Morality

  • Posted by smijer
  • January 15, 2008

It’s not as simple as we would like for it to be. And putting it under a microscope is an idea whose time has come…

There are so many money quotes in the linked article that I’m tempted to copy & paste the whole thing here. I know… my job is supposed to be to comment on it, but the only comments I can come up with are:

1) Remember your grain of salt. This is science journalism, not science. Science reporting is often notoriously bad and sensationalistic. I don’t think this is a bad case of it, necessarily, but it pays always to carry that grain to any kind of science presented in the popular press. Also, the sciences involved here include some “soft” sciences like sociology, anthropology & sociology - that just can’t be as rigorous and precise as hard sciences like biology and chemistry. Not only that, but some of the “semi-hard” biological science mentioned is also very new - evolutionary psychology in particular. Thus, the early results haven’t been tried and tested over the decades as well as some other “harder” sciences.

2) All that said, this is an extremely interesting article and you should drink in every word of it. I would be extremely surprised if this line of thinking wasn’t at least leading in the right direction.

So, there.

Information and Links

Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.

Information
January 15th, 2008
8 Responses
Feeds and Links
Comment Feed
From This Author
Del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Categories
Philosophy
Sci/Tech

Other Posts
For Jadarm
ha ha

Write a Comment

Take a moment to comment and tell us what you think. Some basic HTML is allowed for formatting.

Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Buck
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 9:12 am

I have always condensed my moral philosophy down to “treat others the way you would expect to be treated”.

Of course that does nothing to answer the question about the guys on the track and whether you allow the runaway train to kill 5 or 1.

Morals are like everything else. Damn complicated.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
jadarm
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 1:39 pm

Its a comparison to science and philosophy…it seems to be a wash.

A person is made up of nothing but what they have biologically brought to the table and what experiences that they have encountered throughout their entire life… AND whether they have learned from those experiences or not.

If there was an exact meaning of life then wouldnt everyone yearn for the same thing…the same ideals? Perhaps the same goal? Is man inherently good or evil? Why do some desire wealth when others desire love? Could the two be misconstrued? Could one think that a road to fill a void or reach a desired goal could be possible?

Would it bring happiness? Satisfaction? Self-worth?

The thing is, the thing I have always searched for anyway, is that through wealth, love, religion, addiction, …whatever, people are longing to fill the void. The void is the answer to the question.

Why is the void there? What fills it? Is there a definate answer to that question? Sure, you could fill up a page w/ quotes like “Do unto others” and “Did I make a difference”…a difference to what? If I am trying to make a difference then there must be a goal that needs to be achieved…and if that is the case, then is it the goal or the void? Now, can either question be validated by science?

Now, I know Jerr is going to grill me for rambling but if someone has a concise answer then I will take my medicine.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
smijer
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 1:45 pm

There are concise answers, j… but that doesn’t mean they are correct. I have a feeling the answers are a little more complicated & would be easier to understand with a little more research in the field of biology. If you want a concise answer though, this one seems to be pretty popular.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
jadarm
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Now see?? I told you that he would nail me…didnt even take him 5 minutes to do so.

I did mention religion in my ramblings but…somehow, I just cant decide between pearly gates and 72 virgins…I just dont know who to die for.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Buck
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 3:13 pm

I don’t even think biology can answer the questions you are asking Jadarm. The questions are older than recorded history.

But I can tell you one thing about the void. You can’t fill it up with food.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
smijer
Posted on:
January 16, 2008 at 6:11 pm

personally, i stay too busy to say i’ve lately even noticed the “void”…. I wouldn’t mind having a little bit of void about now.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Buck
Posted on:
January 17, 2008 at 9:30 am

It seems the busier I get the blacker and deeper the void becomes.

Over the years I have learned to live with it. Sometimes it is easier than others.

And in all probability it is biological. As Jimi Hendrix said, “Manic depression is a frustrating mess!”

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
RW
Posted on:
January 17, 2008 at 10:12 am

I just cant decide between pearly gates and 72 virgins…I just dont know who to die for.

With one of those options, you don’t have to die.

Someone’s already done that for you.