from the site: Big Think Errors We Live By The Moral Sciences Are Back by _Jag Bhalla_ (http://bigthink.com/users/jag-bhalla)
Natural laws of ethics, envisioned early in the Enlightenment, can now be objectively studied. Game Theory is reviving old wisdoms, while suggesting a “Golden Punishment Rule,” and a Naturalistic Fallacy reform (via “ negative telos”). 1. Humans, being social, can’t thrive _without rules_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/it-is-in-our-nature-to-need-rules) . Certain rules work better than others. Game theory provides “_behavioral telescopes_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/game-theory-behavioural-telescope) ” to study this. 2. The _naturalistic fallacy_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy) says nature provides no ethical lessons. But without seeking good and evil in nature, we can compare the viability and productivity of behavioral rules. And we can map negative ethical spaces that are counterproductive or self-undermining. 3. Comparing how ethical traditions perform in _Prisoner’s Dilemmas_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma) , against Tit-For-Tat, the best current strategy, shows: Rationalists do _worse than the Golden Ruled_ (http://books.google.com/books?id=DqpbpxNEF4MC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q= "christian%20maxim"%20"golden%20rule"%20"there%20would%20be%20no%20prisoner' s%20dilemma"&f=false) . And Jewish norms beat Christian ethics. 4. So-called rationalists, dominated by dire untrusting logic, produce no cooperation. Golden Ruled players cooperate, thus beating rationalists. But Christian turning-the-other-cheek is exploitable (as Machiavelli and Nietzsche complained). Old Testament eye-for-an-eye is more Tit-For-Tat-like, provided forgiveness follows (however divine, forgiveness can be evolutionarily adaptive). 5. A Tit-For-Tat-like “Golden Punishment Rule” enables cooperation by preventing viable exploitation (likely applying to any game structure). But punishment that prevents profitable cheating must also avoid escalating revenge (e.g., hunter gatherers avoid kin feuds by delegating _executions to relatives_ (http://pllqt.it/ZBvyGd) ). 6. Darwin, _being un-Darwinian_ (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/10/01/is-breaking-bad-darwinian/) , believed “_social instincts … naturally lead to the golden rule_ (http://books.google.com/books?id=o5XpXogxgq8C&pg=PA126&dq=darwin+"social+instincts"+"with+the+aid+of+active+intelle ctual+powers"+"naturally+lead+to+the+golden+rule"&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G8fAUZSXNtex 4APK6oHoDw&ved=0CDoQ6wEwAg#v=snippet&q="social%20instincts"%20"with%20the%20 aid%20of%20active%20intellectual%20powers"%20"golden%20rule"&f=false) .” Game theory shows how such “_evolutionarily stable”_ (http://pllqt.it/0wpEh9) cooperative rules can emerge. Indeed, evolution is nature’s game theorist, endlessly testing behavioral strategies and naturally selecting the more productive. 7. Social species' behavioral patterns can be self-maximizing or co-maximizing. In Prisoner’s Dilemmas, that’s the lower-productivity “rationalist” approach vs. the higher-productivity Tit-For-Tat (Golden Punishment Ruled) cooperation. Let’s not forget we’re _the most self-deficient_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/you-are-by-nature-self-deficient) , most other-dependent, species alive. 8. Co-maximization defines a win-win evolutionary space that can outperform “pure” short-term self-maximizing (see _Dawkins' selfishness vs. altruism error_ (http://pllqt.it/tmStmx) ). 9. Life might not have a “telos,” (a grand purpose), but it has a kind of “negative telos.” Nature eliminates behavioral patterns that damage what they depend on. That’s a yet unnamed natural principle (I’ve suggested calling it _needism_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/two-kinds-of-success-an-unnamed-natural-law) ), which even “survival of the fittest” must yield to. We’d better adjust what’s deemed _rational_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/the-label-rational-is-being-used-illogically) , to prevent self-maximization from becoming self-undermining (in _economics_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/markets-curing-spontaneous-disorders) , and _politics_ (http://bigthink.com/errors-we-live-by/needism-the-logic-of-liberty) ). -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
