CopyRight @ 2004
what morality is
-survival strategies, diffferent from animals
-has been religion
-is about the family
-was rules, must be understandings, tribes vs cities vs now
-cooperation
-inclusive fitness
-organization
-institutions
marry young / religion
MORALITY
Morality is the will and the method to survive. Moralities are
the learned survival strategies that we use and are critical to our
survival generation after generation. It is notable that humans have
great visual acuity, bipedalism and other innovative characteristics,
but the most unique feature of humans is their use of and relaince upon
learned survival methods. We even have genetic drives related to the
use of moral systems.
Very often, we think of morality as part of religion. It is
far more than that. It was morality that created religion. The truest
function of religion is to husband and teach morality. Most religions
say that their teachings are gifts from God to humans to show them a
path by which they should live. Human survival is dependant on using
coherent learned strategies. Where ever these survival strategies come
from, they are moral systems. Within most religions are comments on moral
issues (such as these monographs do). The do's and don't's of the different
systems have been codified. The religion preserves and promotes the moral
system which tells the individual how to live their life so as to survive.
The management of human morality by some institution or another was
inevitable, but religion and morality are intertwined back to the start
of religion.
Morality is about individual, family and community survival.
It is stated clearly here that
the commonest problem with religions are that their lessons are based on
authority and prescidence. In this world of increasing complexity, skepticism
and increasing critical thinking, morality will have to be based on reason
and understanding or the morality will not be used. Luckily, it can be shown
that there is great reason and logic behind the common teachings of religion.
Due to the overall long term success of religion, it would seem that a
critical, logical examination of morality in the context of biology and
survival would likely lead to principles similar to those taught by religion.
Both would have to promote survival within the promptings of human instinct
and values.
So, without relying on the teachings of religions, how to do we raise
children, make families and communities that are the basis of survival?
Unfortunately, that is not the only critical question
here. We know a lot about child raising and the sober researchers can figure
out the rest. A child must be raised with love, touching, talking, stimulation
and example. But why? That is also becoming a more and more important
question. For many people today and more in the future, the critical
techniques we use for solving problems, will make us face the questions of
our own existence. Because of how humans respond and act in relation to basic
drives and beliefs, our basic beliefs about ourselves are critically
consequential. The basic questions are: why am I alive; where did I come from;
what should I do; why is life like it is; what are the relationships of the
world; what hope is there; what is right and wrong? All are becoming more
important. Animals do not ask. Humans, up until recently, have had to completely
rely on mystical explanation. Every culture remembers the story of their creation
by God. The belief system that includes the mindsets of science, now offers new
explanations, but lacks reasons. Knowledge is the enemy of faith. The peoples of
the new ecologies based on knowledge, need reasons, more than techniques. So why?
That too must be addressed in this examination of morality
A morality is the lessons that we start learning as children, that tell us how
we can live our lives. A moral system must tell us how to live, grow, be happy,
raise families and survive generation after generation. To a large extent, moral
systems are based on instinctive values. Moral systems are so basic, not only do
we not notice them, we are designed not to question them. They are like water to
a fish.
The lessons of moralities are many and varied. The first lessons we learn are
related to personal sanitation. Our tree dwelling ancestors had no reason for an
instinct to avoid fouling their temporary nest. As we have developed the habit of
occupying the same location continuously, we have started to develop cleaner habits
in the direction of the habits of a cat. According to Desmond Morris, this is also
why we lost a lot of our hairiness, so as to avoid the hazard of fleas. That was a
genetic adaptation. Since we do not have a well developed instinct towards cleanliness
necessary to sedentary or civil living, it must be taught. Theoretically we could
undergo a good deal of genetic adaptation to the problem (and have such as increased
disease resistance), but the human way is to adapt behaviorally and that is where moral
rules come in. Sanitation is a basic part of all moral systems, often seperate from
religion.
So what are the rest of the lessons? How do the moralities of the tribal and
stratified societies look in view of the ecology that is presently developing? That
is why this book is described in the context of a changing ecology. We have
moralities that are adapted for more than one type of ecology. We can assume
that some lessons like sanitation, are basic enough that they will not change much.
Still, there is far more to morality than that. Up to now, most basic moral systems
were developed for tribal situations. The development of the civil society and the
stratified society included laws for how different peoples and tribes could interact.
Moral systems have included common, civil and religious laws.