On Wednesday, January 2, 2013 7:08:41 AM UTC-5, telmo_menezes wrote: > > In my opinion, good and evil are just names we attach to brain processes > we all have in common. These brain processes make us pursue the best > interest of society instead of our own self-interest. I believe they have > two main sources:
Good and evil aren't just oriented toward self vs society. Adopting a child is good for society, but torturing them in a dungeon for their entire life is intensely evil regardless of the negligible impact on society. > 1) Biological evolution. In the long term, the DNA of the species as more > chances of thriving if the individuals are altruistic to a degree. The > exact mechanism here is debatable, it could be kin-selection (affinity for > people with similar DNA) or group-selection, which is more controversial. > There is some compelling evidence to support this theory. Social insects > are extremely altruistic, and at the same time social insect females share > more DNA than most animals. Another clue that this is correct comes from > experimental psychology: we tend to associate physical beauty with goodness > and different races with evil. > Good does not always equate with altruism. A scientist need not intend to sacrifice himself for the good of the world in order to create something 'good'. We can present an example for 'good' simply by taking care of ourselves in a graceful way, being productive, smart, respectful, etc. Any admirable quality can be 'good' without requiring an individual to sacrifice their own interests to the group or species. > > 2) Social constructs created to address the prisoner's dilema: for a > society to thrive, a certain level of altruism is necessary. From the > individual's point of view, however, it is irrational to be altruistic to > that degree. The solution: tell people that they're going to hell if > they're not good (or some variation of that theme). Religions have a > positive impact in our species success, and their main job is to solve the > prisoner's dilema. They are, nevertheless, a ruse. > You don't need religion to do that. Nationalism and Capitalism work just as well. > > All attempts to define "good" and "evil" as a fundamental property of the > universe that I've seen so far quickly descend into circular reasoning: > good is what good people do, good people are the ones who do good things. > > Interestingly enough, left-wing atheists end up being similar to the > religious: they believe in a base line level of altruism in human beings > that is not supported by evidence. > I have never met any left-wing atheists who have beliefs in altruism or utopia. Mainly progressives see that left to their own devices, the powerful will tend to abuse their position and the quality of life for the average person will drop...which is supported by evidence. Craig > > > On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 12:39 PM, Roger Clough <rcl...@verizon.net<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> >> ROGER: There are two opposing forces in the universe, those which enhance >> life, which we call Good, and those which diminish life, which we call >> Evil. >> >> CRAIG: I can't relate to cut and dried ideas of Good and Evil or >> enhancing or diminishing of life. >> It seems completely disconnected from reality to me. If it was that >> obvious, why wouldn't >> everyone just do the Good things and avoid Evil things? Obviously our >> experiences have >> many layers and qualities which change dynamically. Anything can be >> interpreted as >> enhancing or diminishing life. Chemotherapy Good or Evil? >> >> ROGER: Good people tend to do good things, evil people to do evil things. >> Chemotherapy is thought to do more good than evil. >> >> <SNIP> >> >> [Roger Clough], [rcl...@verizon.net] >> 1/1/2013 >> "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." - Woody Allen >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/everything-list/-/ePt2Uf7MeNsJ. >> >> To post to this group, send email to >> everyth...@googlegroups.com.<javascript:> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+ >> unsub...@googlegroups.com. <javascript:> >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To post to this group, send email to everyth...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> >> . >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> everything-li...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/everything-list/-/NYDW8wl_UEAJ. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
