skeleton in Vietnam who was paralyzed because of a congenital condition. To quote from the article, -- "He needed intensive nursing, not only for basic needs, such as eating, drinking (and) hygiene, but also for preventing or treating the common complications associated with his condition. We are talking of bed sores, urinary tract and gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems, thrombosis and pain," said Tilley, whose research focuses on care-giving in prehistory. "The consistency and quality of care he received are what kept him alive, and analyzing this care allows us to draw out features of contemporary social practice," she added. -- http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/06/paralyzed-human.html On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Zaphod Beeblebrox <[email protected]> wrote: > > What would be an example of human morality that's not also found in > nature? > > On Oct 21, 2009, at 9:42 PM, Mary Jo Sminkey wrote: > >> >>> I think you're discounting nature's morality by boiling it down to >>> kill or be killed. There are plenty of pack animals that protect >>> each >>> other. Mother animals care for their young. Gorilla's care for >>> their >>> "tribe". Dogs will face down someone who attacks their owner. Etc. >> >> Of course, doing so is self-serving in the end, because by being >> part of the pack, the animal increases its own chance of survival. >> But nature is in essence, immoral. There is constantly competition >> in nature to come out on top at the expense of others, be it those >> not in the pack, or one male over another, etc. Can human morality >> be totally explained on the basis of evolution and overall survival >> of the species? Perhaps. But it's a very strong contrast to what we >> typically see in nature. >> >> --- Mary Jo >> >> >> >> >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:306290 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
