Hi Roger, That's a bit surprising!
On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 5:29 PM, Roger Clough <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Telmo Menezes > > Then we pretty much agree. > > > [Roger Clough], [[email protected]] <[email protected]]> > 1/2/2013 > "Forever is a long time, especially near the end." - Woody Allen > > ----- Receiving the following content ----- > *From:* Telmo Menezes <[email protected]> > *Receiver:* everything-list <[email protected]> > *Time:* 2013-01-02, 07:08:41 > *Subject:* Re: Re: The evolution of good and evil > > 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: > > 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.� > > 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. > > 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. > > > On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 12:39 PM, Roger Clough <[email protected]> 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? >> 牋 >> >> 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], [[email protected] <[email protected]>] >> 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 >> [email protected].<[email protected].> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+ >> [email protected]. <[email protected].> >> 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 [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> 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 [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > 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 [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > 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. 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